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5 Ways to Choose a Peer For Your Hospital

28 November 2017
Cleverley
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Categories: Blog

Comparative Benchmarking is crucial to any business. Comparative reference points give you a place to start measuring your success, as well as goals to reach for in the future. You can compare your hospital’s success against your own past, of course, but that won’t tell you if you’re getting left behind by your competition. Benchmarking helps answer important questions like how am I doing in my industry, and am I keeping up with my competitors?

To set your benchmarking you must first choose a peer or peers, which can be difficult. Of course, no one can really compare to your facility, but we can get as close as possible.

 

Locally

The best place to start is your neighbors. Even if the hospitals around you are a different size or have a different specialty, you still compete with them for services. You’ll likely compete with them more as federal and state legislatures expand pricing transparency. If a patient investigates prices, they’re most likely to start locally.

If your peer is struggling in the same areas, you may not need to make cuts to remain competitive. On the other hand, you may discover a competitive edge. You may also want to widen your search to state or regional competitors.

 

National Average

If your numbers line up closely to your local competitors, you may miss growth potential. Sometimes it’s best to step back and analyze how the country is growing and changing.

 

By Bed Size

You can also look at different parameters nationally. Although these hospitals are governed by different legislation and population health, their comparable size means they will have similar resource management issues. There is a lot you can learn by comparing their data with your own.

 

Net Patient Revenue

This metric is used to assess relative payment levels for both inpatient and outpatient hospitals. You can evaluate average payment per patient encounter, allowing you to analyze data in greater detail. This metric can give you a more accurate measurement to compare your hospital with others. We talk more about Net Patient Revenue here.

 

A Combination

All of these measurements can help you choose a peer, but taking several into consideration can help you choose an accurate peer. Of course, our consultants can also guide you to the most accurate comparison.

Five Steps For Commodity Pricing Decisions

9 October 2017
Cleverley
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Categories: Blog

Five Steps For Commodity Pricing Decisions

Hospital executives are facing more pressure to reduce prices and payments as more customers compare their options, especially in certain outpatient services – surgery, imaging, and lab. Commercial margins for outpatient procedures tend to be higher, and changing them can create a lot of financial pressure.

Because of this pressure, many hospitals have abandoned minor outpatient surgery  departments completely, and left those services to physician-owned surgery centers. This isn’t always the best option, and there are ways for hospitals to lower prices and payments for services while remaining competitive.

Here are five ways to make an informed decision about that change.

 

  1. Determine Current Profitability.

Before you move forward, you have to have a firm understanding of where you are now. Can you absorb the fallout from changes? Do you expect a future increase in volume to cover the loss? Hospitals with above-average margins may do well with large reductions in price and payment, and could create serious competition for freestanding providers.

 

  1. Access Profitability

Next, analyze the specific sources of loss or profit by payer class, paying special attention to profit from government payers. Identify if there is a cushion of existing profit that will help you make changes. If the cushion is too small, making dramatic changes might not be an option.

 

  1. Understand Overall Cost Positions

You can’t make changes to price or payment without a clear understanding of the hospital’s cost structure. You may want to avoid reductions in areas that are already low, as the hospital will lose profit. You may see less impact when adjusting areas where costs are high.

 

  1. Access the Relative Payment Terms of Commercial Contracts

Understanding your payment terms in your existing contracts is crucial before making any changes. These terms will change the consequences of any change you make.

 

  1. Determine the Net Revenue Effect of Proposed Changes

This is where price studies come in handy. They allow you to analyze not only your current prices, but also see the effect of a pricing change. This kind of analysis will also let you see if potential losses could be offset by an anticipated increase in volume.

Many hospitals are considering lowering their prices to compete with freestanding clinics. Serious price and payment changes should be approached carefully. These five steps are a good place to start when decided if these changes are right for your hospital.