29 Apr Creating Efficiencies by Focusing on Patient Outcomes
The costs of being a healthcare provider are on the rise, and when you combine that with higher demand from patients for a more personalised, affordable service and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to run a financially viable organisation.
As such, clinics and physicians must look for new strategies and patient care models to increase efficiency and relieve the pressure on their bottom line.
VOLUME VS. VALUE
To remain relevant to patients clinicians must switch to value-based delivery model, where the focus is on maximising the value of care while striving to achieve the best possible experience for their patients.
This means shifting focus from the volume of patients moving in and out of clinics, and towards the broader experience and outcomes achieved.
To provide better care, many practices are moving away from a model where they offer a full range of services (a model which is neither cost-effective nor does it deliver the quality of care expected by patients today) and, instead reducing the number of services they provide while working closely with a network of trusted partners to deliver high-value care.
ADOPT A PATIENT-CENTRIC HEALTHCARE MODEL
A patient-centric care model represents the notion of patients as owners of their medical data and as active partners in their health.
This gives them more opportunities to be involved in their health care journey, and, through the use of technology, allows different care providers to all come together for collaborative support.
IMPROVING PATIENT CARE THROUGH TECHNOLOGY
Outdated workflows and technologies are inefficient and can cost your practice time, money and stress.
By keeping your systems and technology up-to-date, you’re:
- Eliminating the excessive administrative workload that is burdensome to your team
- Introducing smarter information collection and sharing, improving the speed of patient care
- Freeing up time for face-to-face patient care
DOCUMENT PROCESSES TO ESTABLISH ACCURATE BENCHMARKS AND ONGOING ANALYSIS
When a patient leaves a consult, what do the next steps of their treatment look like and how involved are your clinicians across the entire patient journey?
How long does it take to treat a patient? What does the average medical bill look like (and how much)?
Documenting processes and outcomes, provides long-term insights into the steps, costs and measures required to achieve better patient outcomes and run an efficient practice.
Using this information, you can establish accurate benchmarks and identify areas of your practice that are draining money, staff and resources, or don’t appear viable in the long-run.
These could be specific treatments or different departments in a larger organisation.
Having visibility here can allow clinics to:
- Reduce overall medical operation costs by establishing a revenue-model that is influenced by patient outcomes and not just the hours worked.
- Better forecast future demand and expectations of revenue month on month.
- Establish frameworks and optimise work processes.
- Invest in the right resources and work closely with patients and partners to deliver better patient experiences.