Just like any other business development activity, physician relations should be substantiated with formal communication and reporting tools. Results – that’s what organizational leaders are looking for. And collecting and communicating these results in a consistent, strategic way helps give credibility to the information. That is why the topic we’ve selected for this issue is centered on Proactive Reporting to Quantify Results. We hope these articles will provide you with some ideas to build or fine tune your reporting process.
By Kriss Barlow
Today’s healthcare leaders obviously recognize that physicians have direct impact on their organization’s bottom line. In response, facilities across the country have taken action by proactively developing roles – commonly known as physician relations or sales - that regularly interface with this key audience. In addition, many facilities have also taken steps internally to create a more welcoming environment for physicians.
If all this is true, why is it that I hear from more physician relations leaders that they feel less connected to senior leadership? And more importantly, they want to know how they can re-connect in a meaningful way.
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Regardless of the reason, it presents an opportunity to rethink how information is transmitted to leaders and the value of a proactive, consistent internal sales strategy. Here are just a few ideas to get you started with such a strategy targeted to executive leaders:
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Develop reports that provide a succinct summary of activity and results.
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Provide meaningful and reliable market intelligence.
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Generate concise quarterly summaries of new referrals.
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Include a snapshot of planned activities to let the leaders know there is a strategy to
the referral development effort. |
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Provide a summary of concerns/issues that are heard, by priority and by category.
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Providing all this detail in a one- to two-page summary allows leaders to see the impact,
the approach and the effort side of physician relations. |
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Another method of connecting is through planned internal communication. Physician relations program leaders and occasionally the field staff should proactively reach out to key stakeholders within the service lines and hospital leadership to gain additional understanding of the hospital’s plan from a strategic, operational and clinical perspective. This insight helps physician relations staff to develop stronger sales and retention plans.
We know that physician relationships matter and we know that the physician relations/sales role is front and center in creating impact. Now the challenge is linking the two by demonstrating value and impact.
By Dave Zirkle
Success in today’s challenging healthcare environment rarely occurs by chance but rather through well-designed and executed planning. And this is definitely true in the category of physician relations. Good physician sales planning addresses four basic questions as steps in developing a strong sales plan:
1) Where are we?
2) Where do we want to go?
3) How do we get there?
4) How are we doing?
Step 1 (where are we?) involves the collection of background information to assess the current situation. This includes the organization’s strategic goals and objectives as well as local and national trends, targeted product areas, market dynamics and competitive intelligence. More importantly, successful planning moves beyond simple collection of data to critical analysis of the information to support the sales planning process.
Step 2 (where do we want to go?) identifies the strategic growth areas the sales program will support. The initiatives can be broad - strategic service lines, rural outreach - or more tightly defined such as an increase in breast cancer patients in the primary service area. Following a thorough analysis of the information collected in Step 1, sales should identify 3 to 5 strategic initiatives that the program can play a significant role in terms of volume and revenue growth.
Step 3 (how do we get there?) involves two separate stages that include physician targeting and forecasting. Several techniques are available to support the targeting process but almost all attempt to classify physicians into growth or retention categories. In general, targets are identified based on a historical analysis of volume and/or financial data along with other factors such as physician specialty, age and geographic location.More importantly, successful planning moves beyond simple collection of data to critical analysis of the information to support the sales planning process.
Step 4 (how are we doing?) identifies upfront how progress will be evaluated and appropriate performance measures. Items to consider include sales activity, physician volume, financial indicators, market share and physician satisfaction. Two standard reports used to monitor sales programs include: 1) monthly activities completed by sales staff, and 2) quarterly comparisons of actual to forecasted physician volume.
While more mature sales programs will generally focus on all four planning stages, those new to the process should take small, incremental steps to ensure success. Newer programs should focus first on analyzing background information and development of realistic sales goals before moving to the other steps in the planning process.
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Executives say their companies could be a lot more effective at developing a strategy. Less than 50 percent surveyed said they are satisfied with their company's approach to planning strategy. Source: |
By Allison McCarthy
Effectively measuring ROI on physician sales and retention activities requires two key elements - quantitative data and qualitative data. While producing the quantitative data has its own set of challenges, qualitative data trending and reporting is similarly matched to the quest for the Holy Grail. But without it, and if the quantitative data stands alone, it can be tempting for internal stakeholders - such as CFOs and clinical leadership - to presume that incremental growth is due to market dynamics or other internal efforts. The qualitative data is the connecting link between activity and outcome – providing the “proof” and validation around results.
To capture this qualitative data, tracking systems need to include these important elements:
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Targeted physician lists segmented using two categories – growth and retention.
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Clearly defined objectives – interactions, activities, volume – for each physician identified in the target list.
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Documentation of all activity and interactions with these physicians.
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Coding and trending processes to measure actual interactions against the objectives.
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Organizations that have been successful in this area have learned that there is more to it than simply loading the physician names into a system and approaching each physician with an equal level of effort and attention. They realize the value in an intuitive coding system that:
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Defines physicians by either growth or retention
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Ranks each physician based on the targeted goal (A,B,C or 1,2,3)
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Determines the specific clinical services to focus their relations effort
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With the physician database ready, it is in the documentation of activity with a physician that provides the proof of effort. Beyond recording a note, effective ROI reporting also needs details that put more specifics around the interaction. The easiest method to report or trend results is through coding; codes define the type of activity completed (e.g. meeting, orientation, CME program) as well as the “subject” of the interaction (e.g. cardiology, ortho surgery, cancer). From this, reports can be generated correlating the degree of effort (or amount of activity) on behalf of specific clinical services (or subject of the interaction). Then, when the quantitative results are reported, physician relations can identify their efforts in increasing clinical and referral activity.
Documenting and tracking physician relations activities can be the least exciting part of the job, but it can also be the most valuable. The knowledge that these reports provide can help physician relations teams sharpen their focus, target their activities and generate the results that their organizations’ leaders want to see.
If you would like to learn more about best-practice strategies to report and quantify your physician relations activity, please contact us. GO
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Live Webinar: Assessing Your Physician Recruitment Readiness: Strategic & Legal Issues
Tuesday, February 19, 12:30PM – 2:00PM (EST)
Featuring Allison McCarthy, Michael Blau, and Callen Northam, EVP & COO, Portneuf Medical Center, Pocatello, ID
Sponsored by the Forum for Healthcare Strategists
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Physician Recruitment Intensive Training
February 25 – 29, Las Vegas, NV
Allison McCarthy and Kriss Barlow present special sessions as members of the faculty.
Sponsored by The American Academy of Medical Management
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Physician Strategies Summit
April 3 - 4, Los Angeles, CA
Special workshops offered by Kriss Barlow and Allison McCarthy.
Sponsored by the Forum for Healthcare Strategists
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Building Better Radiology Marketing Programs
April 3 – 4, Austin, TX
Special session on “Marketing Metrics – Strategies for Measuring Success” Featuring Ann Maloley.
Reserved for members of Radiology Business Management Association.
Customer-Based Marketing Strategies
April 6 – 8, Phoenix, AZ
Special sessions offered by Kriss Barlow, Allison McCarthy and Chris Rhodes.
Sponsored by the Forum for Healthcare Strategists
Learn More