Here are four management tips for running a successful hospital.
1. Accommodate younger physicians with employment contracts. Hospitals may need to adjust old contract models to accommodate younger physicians.Brad Logan, vice president, Physician Consulting Services, at Quorum Health Resources many young physicians are not willing to take on the 60-80 hour work week, as previous generations of physicians did. "Hospitals should recognize that younger physicians don't want the same lifestyle as the previous generation, and should adjust the model for someone who is going to be less productive," says Mr. Logan.
All contracts should include a base salary for the physician, as well as a production incentive. "If it appears that the particular market has a low case volume that might not generate enough income to attract a physician to that market, the typical model that applies is usually a straight salary model," says Mr. Logan. If the market supports a high likelihood of performance, a full contract is good for the physician. The production model contract can include one of the following: gross charges, percent revenue and percent of collections.
2. Focus on improving a handful of metrics identified as most important. Rather than focusing on the entire spectrum of metrics, it's best if hospital and physician leaders decide which are most important to them at this time and focus on those. "You can't have everything be top priority all the time," says Lynn Massingale, MD, FACEP, Executive Chairman of TeamHealth, which provides emergency department and staffing services to hospital clients. For instance, some hospitals may prioritize patient experience or patient satisfaction scores, but still maintain focus on other quality and safety metrics. Organizing metrics will also help physician and hospital leaders reduce mixed messages and keep them from being overwhelmed.
Hospital executives should also focus on providing positive feedback for physicians. "The best institutions do this," says Dr. Massingale. "It's so easy to focus on the negative and not give enough positive feedback." Hospital leaders and CEOs should attend physician meetings to offer encouragement and appreciation. It doesn't have to be a grand gesture, says Dr. Massingale. "Celebrating upward movement in metrics in small or modest ways is very reinforcing."
3. Practice good asset control. Hospitals should have a good idea where their major-moveable equipment is at any given time, which means the books should reflect when a piece of equipment transfers from one department to another. Much of the equipment at hospitals these days has wheels for easy transportation, says Michael Staunton, a Director at Principle Valuation, and the staff members need to keep track of the more expensive assets. Accurate records provide hospital management with verified data which will help in the annual budget process. One way to accomplish this is to implement a bar code tagging system which allows hospital staff to easily track equipment between departments in a hospital or between hospitals within a health system.
4. Make sure that outsourced services are trusted to companies familiar with healthcare. Hospitals considering business process outsourcers should find a company that focuses solely on healthcare for the best results, according to a National Patient Account Services report by Curtis Warfield titled Increasing Cash Collections Through Business Process Outsourcing. Healthcare-focused companies are better able to assess national payor issues, HIPAA, front-end collection opportunities, technology to improve cash flow and the rising of bad debt. Hospitals should compare BPOs to find competitive rates and performance in the industry.
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1. Accommodate younger physicians with employment contracts. Hospitals may need to adjust old contract models to accommodate younger physicians.Brad Logan, vice president, Physician Consulting Services, at Quorum Health Resources many young physicians are not willing to take on the 60-80 hour work week, as previous generations of physicians did. "Hospitals should recognize that younger physicians don't want the same lifestyle as the previous generation, and should adjust the model for someone who is going to be less productive," says Mr. Logan.
All contracts should include a base salary for the physician, as well as a production incentive. "If it appears that the particular market has a low case volume that might not generate enough income to attract a physician to that market, the typical model that applies is usually a straight salary model," says Mr. Logan. If the market supports a high likelihood of performance, a full contract is good for the physician. The production model contract can include one of the following: gross charges, percent revenue and percent of collections.
2. Focus on improving a handful of metrics identified as most important. Rather than focusing on the entire spectrum of metrics, it's best if hospital and physician leaders decide which are most important to them at this time and focus on those. "You can't have everything be top priority all the time," says Lynn Massingale, MD, FACEP, Executive Chairman of TeamHealth, which provides emergency department and staffing services to hospital clients. For instance, some hospitals may prioritize patient experience or patient satisfaction scores, but still maintain focus on other quality and safety metrics. Organizing metrics will also help physician and hospital leaders reduce mixed messages and keep them from being overwhelmed.
Hospital executives should also focus on providing positive feedback for physicians. "The best institutions do this," says Dr. Massingale. "It's so easy to focus on the negative and not give enough positive feedback." Hospital leaders and CEOs should attend physician meetings to offer encouragement and appreciation. It doesn't have to be a grand gesture, says Dr. Massingale. "Celebrating upward movement in metrics in small or modest ways is very reinforcing."
3. Practice good asset control. Hospitals should have a good idea where their major-moveable equipment is at any given time, which means the books should reflect when a piece of equipment transfers from one department to another. Much of the equipment at hospitals these days has wheels for easy transportation, says Michael Staunton, a Director at Principle Valuation, and the staff members need to keep track of the more expensive assets. Accurate records provide hospital management with verified data which will help in the annual budget process. One way to accomplish this is to implement a bar code tagging system which allows hospital staff to easily track equipment between departments in a hospital or between hospitals within a health system.
4. Make sure that outsourced services are trusted to companies familiar with healthcare. Hospitals considering business process outsourcers should find a company that focuses solely on healthcare for the best results, according to a National Patient Account Services report by Curtis Warfield titled Increasing Cash Collections Through Business Process Outsourcing. Healthcare-focused companies are better able to assess national payor issues, HIPAA, front-end collection opportunities, technology to improve cash flow and the rising of bad debt. Hospitals should compare BPOs to find competitive rates and performance in the industry.
Related Articles on Hospital Management:
5 Steps for Successful Physician-Hospital Integration
9 Leading Hospital CEOs Share Advice for Fellow Hospital Leaders
6 Tips for Improved Relations Between Hospital Leaders and ED Physicians