Three Ways to Help Your Medical Practice Perform Better
Back in September of 2018, the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) released their 2018 MGMA DataDive Better Performers and a corresponding analysis report. The report, Winning Strategies From Top Medical Groups, combined data from the Better Performers data set with original qualitative research and identifies three top ways in which medical practices can attain “better performer” status. I recently reread this report and I must say the three top ways still applies in today's medical practice environment.
Top Three Strategies
Winning Strategies from Top Medical Groups identifies three key ways better performing medical practices set themselves apart:
- Build engaging, patient-focused cultures: Effective and transparent communication and engagement—between staff, providers, and patients—show up again and again in our research into better performers. For example, better performers are much more likely to conduct staff, provider, and patient satisfaction surveys and share results transparently throughout the organization. This knowledge empowers the entire staff to identify opportunities for improvement and create action plans.
- Focus on long-term, strategic progress: Better performers establish clear vision and goals that help them prioritize their efforts and resources while also juggling daily practice operations. They also consistently revisit their strategy to reach these goals, adjusting tactics as needed. To do this, they regularly monitor their performance and invest in analytic tools.
- Constant work to improve operations: Better performers are systematic about improvement—they invest time and effort in new resources, and they maximize the tools and information already available to them. One of the biggest considerations is technology. These practices see technology as a tool that, if used well, can help them streamline operations, improve communication, boost patient engagement and compliance, and deliver better insights. We also found these practices often leverage MGMA data and tools to benchmark their own performance, including MGMA DataDive Cost and Revenue and MGMA DataDive Provider Compensation.
Top Performers
These top performers reap significant rewards from these efforts. According to the The 2018 MGMA DataDive Better Performers report, it found that these medical practices achieve higher productivity levels per year, resulting in lower general operating costs as a percentage of revenue, and higher income per physician. This focus on excellence also benefits patients. Most better performing practices offer lower wait times, with primary care practices offering a median 7.5-minute shorter wait time for patients when compared to the industry median.
“The reality is, any practice can achieve top performance when the people within it make a sustained effort to do more of the right things well,” said Ken Hertz, Principal MGMA Consultant back in 2018. “We developed this report not only to give practices strategies to get the most from their business, but to show them that these efforts pay off—for practices and patients alike. When practices invest in improving their business, patients are more efficiently served, increasing patient satisfaction and health outcomes, and improving patient retention rates. It’s a feedback loop that benefits everyone.”
This report is well worth the read. As I said above, it's content still applies today!
Additional Resources
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