2016 Business Class: CoxHealth (Top Honors)

From a germ-zapping robot to retail clinics and a $130 million tower expansion, CoxHealth is on the forefront of medical innovation. The new methods led to Cox Medical Center South being named one of the best hospitals for 2015-16 in Missouri by U.S. News & World Report.

Financial performance
Profitable the past three years, CoxHealth squeaked out a 2.37 percent revenue growth percentage in 2015, something President and CEO Steve Edwards considers a win.

“We had growth in a time where hospitals were really challenged,” he says. “Keeping a bottom line is a real victory right now for hospitals.”

Growth in the Branson market, expanded baby boomer coverage and growth in Cox HealthPlans has been key.

“When the Affordable Care Act came, we were worried we would lose a lot of business because we did not offer a product that would meet the subsidized exchange,” he said. “We do have a individual product for those that are required but aren’t eligible to be subsidized, and it’s become a popular driver.

“That program is growing in a time when we thought it would be down.”

Innovation
The West Tower came online in May 2015, adding 92 private rooms for patients and fundamentally changing the hospital’s layout and design. For example, instead of one giant nursing station, the hospital chose touchdown stations, keeping a nurse within 100 feet of the patient.

“We looked at best practices and incorporated them into the design,” Edwards said. “We used our knowledge of operations to make it easier for patients and staff.”

Hospital innovation continues through groups such as the Young Professionals Council. Edwards said the group developed organically out of a need for support and interaction. Now, the last two vice president promotions have been members.

“It’s for us to retain talent and it helps them find ways to grow in the organization,” Edwards says.

Community involvement
“There are a lot of hospitals that, because they are a hospital and they are doing the community service, they think that is sufficient,” Edwards says. “We were a victim of that in years past. We began to find our employees were doing so much more and wanted the organization to get behind them. So we embraced it.”

Programs, such as the Charity of the Month, help support causes the system’s more than 10,000 employees are passionate about.

“It’s not necessarily that we are financially supporting the charity, but we are providing the energy and in-kind resources needed,” Edwards says.  

The system is so committed, it’s recently taken money away from its marketing budget and put it toward increased community efforts.

“We are not sure marketing does the community much good,” Edwards says. “The community will recognize these efforts even more powerfully than any ad.”