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Tracking the Tracking Systems for
Physician Relations Efforts
Software Just One Aspect of Successful Tracking System
Author: Allison McCarthy, MBA
Originally published in the June 2007 issue of Strategic Health Care Marketing, the author updated the content in March 2009 to reflect ongoing advancements in physician relations tracking.
Physician relations programs are popping up across the country as more hospitals work to develop relationships with and referrals from medical staff members. As these programs grow, there is increasing interest in the ability to track activity, measure results, and demonstrate their impact through reporting. Since various software solutions are available to support these programs, selecting the system that best fits the organization depends on good advance planning. Without an initial assessment, the tool will drive the process - much like the tail wagging the dog - rather than the process and organizational preferences directing the selection of the system.
In fall 2006, Barlow/McCarthy (then with Corporate Health Group) and Strategic Health Care Marketing conducted a national survey on tracking tools and management reporting related to hospital physician relations efforts. This research found that a number of different systems are being used for physician relations tracking and reporting, including:
| Excel or other spreadsheet | 26% |
| ACT! | 21% |
| Homegrown system | 21% |
| Paper system | 14% |
| Access | 13% |
| Goldmine | 12% |
| MarketWare | 8% |
| Other (SalesForce, E-Centaurus, SalesLogix, ContactWise, EchoAccess, Meditech File Maker) | 11% |
Note: Multiple systems used by some organizations
The software is a tool and not a "magic bullet." In fact, the survey results also noted that there was a degree of dissatisfaction with the tracking tools that had been selected. The success of the tool's actual performance greatly depends on how well functionality and customization facilitates processes and documents outcomes. Unfortunately, physician relations professionals all too often select software without thinking about their overall contact management and reporting needs. They then become dissatisfied because the system or tool doesn't flow naturally into their day-to-day functions or achieve their desired objectives.
How-tos for developing your tracking system
Organizations need to first ask themselves some basic questions. What information needs to be captured? Specifically, what should the system do with the information? How will staff access the system? What types of reports should be routinely generated? By answering these and many other questions, physician relations leaders will have a clearer idea of what they're looking for and what they're trying to accomplish.
With that in mind, rather than simply shopping for software, use your physician relations business plan and structure as the first step to building out your overall process. Having these pieces in place - including your target goals and associated tactics — should be the starting point of your measurement system.
In the broadest sense, these tools usually quantify two basic items: the retention and/or growth of referral volume and the performance of physician relations staff.
For example, if a key objective is to attract new surgeons to practice in your recently expanded surgical suite, you will need to ensure that these physicians can be easily identified in the system. They should be "tagged" for that strategy, and your system should document physician relations contacts and report on results. If your efforts are retention-focused and you want to track physician concerns to facilitate their resolution, your system must incorporate this functionality.
In general, well-structured physician relations programs have core tracking and measurement capabilities in place, such as:
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Basic demographic data on physicians, including contact information, office staff, office locations, and hospital affiliations.
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History of interactions with physicians, from conversations with physicians to issue resolution to results of specific sales initiatives. The tool should also have a tickler system to help your sales staff manage next steps. For real organizational value, this information should identify key opportunities or areas of improvement.
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Ability to create target lists. Your system should allow you to identify targets by such parameters as specialty, credential status, ZIP code, and competing hospital status.
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Program management. Disciplines include prioritizing targets, monitoring sales staff activity, identifying skill improvement needs, and gauging progress.
In advanced programs, the tracking and measurement system may also integrate other functions. Examples include:
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Documentation of marketing communications efforts so that your physician relations staff are aware of those physicians who received a specific direct mail piece, for instance, and can reinforce the message in their face-to-face meetings.
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Interface with another physician strategy area such as physician recruitment so that information on a physician candidate can be used by your physician relations representatives to build and implement their retention strategy.
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Integration with your call center that enables referral information captured by your physician-to-physician line to be shared with your field staff.
Reporting what you have measured
Once you have determined what to track and how to measure it efficiently, you can address the way to approach key internal constituencies. "Organizations are reframing physician relations into an accountability-driven model" says Kriss Barlow, Barlow-McCarthy Principal. "While each system measures or values outcomes differently, physician relations can deliver results. Consider these options for measuring your program:"
- Qualitative Results
- Physician and patient satisfaction
- Improved physician communication
- Increased physician interaction
- Market intelligence
- New referrals across all services
- Service line specific referrals
- Inpatient
- Outpatient
- Both
These should be coupled with quantitative results measuring:
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Sales staff performance reports, including visits conducted, continuing medical education sessions arranged, and hospital orientations provided, as measured against performance expectations.
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Activity reports that demonstrate the effectiveness of sales efforts against a target group of physicians. A side-by-side comparison of referral volume, revenue, and contribution margin before and after an initiative goes a long way in demonstrating the value of a physician relations program.
Then as it relates to the performance of the program, reports can be generated showing:
Use the same report format each time and distribute reports on the same day of the month. Doing so makes it easy for leadership to see changes over time.
Homegrown or purchased
All of this preliminary planning work will help you identify the software program that best fits your needs rather than having the software drive what information is collected and reported. Still, the tool you select will depend on many factors, such as the size of the physician relations program, budget, the staff's computer literacy, and the organization's security concerns.
Although many organizations participating in the fall 2006 survey chose vendor-hosted tracking software or systems, some 20 percent used a homegrown system to track their physician relations initiatives. OhioHealth, a multi-hospital organization headquartered in Columbus, three years ago developed its own contact management system that uniquely meets the needs of a sophisticated physician relations department.
Kurt Stull, director of physician relations, and Troy Miller, manager of strategic planning, built the system based on specific requests from interested stakeholders. "We wanted to combine a physician database with an off-the-shelf contact management system and an issue resolution system. No such software or technology with those parameters existed," says Stull.
Previously, Stull says, OhioHealth had an Access-based contact management system and had built an issue resolution function through the hospital's Lotus Notes system. However, those functions did not interface and were ineffective.
"Through our homegrown system we have these various pots of information that can now 'talk' to each other," says Stull. "We have the ability to collect physician profiles and at the same time record physician visits and issue resolution information."
According to Stull, the advantages of developing a homegrown system include flexibility, full customization, and a central repository of information that can be accessed by anyone with a username and password for the system. He says he hasn't experienced any disadvantages. "However, organizations have to commit to making this successful, to respond when needed, [and] provide the manpower and budget commitment that's necessary in maintaining the system," he points out.
Before embarking on their own project development, organizations should ask themselves how much commonality exists between departments. For example, physician relations-payer credentialing systems or physician relations-call center systems are natural pairings because each area is simply another touch point in the physician relationship. Another critical question is whether staff would be able to function well with the same basic screens and data fields.
To a large extent, whether to tie the knot will depend on how much these groups are already working together and whether there is common oversight. Someone who can advocate for a shared system among different groups is vital.
Successful programs
Regardless of the organization's size and physician relations goals, a tracking and measurement capability is an essential management tool and helps demonstrate the value of a physician relations program. As well stated by John Halamka, Chief Information Officer of Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in the March 2 issue of BusinessWeek, "implement applications that filter data so that it becomes information, that transforms information into knowledge and that ultimately provides wisdom based on that knowledge exactly when needed". With proper information, the hospital or health system can make informed decisions about how this tactical approach fits into the broader mix of hospital-physician strategies and which efforts yield the best results. Sound planning and proper selection of the most suitable software tool will help ensure that organizations continue with their physician relations initiatives.