News Releases

Scorecard Estimates Hospital ROI at $12.50 for every $1 Spent on Dues

Unveiled at the Sept. 18 board meeting, The Center for Health Affairs’ new Strategic Direction Scorecard conservatively estimates member hospital ROI on membership dues at 12.5. In other words, for every dollar spent on dues, The Center provides $12.50 in value to member hospitals. The calculation used to determine member hospital ROI is (Member Value – Member Dues)/Member Dues.

“This is the first time we’ve actually been able to get at this number and we think the methodology is really sound,” said Bill Ryan, president and CEO, The Center for Health Affairs. “It’s certainly subject to interpretation, but there is documented logic behind every number we’ve used.”

The new scorecard, developed with the assistance of a third-party governance consultant, is intended to measure progress on the association’s 2014 – 2016 strategic direction. In addition to member hospital ROI, the scorecard identifies The Center’s five primary community roles:

1. To inform
2. To connect and convene
3. To spur participation
4. To produce outcomes 
5. To provide value 

The scorecard presents quantitative data to demonstrate how The Center is doing in each of those areas. Narrative information to help tell the story of The Center’s successes is also a part of the Strategic Direction Scorecard.

“Naturally, The Center’s board wants to understand the association’s progress,” explained Board Chairwoman Heidi L. Gartland, vice president, government and community relations, University Hospitals. “The board provided feedback throughout the strategic planning process and one thing that we really stressed was the need for concrete information to gauge whether or not The Center was achieving what it set out to achieve.”

Member participation in The Center’s offerings is a new and important element of measuring progress on the strategic direction. Each scorecard will include a grid of the programs that have been made available to member hospitals and whether or not each member has chosen to participate.

“It seems obvious, but to fully reap the benefits of membership, it is imperative that members participate in our programming,” said Ryan. “If we see that a lot of members are choosing not to participate in a particular offering, we know it’s either time to redouble our efforts to engage them or to take a closer look at the program itself and see if we need to make improvements.”

The scorecard will be distributed twice a year, at the fall and late winter board meetings. The September version will look at progress during the first six months of the year while the February version will include progress for the entire preceding year. Strategic direction metrics will also be available on The Center’s website. In time, trend data will also be available. Hospital ROI will be calculated on a yearly basis.

To learn more about the strategic direction scorecard or to receive of copy of the assumptions used to calculate member hospital ROI, contact Deanna Moore at 216.255.3614 or via email.