Does your facility need to hire a consultant?
Same-Day Surgery Manager
Does your facility need to hire a consultant?
Take this self-assessment quiz to find out
By Stephen W. Earnhart, MS
President and CEO
Earnhart and Associates, Dallas
Everyone hates consultants. I hate them too, and I am one! However, hospitals and other health care providers are relying on them in greater numbers than ever before.
Why? Let me give you a perfect example: We get called in to do a lot of "benchmarking" on everything from cost per case to turnaround time to admissions. Hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) are always looking for the "norm" and want to know where they fall. It’s like when we were in school and took exams to see where we as individuals fit in with our peers. Person ally, I like knowing where I am and how I compare to others. It gives me a sense of accomplish - ment or impending doom — or somewhere in the middle, I hope.
So benchmarking is a good thing. Hospitals always want to know how they compare with the freestanding centers in cost, efficiency, and other issues. But why do they think they need a consultant? They don’t! Read on, and save some money.
When we meet with managers or administrators, we are impressed with their level of knowledge on the issues. So why are we there? What is it we are going to discover — at your facility — that you don’t already know? Probably not much.
So why doesn’t your CEO just ask you for the data? So many of you have told me (in a kind way, of course), "Why does the hospital need a consultant? I know the answers to what they are looking for in this." For many managers out there, you are right. But for others . . . well, that’s not always the case. Here’s a quick quiz that you as the administrator or manager should be able to complete within five minutes. You’ll see why your CEO doesn’t ask you. The questions with asterisks are those that 80% of managers/administrators could not answer or find the answer to within five minutes! Here goes:
• What is your average supply cost per case?*
• What is your payer mix?*
• Define the "start time" you use to calculate turnaround time.
• Who is the busiest surgeon in your facility?
• Who is the most productive?*
• How many full-time equivalents (FTEs) do you employ?*
• Where are you on your staffing budget year-to-date (YTD)?*
• Can you produce your budget within five minutes?*
• When was the last time your preference cards were updated?*
• When was the last time you had a staff member audit a procedure for supply usage?*
• When was the last time you did a lunch relief?
• Who is your most expensive surgeon in the area of supply usage?*
• When did you review/audit the above surgeon’s supply usage?*
• How many payer groups are in the proposed ambulatory payment classifications (APCs)?*
• What is your turnaround time between cases?*
• What is your "same store growth" percentage this YTD vs. the previous YTD?*
• What are you paying for your intraocular lenses?*
• What is the average pharmacy cost per patient in anesthesia supplies?*
• What is your most profitable (in money!) procedure?*
• When was the last time you reviewed your surgical volume by physician?*
A silly exercise perhaps, but revealing. That is why consultants are called in! You should know or at least have access to this type of information. So many people say, "They don’t share that with me!" Or I’ll hear, "We have other people who handle that — my job is to take care of the patients."
I’m sorry, but in health care today, it is our job to know these answers. You need to know this stuff and then make sure your boss knows you know it! It does you no good to keep your light under a bushel.
If you could answer all of the above questions or know who to call and get an answer within five minutes, please call me. I have a job for you. If you couldn’t answer the questions marked by asterisks, unfortunately you have a great deal of company. Health care is changing. More hospitals are developing their own ASCs and going off campus in partnership with the surgeons. If you can’t answer these questions, don’t be surprised when you aren’t invited to participate.
For what it’s worth: Before I start a consulting assignment, I usually discuss the project with the hospital CEO. I cannot tell you the number of times the conversation starts with, "My staff was unable to tell me . . ." Thank you.
(Editor’s note: Earnhart can be reached at Earnhart and Associates, 5905 Tree Shadow Place, Suite 1200, Dallas, TX 75252. E-mail: [email protected]. World Wide Web: http://www.earnhart.com.)
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