1. Make each physician’s practice data available to the group. One corollary to the commitment to quality is transparency of data, says OrthoCarolina CEO Daniel B. Murrey, MD, MPP. OrthoCarolina’s physicians have access to data about all aspects of the practice, including the number of patients seen, revenue generated, charges dictated, referrals made and payor mix. Each physician at OrthoCarolina has access to this information about every other physician in the practice, which has cut down on arguments about which physicians might be seeing a higher volume of patients or might deserve special treatment for one reason or another.
“When you have the data there, it really quiets those arguments,” Dr. Murrey says. “If you don’t have the data, then physicians will question the decision-making until you have the data available.” Physicians also buy into the practice’s vision more readily when they can see for themselves the outcomes in the database, he says.
2. Involve employees from all levels in the decision-making process. At the quarterly strategy meetings, the Virginia Spine Institute gathers employees from all levels of the organization to discuss what the current initiatives from each department and how they can improve. “These meetings build ownership by the employees of the organization,” says Thomas Schuler, MD, a spine surgeon and founder of the Virginia Spine Institute. If your philosophy is to be more inclusive rather than exclusive it has a direct effect on participation and buy in with changes and improvements to processes and procedures.
In the strategy meetings, the participants discuss a diverse range of topics, including the perceptions or misperceptions of patients at the practice and issues among employees. At one meeting, the Practice Administrator decided to revamp the organization’s healthcare benefits because employees were unhappy with that aspect of their compensation. Changes in the way information is disseminated to patients, the process for checking patients in and out of the clinic and how employees are educated at the clinic occurred as a result of these meetings.
3. Share practice data with surgeons. When including physicians in the decision-making process, administrators should share practice data, such as financial statistics or patient evaluations, with physicians using a “Presidential” brief form. “Physicians like and enjoy data but they don’t want to be overwhelmed by it,” says Patrick Hinton, executive director of the Jacksonville (Fla.) Orthopaedic Institute. “If you give physicians the facts in a brief and concise way and then give them a recommendation as to what course of action they should take, they will be supportive of your decision making as an administrator.”
Additionally, when the administrator provides a synthesized report about a potential change in the practice, it shows that the administrator is able to competently research the topic and is coming to them with a realistic and valid request.
