MODULE EXAMPLE: Health care provider benchmarking

Problem Objective Solution Results

Problem

Though health care providers, such as surgical centers and hospitals, often know their own operations and metrics, a single health care provider has no base of comparison to see how it rates against industry standards. The variations in types of operations and practices in health care make performing useful comparisons very difficult. The available tools and reports on the market that try to provide benchmarking metrics do not provide true apples-to-apples comparisons, thereby limiting their usefulness to these health care providers.

Objective

In concert with its initiative to provide customers with quality consulting services, a leading healthcare consulting service provider, a divison of a major medical device manufacturer, asked PortBlue to build a survey and analysis tool to provide existing ambulatory surgical centers and hospitals with comprehensive benchmarking data on a variety of operating and financial metrics to provide this apples-to-apples comparison not available elsewhere.

Solution

With the client's expertise, PortBlue developed modules on topics such as staffing, scheduling, accessory and supply costs, accounts receivable, and more. Delivered over several quarters, the survey questions are conducted for each topic, answers that respondents provide are validated, and custom tailored benchmarking reports are then compiled for the true comparisons. The information is collected with strict protocols to ensure complete confidentiality.

Results

The benchmarking initiative strives to help ASCs compare their performance and operations practices on an "apples-to-apples" comparison. Data collected by the Benchmarking module is analyzed along a variety of dimensions and compared with results from similar facility types, geographies, case volume, and operating environments. The results of these benchmarking modules will be used by physicians, nurse managers, and other ASC staff to understand the practices of similar facilities to identify potential areas for cost savings and operational improvements. The ultimate goal is to drive real value to their bottom lines.