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Schüchtermann Hospital

Hearts are trumps

At Germany's third largest cardiac centre, the Schüchtermann Hospital in Bad Rothenfelde near Osnabrück, patients receive full support at every stage in the recovery process through diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation. At the heart of the economic management of the Schüchtermann-Schiller Hospital Group is financial planning – and that is taken care of by the CP software portfolio.
One of the hospital group's seven sets of quality management guidelines states its economic objectives. These relate to the efficient delivery of services in all areas in order to further the purpose of the trust and to enhance the performance of the hospitals. The parameters used for their definition result in part from profitability analyses and management data.

These data and analyses are generated with the help of the software products Corporate Planner, CP-BSC, Risk Manager and Strategic Planner. They provide the basis for financial management and reporting as well as for cash flow and personnel planning at the Schüchtermann Hospital.

Integration – a key concept
The integrated clinical concept in the Bad Rothenfelde hospital, with its Departments of Cardiology, Cardiac Surgery, Anaesthetics and Rehabilitation, ensures uninterrupted patient care while avoiding transfers and long waiting periods from one stage of treatment to the next. Furthermore, continuity of medical and nursing care is guaranteed, which means that the recovery process is faster and the stay in hospital shorter.

This concept enables the acute care of those affected by cardiovascular diseases to be provided in a highly efficient, economically sound manner. The final stage in the course of treatment is rehabilitation. During this period, efforts are focused on the ongoing improvement and stabilisation of health by means of exercise therapy, physiotherapy, psychological support, advice from a social worker and health training.

Mathias Pohlmann,
Business Economist,
Head of Corporate
Management

A similar principle applies to the integrated financial management concept of Corporate Planning, implemented at the Schüchtermann Hospital since the middle of 2005. The managers and commercial directors of the various departments, as well as the Financial Administration staff – eight people in total – use a network version of Corporate Planner. Those in charge of the cost centres of the medical, therapeutic and commercial departments are thus able to view their current cost centre data at any time via the web-based management information system CP-BSC.

Of particular interest in this respect is personnel development which includes the staffing plan (whole time equivalents) and personnel costs, asset management (preliminary budgets with variances), the income statement, apportionment of charges and the profit contribution margin of each cost centre and profit centre, as well as the activity-related data (turnover, DRG share and internal service charges). Even while bed occupancy days are being planned and DRGs [Diagnosis Related Groups, a flat-rate charging system based on diagnosis – Editor's note] invoiced, the required data are calculated quickly and reliably in Corporate Planner.

Performance diagnostics
for athletes and managers

Transparency for effective asset management
The Integrated Financial Planning module, which is included in the software package, assists the management when making decisions regarding future investments. Mathias Pohlmann, Head of Corporate Management at the Schüchtermann-Schiller Hospital Group and General Manager of the Institute for Sports Medicine and Prevention (ISP) in Bad Rothenfelde, uses Corporate Planner to great effect: "The transparency of the income statement and profit contribution margin of each profit centre and cost centre puts us in the position to assess the internal state of affairs of the individual houses, and to manage investments correctly."

The main reason for having implemented the CP software is the flexibility of the system in depicting the individual structures of the various houses and in importing all operational data from the diverse back-office systems. The business planning can thus be carried out from start to finish with just one software program. The entire configuration and the display of the unique company structures of the eight houses, including the program interface with the back-office systems, took less than six months. Due to its simple operation and clearly laid out tree structure, these tasks could be performed in Corporate Planner with hardly any assistance being necessary.

A variance analysis
(all data are fictitious)

Time for analysis
The time invested during the implementation phase has paid for itself many times over. Mathias Pohlmann names one of the greatest benefits: "My time can now be used for analysis and management, and is no longer taken up by gathering and calculating data". For that is dealt with quickly and automatically by the software. He is confident of the functionality and capabilities of the CP products: "The software provides for a structure layout tailored to your company, to which data can be imported from all pre-systems. The business planning facilities are excellent, and the reporting system can be quickly designed according to preferences."

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About Schüchtermann Hospital
The Schüchtermann Hospital has become one of Germany's leading cardiac treatment centres because of its extensive medical facilities and its renowned medical achievements. Founded in 1973 as a medical rehabilitation hospital on the basis of the family trust set up by Heinrich Schüchtermann and his wife Antoinette Schiller, within two years it had already developed into a rehabilitation centre specialising in heart conditions. In 1990, an extension was added to the Schüchtermann Hospital, containing a doctors' wing, gymnastics hall, physiotherapy room, lecture rooms for health training and rooms to accommodate the Psychology Department. With the inauguration of the Cardiac Surgery Department in 1993, which features five operating theatres, an intensive care unit, a monitoring unit and the Anaesthetics Unit, the Schüchtermann Hospital had finally established itself as a cardiac treatment centre.

In addition to the Bad Rothenfelde hospital, the Schüchtermann-Schiller Hospital Group consists of the Dörenberg Hospital, an orthopaedic and rheumatology rehabilitation clinic in Bad Iburg, and the affiliated outpatient clinic. The Institute for Sports Medicine and Prevention (ISP) specialises in performance diagnostics and medical fitness. As well as health checks being provided for managers, professional sports clubs including FC Schalke 04 and VfL Osnabrück are supervised at the various facilities such as medic.os Schalke, an outpatient rehabilitation centre in Gelsenkirchen. The group of companies currently employs almost one thousand members of staff.