1. Become more efficient. Essentially, “our strategy is to try to control costs and become more efficient,” he says. “We want to be ready for a better employment picture down the road.” OrthoIndy is constantly looking for ways to be more efficient, more patient-focused, less expensive and with a lower complication rate.
2. Install a more robust healthcare IT. OrthoIndy is installing a new IT system on the practice side and is considering a new system for the hospital, which opened as a paperless facility in 2005. “Our EMR is integrated on the practice side and we have a PAC system,” Dr. Dietz says. “We are upgrading it and changing to a more robust system to interface with other groups and other databases.”
3. Anchor our referral network. “We are aware the landscape will change with regards to referrals of patients,” Dr. Dietz says. To ensure the widest possible referral network in the future, “we’re actively trying to build a community presence by building a volunteer network,” he says. For example, OrthoIndy physicians participate in the Arthritis Foundation’s annual event. “We’re always looking for opportunities,” Dr. Dietz says.
4. Report quality metrics. Dr. Dietz would like universal reporting of quality in hospitals because he believes OrthoIndy would easily outperform full-service hospitals. OrthoIndy already compiles an array of statistics for internal use.
While some people want to start by reporting the data most hospitals are capable of reporting, Dr. Dietz urges caution. “The data is going to have to be meaningful,” he says. For example, reporting on infection rates might seem simple, but hospitals would have to agree on what constitutes an infection. Likewise, weighting length of stay based on acuity is not easy because coding does not reflect acuity very well, he says. And there is no code for obesity, which makes surgery much longer.
Of the current systems measuring hospital quality, Dr. Dietz prefers HealthGrades, which is based on CMS’ Medicare Provider Analysis and Review (MEDPAR) data. He also likes the Delta Group’s core compliance analysis. He is less impressed with the CMS’ Hospital Compare database.
Learn more about Indiana Orthopaedic Hospital.
