3 more fixes that will boost your bottom line

by Kenneth H. Cohn In my last post, I mentioned four tips for engaging physicians where you work to improve clinical and financial outcomes, as well as create a more satisfying practice environment. Here are three more recommendations: 1. Any time you hear someone moan, "Getting doctors to do anything is like herding cats," reframe the discussion to stimulate healthy competition. Take, for example, a cardiac catheterization lab director who inspired his colleagues to decrease clinical variation and cut costs by showing them their data in a blinded fashion, and letting them know that if they did not achieve progress within six months, he would put each cardiologist's data in the cath lab lounge for everyone to see and comment on.1 Within four months, procedure times and outcomes for the entire six-person group were within one standard deviation, and they had decreased their vendors to two and cut costs substantially, all while improving outcomes, as I described in "Collaborative Competition." As one of the cardiologists explained, "None of us wanted to be an outlier, except on the positive side." 2. Work with front-line physicians and nurses to decrease readmissions. Activities like calling patients within 24 hours of discharge are low-cost, high-impact measures that improve performance, as I described in "Collaborative Handoffs." Similarly, asking patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) and their caregivers to restate instructions in their own words (teac...
Source: hospital impact - Category: Health Managers Authors: Source Type: blogs