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March 23, 2009
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Published in HMT
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Physician relationship management valued as
critical pursuit for bottom-line success
Pranam Ben and Diana Croft
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The healthcare industry is feeling the effects of the current economy and hospitals
are struggling to achieve the competing objectives of providing exceptional patient
care while protecting their bottom line. Hospital administrators and executives
recognize the challenges, but only those who take proactive measures to ensure the
stability of their revenue streams and improve continuity of care will remain viable
in the long-term.
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In searching for ways to gain a competitive edge in the marketplace, hospitals are
embracing physician relationship management as a practical and affordable solution.
Physicians unquestionably play a key role in a driving the financial health of a
hospital through patient referrals for diagnostic tests, consultations and treatment.
Thus, it is critical for a hospital’s bottom line to ensure that theirs is the facility
of choice for physicians in the community.
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Through the development, maintenance and expansion of physician relationships, a
hospital can increase its patient flow and revenue stream while also reinforcing
its reputation in the community as a leading healthcare provider. In order to effectively
strengthen these connections and garner the sought-after referrals, however, hospitals
must regard community physicians as important “customers,” developing programs that
make it easy for the physicians to do business with the hospital and ultimately
are beneficial to both parties.
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To date, this has been a difficult objective to achieve. Despite the continual innovation
and deployment of electronic healthcare technology, the physician relationship management
continues to be antiquated and paper-based. In some cases, hospitals have only one
staff member charged with overseeing and developing these programs. And, if that
individual leaves the hospital for another position or personal reasons, the connection
and relationship between physician and hospital is jeopardized.
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A better approach is to bring the referral process into the 21st century with an
interactive, intelligent business system. Hospitals today can avail themselves of
Web-based e-referral solutions like Preferr, for instance, that allow them to better
process information exchanged with community physicians, exchange real time messages
in a secure manner as well as track patterns and trends within their referral base.
This enables them not only to strengthen bidirectional communications with community
physicians, but provides actionable insight that can be used to optimize relationships
while identifying and maximizing new opportunities. This also has a direct impact
on improving the patient experience. The abundance of data, hosted in a safe and
secure environment, offers countless advantages by helping hospitals:
- Establish ongoing, two-way dialog with referring physicians. All too often, orders,
charts and other paperwork are misplaced between physician’s office and hospital
– which delays tests and procedures, and frustrates hospital, physician and patient
alike. Likewise, referring physicians are often concerned about “losing” patients
to hospital providers. They may not routinely be notified about tests, treatments
and results that take place in the hospital – and so are left in the dark about
their patients’ condition.
- Extract and analyze data about referral patterns – which physicians send the most
patients and for what procedures, which days of the week have the peak volumes,
demographic profile of patients being referred, for instance. This allows the hospital
to analyze its revenue stream and identify opportunities for growth. It also reveals
information about the community physician, which can be used to develop CME and
other programs of interest.
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While only a small percent of hospitals and physician practices have adopted an
e-referral solution, the trend is growing as a result of the near- and long-term
financial benefits:
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The burden on community physicians is eased through the simple automated referral
process, access to critical referral information on demand, which strengthens their
loyalty to the hospital and frequency with which they send referrals.
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Patient and physician satisfaction increases as a result of the streamlined process
and tracking ability, thus enhancing the hospital’s ability to maintain its relationships
and reputation.
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Hospitals can use their referral records to project future revenue, capitalize on
existing relationships, and broaden their outreach to physicians and the community.
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Multiple hospitals often compete for the same business; those who embrace modern
solutions such as e-referrals will become the preferred provider and ensure an on-going
revenue stream.
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There currently are only a few comprehensive e-referral products on the market and
many of the existing systems are “homegrown” solutions that were developed by a
specific organization for its own use. Vendors that offer e-referral solutions differ
in their fees and contract requirements. Some are subscription-based and prices
may vary based upon the length of the commitment; others charge installation and
set-up fees, and some also require a maintenance contract.
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In an era during which innovation and excellence will determine survival, it is
more important than ever for hospitals to cultivate physician relationships with
all of the tools and strategies available to them. Implementing an e-referral solution
is a simple step that results in a valuable resource for advancing those essential
relations and establishing the organization as a forward thinking leader in healthcare
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Pranam Ben is the Chief Executive Officer and Diana Croft is President, Services
for Visions@Work, a provider of physician relationship management and electronic
referral services.
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