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58 to 63 percent of your
medical staff also admit
patients to competing
hospitals.
Every admission “lost” to
the competition represents
approximately $5,000 in lost
incremental net revenue for
your hospital.
A
significant percentage of
on-staff physicians have not
admitted a single patient in
the last month - or year.
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Self-managed in-house
physician relations
programs produce little,
if any, sustained,
measurable
admissions gains.
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EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
The 2007 Hospital Check-Up Report—Physician
Perspectives on American Hospitals examines the
experiences of more than 21,000 physicians at 224
hospitals across the nation in 2006. The report
provides physician perspectives on hospitals across
the country. In addition to the key role physicians
play in providing care and making treatment decisions,
physician admission and referral patterns drive the
financial health of the hospital, making physicians
critical to business operations as well. Key findings
from Press Ganey’s research include:
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The
most important thing hospital administrators can
do to enhance their relationship with physicians
is to respond to their needs and ideas. Four of
the top five priority issues doctors have for
hospitals deal with communication between
administrators and physicians. |
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One
way the administration can build its relationships
with physicians is to make it easier for doctors
to care for their patients. One of the top
national priorities for hospitals, from the
physician’s perspective, is to make it easier to
provide quality care for patients. |
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Physicians give the quality of patient care a high
rating compared to other aspects of hospital
operations. |
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Surgeons, typically a large contributor to overall
hospital revenue, are among the least satisfied
physicians. |
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In
order to increase the growth of the hospital,
administrators must convince low-admitting and
low-referring physicians to utilize the hospital
more frequently. |
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Physicians who refer the majority of their
patients to the hospitals they serve are the most
satisfied with the care provided. |
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Those who refer less than 20% of their patients
are the least satisfied with the facility. |
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The
longer physicians work with a hospital, the higher
their level of satisfaction with the hospital. |
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Physicians who have had admitting privileges at a
facility for more than twenty years report higher
overall satisfaction. |
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Physicians who have practiced eleven to twenty
years are the least satisfied with a hospital’s
performance,especially compared to those
physicians at both ends of the experience
spectrum. |
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Hospitals that are highly recommended by patients
as a good place to receive care are typically
lauded by their physicians and employees as well. |
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TOP
PRIORITIES FOR
MEETING PHYSICIAN NEEDS
As the
primary source of all patient referrals and as leaders
of the health care team, physicians play a vital role
in the hospital’s overall performance. Hospitals that
effectively build solid relationships with their
physicians benefit from a consistent patient flow. Due
to high physician demand, unsatisfied physicians can
be easily drawn to a competing facility. Hospitals
that successfully meet the needs of their physicians
enjoy both financial and clinical benefits.
The National Physician Priority Index identifies what
doctors say hospital administrators can do to better
meet the expectations of physicians.
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The
number one priority for improvement is how the
administration responds to the needs and ideas of
physicians. |
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Four
of the top five priorities deal directly with
doctors’ relationships with administrators. |
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One
way the administration can build their
relationships with physicians is to make it easier
for doctors to care for their patients. |
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