During a webinar hosted by Becker’s Hospital Review and sponsored by Syntellis, Steve Wasson, executive vice president and general manager at Syntellis, discussed the importance of analyzing individual practice performance against real-time market data. This detailed information arms practices to reduce costs, improve quality and make smarter staffing decisions.
Four takeaways:
- Comparative data is important to drive cost containment for physician practices. According to Mr. Wasson, the volatility of the last two years has increased physicians’ focus on cost containment, productivity and quality. By comparing the performance of a specific physician practice against the market as a whole, that practice has the data it needs to improve. “It’s important to look at the metrics you’re going to pull within your organization and then look to the market to do cross-comparisons,” he said. “You need to understand where you’re sitting within the market.”
- Physician practices must analyze investment, compensation and productivity on a continuous basis. For example, a cardiology practice that charts net revenue and expense per physician FTE against market benchmarks may see a gap between the two that’s wider than average. “For those managing practices, the goal is to minimize that gap,” Mr. Wasson said.
Drilling down further, this practice may see that it is paying its most productive physicians below the market, signaling a possible flight risk. Data may also show that support department expenses are higher than market average, prompting initiatives to improve efficiency. If revenue numbers are not keeping up with the market, the practice may want to look closely at its revenue cycle and contract terms.
- Market data must be comparable to the specific conditions of the inquiring practice. Although overall market data, such as the monthly free KPI reports published by Syntellis, can be a good starting point, it’s critical to look at data comparable to a particular practice to drive real and ongoing change. “We look at specific job positions, types of practices, geographic location and whether it’s an academic or non-academic setting,” Mr. Wasson said. “There are differences in these areas that could lead you astray if you’re, say, a rural practice, looking at urban practice metrics.”
“If you’re going to take action to change your staffing models or reconstruct some workflows or processes, then you need the specifics and the details,” he continued.
- Using near real-time metrics is critical in this rapidly changing environment. Managers make decisions every day about staffing, compensation and where to allocate limited resources. “You need to get data comparisons that are as contemporary to the market as possible because the market is moving at a pace we’ve never seen,” Mr. Wasson said.
Syntellis compiles and leverages customer data across the entire market. Physician data, such as billing, general ledger volume and payroll, is compiled from more than 135,000 physicians at 10,000 practices and 1,000 hospitals across the United States from primary care to more than 130 specialties, generating thousands of data points to help physicians make more informed decisions.
To register for upcoming webinars, click here.
At Becker's 4th Annual CEO + CFO Roundtable, taking place November 2–5 in Chicago, more than 1,500 hospital and health system executives tackle decisions that determine whether organizations thrive or merely survive: protecting margins under cost pressure, choosing where to grow, renegotiating payer relationships, stabilizing the workforce and proving real ROI on technology. This is where leaders work through them together, face-to-face. Apply for complimentary registration now.
