If you work in the healthcare industry today, you’re more than aware of the many benefits associated with annual exams and preventative services. A patient can significantly reduce his or her health risks through proactive maintenance and routine check-ups. At Coker, we believe physician practices deserve the same consideration, and we highly recommend proactive prevention. Our Physician Services team partners with health systems and medical groups to improve operations and prevent chronic threats to organizational health. We specialize in diagnosing and treating the health of physician practice operations, strategy, and financial sustainability. We’ve summarized several “vital signs” below that can be used to evaluate the health of your physician enterprise and develop the right care plan for your organization.
Patient Access is critical to understand because, if your practice isn’t effectively accommodating patients, the negative impact on demand will diminish any other benefits of operational efficiency. Effectively is the pivotal word in that last sentence. Some organizations require a cultural shift to move away from the patient-can-wait-to-see-us mentality, and patient perception is the reality in this case. Increasingly competitive markets continue to drive consumer discretion, and many patients will choose their provider based on how easily they can navigate a health system rather than the perceived quality of its providers or services. With this in mind, addressing the questions below can help determine if your practice is using its resources most effectively to accommodate the right patients at the right time with the right providers.
With a better understanding of patient access, let’s turn our attention to operational workflows, protocols, and processes. Getting patients in the door is the first major hurdle, but once they arrive, workflow clots can obstruct your ability to process them efficiently. We recommend assessing your operational throughput to identify blockages that restrict patient flow, productivity, and efficient utilization of resources. Consider the following questions and keep in mind that these areas may address the “what” behind your processes, but patients today are more cognizant than ever of “how” your team delivers care.
Patient access and operational throughput are critical to physician services success as they primarily drive practice revenues. It is similarly important to understand how well your practice manages its revenue and then invests back into the operation. Financial management is like oxygen levels for your practice. No matter how well you do everything else, you can’t survive without keeping this matter in check. Consider the following questions to determine if your practice efficiently and effectively breathes in revenue.
Revenue can sustain a practice’s life, but long-term survival will also require prudent management of expenses. Each organization defines “fixed” vs. “variable” expenses differently, but it’s important to know what is manageable within your environment to ensure adequate resources and maintain high-quality care delivery. The questions below can help diagnose areas of opportunity.
If your medical group is regularly checking its vital signs, you are likely well-positioned to address areas of concern or opportunity. Unfortunately, many organizations have already diagnosed their problems but struggle to quantify, prioritize, or implement sustainable solutions. The questions and considerations above are intended to provide a high-level framework for assessing key performance indicators that can help your practice proactively manage its growth and viability. Similar to your personal vital signs, however, the findings may not tell the whole story.