Grow Volume by Aligning  Accountability

A healthy hospital becomes increasingly efficient in service delivery and therefore serves more of its community over time. By focusing on volume, organizations can grow services that raise patient satisfaction, improve quality by reviewing and aligning to physician needs, raise employee productivity, and increase revenue.

However, leaders who are unfamiliar with the Five Pillar approach to service and operational excellence may not give consistent attention to volume growth strategies and market share opportunities. Sometimes the individuals who can most impact volume report to a variety of vice presidents who may not communicate messages about volume as a priority.

Monthly volume meetings among senior leaders can provide an excellent way to hardwire sustained organizational focus, align essential direction, and gain input to increase both departmental and organizational volume. These meetings align all senior leaders who are empowered to take ownership of volume opportunities and cascade information to staff.

Tips:
> Identify key volume areas.
Invite leaders from every department that influences volume (e.g. outpatient areas, surgery, Emergency Department, radiology, lab) to attend volume meetings to help grow market share.

> Weight "growth" heavily on leader evaluations.
An objective Five Pillar leader evaluation tool aligns organizational goals and priorities to results through clear targets and objective measurements of performance. (What gets measured gets done!) Studer Group recommends that department leaders who can influence volume be assigned weights of 20 to 30 percent under the Growth Pillar on their leader evaluations.

> Focus volume meetings on results.
Ask each individual attending the meeting to present a slide with key information on volume goals, current volume, and actions being taken to meet or exceed the target. The impact: Everyone will learn new strategies and ideas from leaders hitting their targets. Discussion will even help high performers move to the next level with new strategies others are using.

A last tip: Understanding physician referral patterns is a key foundation for growing and maintaining volume. Studer Group recommends you use a measurement or reconciliation report to track referral patterns by physician. The volume team then tracks by specialty and month-to-month referrals. When the team notes declining physician referrals, follow-up is warranted to understand the opportunities to better serve the physician and his or her patients. It's an excellent way to uncover hidden issues and further develop strong physician relationships.