This post was written by our Guest Blogger Susan Maxsween who is our Healthcare Transformation Manager at RMS.

Nationally, healthcare delivery is undergoing significant change and reform.  Locally, individual practices are being asked to join this movement, with the expectation of creating  more effective provider communities that:

  1. Engages the patient, as a whole person, in care management;
  2. Delivers high-quality, effective care;
  3. Coordinates treatments across all levels of healthcare delivery; and
  4. Lowers the cost of care.

The RMS Healthcare team of professionals, and affiliated consultants, assist practices, physician organizations and hospital owned/managed physician practices in undertaking these challenging and rewarding practice transformation activities. The firm understands that from a business perspective, transformation must deliver on lowering overhead costs and increasing practice revenue, all the while building a patient centered culture.

The RMS Healthcare Transformation Services include:

Experienced staff conducts a thorough assessment of the practice’s present operations, capabilities and net revenue potential.  These are then benchmarked against known PCMH requirements (dictated by NCQA, URAC, or others) and “mature” PCMH practices.  The practice receives a comprehensive report with scoring and next step recommendations.

  • Practice Workflow Evaluation

The RMS Healthcare team evaluates existing practice workflow and identifies tips for (1) reducing patient cycle time; (2) optimizing patient interaction (high touch) time; (3) improving the patient’s experience; and (4)improved revenue cycle management. Additionally, recommendations are made to streamline processes and optimize efficiency.  The RMS Healthcare team uses established LEAN operational techniques including Dr. George Labovitz’s Organizational Dynamics® and W. Edwards Deming Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) model for continuous quality templates.

  • NCQA PPC ®PCMH™ Application Facilitation and Submission

RMS has an established and experienced team of professionals that help with the practice’s application development and submission to the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) for patient centered medical home accreditation.  The RMS Healthcare staff guides the practice through achieving “required elements” and documenting all supporting practice activities.  The application facilitation includes working with NCQA during its review process and feedback phase.

  • Patient Satisfaction Surveying Using CAHPS® National Survey Tool

Research & Marketing Strategies, Inc. is an approved CMS vendor for administration of hospital and home healthcare CAHPS® patient satisfaction surveying.  While not yet official, all indications are that outpatient surveying will also become a regulatory requirement utilizing the CAHPS® patient satisfaction survey tool.  The RMS team has experience using this instrument and has established reporting features to display the findings.  A reasonable subset of a practice’s recently seen patients will be surveyed, providing actionable and meaningful results.

  • Practice Revenue Enhancement

Experienced staff will map current PCMH standards to specific new or expanded service offerings that will create sustainable sources of revenue for the practice.  These services are intended to equip the practice to be the medical home for what are considered to be “low risk” health maintenance patients.

  • Practice Transformation Dashboard Metrics

RMS Healthcare analysts will create a practice specific transformation dashboard to chart progress in activities and revenue growth.  Moreover, specific efforts are focused on showing the practice how to document its healthcare quality to be shared with insurance payers, self-insured employers and the community-at-large.

  • Change Management – Engaging the Staff

Implementing and managing change is difficult.  Modifying staff routine for purposes of process improvement can be uncomfortable.  The RMS Healthcare team can help staff and clinicians prepare for and embrace change related to practice transformation.  Staff morale and productivity will be highly dependent upon how practices accept change management.  RMS staff will use proven techniques and provide documentation for continuous quality improvement.

  • Healthcare Industry Education and Training

The RMS Healthcare team has a proven reputation for educating medical personnel on industry trends, regulatory requirements and practice growth.  For over 10 years, the RMS team has been supplying practice specific training for such issues as HIPAA-Privacy, HIPAA-Security, patient satisfaction and OSHA.  General industry trend training also is regularly conducted on such topics as: defining the patient centered medical home, explaining accountable care management, use of patient registries, clinical integration, how to market your practice and patient communications.

Let us help you attain your strategic business goals. Contact Susan in our Healthcare Division at 315-635-9802 or by e-mail at SusanM@RMSresults.com.