Creating a Business Case for Success.

Health care is a highly competitive environment where managers must compete for finite resources. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services-directed reimbursement models such as value-based purchasing and pay-for-performance heavily focused on quality improvement and nursing excellence are having a major impact on financial reimbursement for health care services in the United States. As such, nurse leaders must function in a business-focused environment where decisions regarding resource allocation are driven by quantifiable data, the potential return on investment, and the organization's ability to provide quality patient care in an efficient manner. It is imperative for nurse leaders to recognize the financial impact of potential additional revenue streams, as well as avoidable costs. Nurse leaders must also be skilled at translating the return on investment for nursing-centric programs and initiatives, often hidden in anecdotal terms and cost avoidance rather than revenue generation, to ensure appropriate resource allocation and budgetary assumptions. This article uses a case study framed within the business case to review a structured approach to operationalizing nursing-centric programs and highlights key strategies for success.