David Archer, President and CEO of Saint Francis Healthcare on Memphis Medical News

David Archer, President and CEO of Saint Francis Healthcare

By: HOLLI W. HAYNIE

Memphis Medical News has launched, "Leaders in Healthcare," a series that provides leaders, from hospital CEOs to practice managers to department heads, a forum to express their strategy and vision for evolving with the industry now and into the future.

Saint Francis Hospital opened its doors in Memphis in 1974, becoming the first full-service hospital in East Memphis. From the onset, the mission of Saint Francis Healthcare has been to provide care inspired by the values of Catholic health traditions. Those values are to heal, support and comfort all they serve. Originally a not-for-profit hospital, the system transitioned to for-profit in 1995 by becoming part of the Tenet Healthcare Corporation. David Archer, who has been with the Tenet Healthcare Corporation since 1985, became president and CEO of Saint Francis Healthcare in 1997 and is dedicated to maintaining the Catholic directives. Today the Saint Francis system has a 609-bed full service hospital with a 197-bed nursing home, two medical office buildings and the University of Tennessee/Saint Francis Family Practice Residency on campus, along with ambulatory centers and the newer hospital in Bartlett. Archer is proud of the strong relationships Saint Francis has been able to form with physicians, patients, payors, employees and vendors, and he dedicates himself to forward-thinking service.

What are key areas of focus within Saint Francis system?

When you look at the future of healthcare, we are clearly entering a period of tremendous increase in accountability and transparency in healthcare, which is how it should be. I think a lot of what we are focused on, and many hospitals advancing in those areas, is producing an environment that is safe and more consistent in that patient care.

We do a significant amount of work with the Church Health Center. We work with Methodist on the Memphis Plan through the Church Health Center. We also see a fair amount of Christ Community Clinic patients and the Health Loop clinics – it's about that critical thing of finding a medical home for patients who come in the emergency room.

We hear consistently from our physicians that this administration is very open. If you don't draw physicians into your decision making process in every way you can, you're missing a significant amount of experience and perspective. Our board is half physicians.

Why is healthcare reform important and how does Saint Francis strategize facing the challenges of implementation?

The difficulty with healthcare reform is what will it be? We've all been chewing around the edges with talks of pay-for-performance. We have a situation where patients, employers, physicians, nurses, hospitals, everyone in the system and served by the system is convinced the system is broken – that the system doesn't provide what the patients need in an efficient manner. Providers are frustrated with payment structure and lack of coordination in the structure. I think clearly what's critical is universal coverage. That has to happen. I don't think we will really have effective reform without it.

We are entering a crisis in the system that only comprehensive reform is going to fix. I think we're all making great strides in quality and patient safety and efficiency in the system, but we're hampered by the payment system.

How is Saint Francis advancing in the technology and transparency age?

Saint Francis is doing well with EMR and PACS (picture archiving and communication systems). We're one piece at a time moving toward it. Part of that is bringing in the practitioners and preparing them for it and getting them accustomed as you go along. Saint Francis, 15 years ago, went to electronic charting for nurses, one of the first in the country to do that. Everyone needs to (transition) in a fashion that works with all the partners together and if you don't do that you can build some significant opposition to those systems. Seeing those systems grow and our ability to interface with those systems is important.

What are some key initiatives Saint Francis is undertaking?

A lot of the upgrading has been to faster imaging technologies. We've replaced all our ventilators and anesthesia machines, all those standard technologies over the last few years.

The next major equipment acquisition is the CyberKnife, a linear accelerator based technology. It behaves like a gamma knife for the entire body. It's much less intrusive for patients. We hope to have that ready by mid-next year. (This month) the certificate of need will be heard on building the second bed tower at Bartlett. That will add 100 beds there and associated services and OR. It will double the capacity at Bartlett which is operating at capacity almost all the time.

Where do you see the future of healthcare heading?

We will see a system that is much more coherent. You'll have much less variability in practice and outcomes in those areas, a lot of that through quality improvement, but also through a narrower group of physicians coming to the hospital. We will move more toward physicians either being in an ambulatory setting or being in the hospital. Having our own hospitalist program allows us to work hand in hand with them to improve the care, with much more standardization of care so patients get the right care at the right time, every time.