The statistics on hospital-owned physician practices are staggering. Between 2012 and 2015, hospitals and health systems acquired 31,000 physician practices. According to research published by the Physician Advocacy Institute, one in four physician practices is now hospital owned.

Such rapid acquisition means that hospital networks have an imperative to strengthen their practice operations and referral patterns while capitalizing on opportunities to improve. This isn’t just about making sure a business transaction pays dividends. Patient expectations are on the rise, competition is increasing, and the future of reimbursement couldn’t be murkier.

Hospitals have an opportunity to engage their practice leaders around performance improvement. In many cases, it’s a matter of taking a few pages out of the benchmarking playbook – making use of accurate, relevant and actionable data to optimize patient outcomes and practice operations. I believe that the best performers will leverage data to foster a culture that promotes accountability for excellence in service, quality, productivity, and financial viability.

While benchmarking isn’t a new concept for hospitals, it’s application (and accommodating the nuances of physician practice operation) will become an essential tool in helping health systems drive the performance of their physician offices. When I talk to hospital leadership teams, and their physician practice leaders, I always highlight the following:

1. Lead the effort from the top
2. Leverage effective data management for quick wins to support daily practice needs
3. Embed analytics that are timely, relevant and supportive of your mission
4. Build confidence by normalizing the data
5. Develop a culture of performance improvement

I’ve witnessed some very inspiring sessions with hospitals leaders rolling up their sleeves with their practice leaders to assess cost and skill mix, revenue cycle, access, volume and productivity for all of their practices and seeing how they compare to like offices across the industry. When the data is transparent so everyone can see that the comparison is apples to apples and accurate, they trust the information. And then move forward quickly together to discuss where there’s variation, where they can have the most impact and how they can establish next steps to enable change.

To learn more about how we're helping hospitals drive performance improvement within their physician practices, click here. You can also reach out to me at jwhittlesely@ivantagehealth.com.