MGMA Benchmarking Report: Successful Medical Practices Focus On Cost Management, Patient Satisfaction

“Better-performers” demonstrate management behaviors that equal financial success

Medical practices deemed “better-performing medical practices” in the MGMA Performance and Practices of Successful Medical Groups: 2012 Report Based on 2011 Data excelled in four performance management categories: profitability and cost management; productivity, capacity and staffing; accounts receivable (A/R) and collections; and patient satisfaction. 

Profitability and cost management
Respondents in multispecialty practices deemed “better-performers”  had higher total medical revenue per full-time-equivalent (FTE) physician (a median of $814,944) compared with their peers (a median of $666,634).

Affiliated Community Medical Centers (Willmar, Minn.), was designated as a better-performing medical practice in the profitability and cost management category. They credited their success, in part, to their efforts to optimize back-end business processes and collections. Chief Financial Officer Thomas Rozendaal says the organization's “business office is especially effective at managing the revenue cycle and managing its collections.”

Productivity, capacity and staffing
Better performing multispecialty practices reported lower total operating cost as a percentage of total medical revenue at a median of 53.85 percent, compared with other practices’ 63.6 percent.

Medical director Peter Valenzuela, MD, MBA (link to awards PR, he’s the winner of phys exec of the year award) of PeaceHealth Medical Group (PHMG) (Bellingham, Wash.), designated as a better performing medical practice implemented a cost-saving initiative to ensure that staff tasks were appropriate to licensure and to improve patient flow across clinics.The new approach reduced total patient visit time by 23 minutes, primarily through reduced time in waiting rooms and during handoffs between provider and clinical staff. It also decreased staffing needs and supply costs and improved satisfaction for patients and caregivers.

A/R and collections
Better-performing practices collected their receivables more quickly than their peers and indicated a that they had a smaller percentage of total A/R in the 120+ days category. In contrast, organizations not deemed better-performers reported up to 18 percent of their A/R in the 120+ day category.

Jean A. Hansen, MBA, FACMPE, chief executive officer of Consultants in Gastroenterology, Kansas City, Mo., designated a better-performing practice, revised her group’s reporting strategy to a format compatible with the Association survey methodology, enabling it to measure the group’s progress against the gold standard in medical practice. This year, the practice reported a nearly 100 percent net collection ratio (99.57 percent) and a remarkable 78.96 percent of its A/R in the current aging category.

Patient satisfaction
Better performing medical practices indicated that they poll patients on their satisfaction and used the results to educate physicians and staff about behavior, to evaluate and improve practice operations, and to benchmark against other practices, among other uses.

These patient satisfaction surveys polled patients on elements such as appointment availability, overall experience and quality of care.

Designated a better-performing practice in the patient satisfaction category, Durango (Colo.) Orthopedics has developed a national reputation for quality care, but physicians and administrators “don’t rest on those laurels,” said Adele Rittmueller, CMPE, administrator and CEO of the practice. To maintain, and even improve high satisfaction levels, the practice supplies satisfaction surveys to patients, requires new employees to complete customer service training and invites patients to fill out comment cards throughout the clinic

The MGMA Suvery report, a benchmarking standard among medical groups for more than a decade, was produced using data from 348 better-performing groups that responded to the MGMA 2012 Cost Survey, as well as a supplemental questionnaire that assessed practices and procedures.  The report features success stories of some of these organizations and how they tackled issues to achieve their status as better-performers.

MGMA surveys depend on voluntary participation and may not be representative of the industry. Readers are urged to review the entire survey report when making conclusions regarding trends or other observations.

Editorial copies of the report are available to qualifying media. Contact Liz Boten, media relations representative, at lboten@mgma.com to request a printed copy of the survey. Visit the MGMA store here (http://mgma.com/store/Surveys-and-Benchmarking/Performance-and-Practices-of-Successful-Medical-Groups-2012-Report-Based-on-2011-Data-Print-Edition/?&kc=SG2012PR) to purchase a copy of the report.

More information and solutions on profitability and cost management, productivity, capacity and staffing, accounts receivable and collections, and patient satisfaction.

About MGMA-ACMPE
MGMA-ACMPE is the premier association for professional administrators and leaders of medical group practices. In 2011, members of the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), and its standard-setting division, the American College of Medical Practice Executives (ACMPE), voted to merge to form a new association. Since 1926, the Association has delivered networking, professional education and resources, political advocacy and certification for medical practice professionals. The Association represents 22,500 members who lead 13,200 organizations nationwide in which some 280,000 physicians provide more than 40 percent of the healthcare services delivered in the United States.

MGMA-ACMPE’s mission is to elevate the performance of medical practice leaders and their organizations by connecting members, building partnerships, setting the standards for certification, advocating for physician practice and providing innovative solutions. MGMA-ACMPE is headquartered in Englewood, Colo., and maintains a government affairs office in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit mgma.com.