Case Study: Performing a Practice Assessment

Background

Over a three-week period, HSG performed a complete audit of an employed physician network consisting of over 120 providers, 90 of whom were physicians. It was operating at an annual loss of approximately $18M. Based on the assessment, the largest contributors to that loss were:

• Low physician productivity as measured by Work RVUs (wRVUs)
• Failure to enforce provider compensation provisions tied to production, and wide variation in provider base wages
• Operational inefficiencies stemming from many small practices, often in adjacent locations
• Ineffective use of technology
• Inadequate management of the revenue cycle
• Inability of management to meaningfully impact the issues above
• Over-dependence on licensed nursing staff

How HSG Helped

HSG found seven opportunities to improve the bottom line performance of the network and reduce physician practice losses by an estimated $5M over two to three years:

 

 

Several major recommendations were made to reach this goal. When providing dramatic and sometimes long-term change, HSG is available to work with a client to prioritize and/or implement recommendations.

Results

Client satisfaction with the operational assessment was so high, it resulted in a request for a proposal to implement the assessment recommendations.

HSG divided the implementation process into three phases over a twelve-month engagement:

1. Address revenue cycle issues and update the current manpower plan;
2. Address the functional and strategic structure of the physician network, adopt needed changes to the data environment and develop solutions for the low productivity of network physicians; and
3. Assist with the introduction of operational enhancements and monitor results.