The approach
The line between clinical care and revenue is where independent hospitals lose the most ground.
TPC helps close that gap through focused support in care management, utilization review, clinical documentation integrity, health information management and quality reporting. We use the Vizient Clinical Database to benchmark member performance and identify improvement opportunities.
Our clinical performance improvement programs concentrate on quality metrics, malnutrition, PSI indicators and readmissions, which carry direct impact on both patient outcomes and reimbursement. Better clinical performance is not only the right thing to do. It supports your mission.
Workforce sits alongside it. Your people are your largest operating expense and your most critical asset, so we support workforce strategy with labor benchmarking, best practice sharing and programs designed to help you attract, retain and develop talent.
Performance Improvement is a strategic objective that touches all facets of the hospital from the C-suite to the front line. While it may be considered a focus mainly for clinical teams, it also involves operational and financial teams as well.
The Role of Data in Performance Improvement
Data should be the foundation of all performance improvement activities. Data gives hospitals insight and direction to:
- Develop comparative analytics within a defined peer group
- Focus efforts on specific areas of opportunity
- Identify practices that lead to better outcomes
- Track progress to understand the impact of process adjustments
- Gain understanding and support from all stakeholders including physicians, clinicians and administrators
TPC and Performance Improvement
TPC has engaged with Members to develop a Performance Improvement (PI) business line that enables hospitals to work together to identify opportunities for improvement, understand the drivers of change and design processes to create an improvement. TPC has engaged multiple stakeholders and committees to create a structure and provide a vehicle for Member collaboration related to PI initiatives and programs — from the Clinical Steering Committee (Executive Clinical Leaders) that help to establish the comprehensive clinical strategy and oversee PI-related initiatives, to the teams such as Quality Advisory, Patient Experience, and Labor Benchmarking that serve as the work groups to evaluate and implement opportunities.
Additionally, TPC has implemented the use of common data tools to serve as the platforms by which Members can standardize data, review with peers, identify common opportunities, share best practices, and leverage experience and expertise. TPC's goal is to facilitate collaborative efforts that drive the improvements that optimize Member performance.
Quality
Most quality data that is available publicly is reported more than a year in arrears, making it difficult to benchmark in a timely manner. At TPC, our selected data platform allows for more timely data, which is available 20–30 days post-discharge. Our methodology for pulling the data is completely transparent, so TPC and Members know exactly what information was included and excluded and how that data was used when comparing outcomes across TPC Members and other acute care hospitals. The dataset contains the ability to drill down by physician, service line, MSDRG, resources utilized, patient outcomes, and other metrics.
The comprehensive TPC analysis of data allows our hospitals to identify areas of opportunity and align those with individual organizational priorities. By comparing data, we can identify Members with strong performance that can share their experience with other Members. TPC also helps connect Members to additional Performance Improvement resources as may be needed. Finally, it supports Members in understanding the details behind the data and how it relates to other reporting systems, such as CMS Pay-for-Performance metrics.
Patient Experience
TPC is committed to helping our Members provide excellent patient experience. In terms of sharing data, TPC consolidates and shares current data and trends for HCAHPS and supplemental patient questions. TPC also works to establish best practices through various measures. These include comparing supplemental questions utilized by Members, assisting in negotiations and conversions between suppliers, and allowing Members to share their processes and practices. TPC is also developing stronger partnerships with the suppliers in order to better understand data and focus on driving results.
Labor Benchmarking
TPC is committed to leveraging the expertise within the Membership to identify leading practices that can be shared among Member hospitals. TPC has worked with Members to develop an engagement structure that not only works with executive leadership, but also with departmental leadership — balancing both financial and clinical perspectives. In doing so, members will collaborate to review, refine, and normalize labor benchmarking data by department, allowing for better comparison and exploratory conversations. This also allows members to use the data to identify similarities, differences, and potential best practices that can be utilized in the future at a group level or to evaluate individual opportunities for change.
Stronger Together. Superior Results.
Members reach these results by working the programs together. If your organization is weighing what that looks like, the next step is a conversation.