How to Win the Healthcare Statistics Game
Watching summer sports (baseball, tennis, soccer, swimming) has made me very aware of statistics. Indeed, you cannot view a professional or amateur sport without hearing, graphically seeing and being aware of the statistics. And there are stats for everything (even healthcare). And the point of all these stats are to primarily answer one question: Who/What wins? What pitch will win, what kind of serve will win, what body type wins, what surgery wins, what rehab works, what attitude wins? You name it sports analysts know the stats of the game. Of course they do. That’s their job!
Practice manager. That’s your job! Knowing exactly what creates a win for your practice and replicating that over and over, day in and day out, should be your primary focus. And you have to look repeatedly at the numbers to look for changes; nuances, big and little swings, etc. So what do you do with all this information? You make adjustments constantly.
Probably the biggest error practice managers make is that they do not know what they should know. The second biggest error is focusing on what’s wrong instead of what’s right.
In order to be a successful analyst you have to have a team of people supporting your efforts. “It takes a village” is not just a cute saying. It really does. You have to have an IT department that you trust that will work along side the providers, and programs designed to capture and store large blocks of data that can be analyzed inside out. The data collected must be analyzed upside down and backwards. Yes, it takes that!! Your team is vitally important. They are the ones who need to implement the winning behavior and skills and are able to change when called upon to do so.
Sounds like a huge project. It is and it will never stop. This is something that is ongoing and should be addressed everyday. Cultivating a great team that will look at the stats and make the necessary adjustment will help your practice succeed.
Start by digging into what details of data can give you the biggest hints of what’s winning. What creates a winning transaction, a positive patient experience, compliance of patients, ease of use, and draws return patients while attracting new ones?
If you would like someone to talk with you and walk you through some of the questions you need to ask, give Medical management Services a call or email. Our experienced Practice Managers and Consultants know the business of healthcare. Let us put our knowledge and experience to work for you. This blog post has not even scratched the surface of the depth of healthcare statistics and making adjustments. Our consultants can take you exactly where you need to be and get you there in a timely and cost efficient manner.
Lewis Garvin | Director, Business Development
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