Q&A:
Physician Training Delivers ROI
Hardwired Results® interviews Stephen C. Beeson, MD about how he calculates the ROI on physician training...

HR: Can you connect physician training to better financials?
SB: In the outpatient setting, the patient experience is most predicted by the patient interaction with physicians. We estimate that our medical group increased gross revenue before expenses—by approximately $200,0006 last year—by improving patient satisfaction with physicians.

We began by tracking the percentage of physicians that ranked above the 90th percentile in patient satisfaction when compared to peers nationwide. And we learned that physicians above the 90th had patient transfer rates away from physician practices well below the group average transfer rate. There were 40 fewer transfers per year for each physician. That implies greater loyalty and patient retention for physicians who have higher patient satisfaction.

By moving 20 additional physicians up to our 90th benchmark (from 21.1% to 30% of physicians based on our measurement tool), we retained 12 to 14 additional patients per physician per year. Our calculations were based on the fact that only a small percentage of patients leave by choice, and most leave for reasons beyond our control. Based on our senior and commercial payer mix, the increase in physicians above the 90th percentile in patient satisfaction potentially "retained" 220 to 240 patients with gross annual revenue of more than $200,000.

HR: So what did you do to increase patient satisfaction with those physicians who weren't initially ranked as highly?
SB: Over the past four years, we've recognized that we couldn't improve as an organization until the physicians themselves got better. So in partnership with Sharp HealthCare, we launched the Sharp Experience, a system-wide effort dedicated to service and operational excellence. As part of that effort, we measured patient satisfaction and trained physicians in patient interaction and communication improvement.

Service training for physicians has included individual, site, department, and group-wide physician training sessions. These sessions have provided training on tactical physician behaviors that have demonstrated their ability to improve patient loyalty, patient compliance and patient satisfaction. It was these results that inspired me to write Practicing Excellence.

HR: Why is ROI so important?
SB: Cost containment and fiscal responsibility are the reality in today's health care environment. As a result, good leaders will often ask how ROI will be demonstrated when staff propose spending time or resources on new tactics or initiatives. It's reasonable to ask how something new will specifically improve the competitiveness, performance, and the bottom line of the organizations they lead.

But perhaps even more importantly, I know that improving patient satisfaction through better physician training opens the door for higher clinical impact, improved compliance with treatment regimens, an improved reputation in the community, and a more fulfilling experience for both patients and physicians.

The ROI for physicians is patients who engage in treatment plans because there was expert communication and close collaboration between patients and trusted physicians...as well as partnership between physicians caring for the same patient. The ROI for me is the time a mother calls after a visit to say thank you for recognizing and treating her daughter's previously undetected eating disorder. It's what we as physicians have always wanted, since the day when we first chose this profession.

Stephen C. Beeson, MD is author of Practicing Excellence and is a practicing family physician at Sharp Rees- Stealy Medical Group, a 250-physician multi-specialty group affiliated with Sharp HealthCare in San Diego.

6 Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Group’s ROI is based on retaining an additional 40
   patients for each of the 20 physicians moved to the 90th percentile in patient
   satisfaction compared to peers nationwide. Of these 800 patients, 30% were assumed to
   disenroll for voluntary reasons. Based on payer mix, SRS estimates retention due to
   physician training to be 192 commercial patients at $385 per year and 48 seniors at
   $2,860 per year for additional gross revenue of $211,200.

Read the case for service—from patient compliance and market share to malpractice risk and physician relationships. Get physician training tools with demonstrated ROI.

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