Operational Evaluation
Separate from pure financial and cash flow evaluation an evaluation of the operational effectiveness in key areas is as important since it impacts both immediate reputational success but also future financial success. Is it important then to focus on improvement in these key areas including:
- Patient satisfaction for the following categories:
- Overall patient experience
- Satisfaction with ability to make appointments at convenient times and within a reasonable time from the point of request
- Satisfaction with the courtesy and professionalism of practice staff
- Satisfaction with the care provided
- Satisfaction with being seen timely at time of appointment
- Satisfaction with communication of instruction & follow-up
- Patient satisfaction measured via return visit rates
- Staff turnover
- Staff absenteeism rate
- Patients seen on time (percentage)
- Patient appointment no-shows
- Patient Cancellation rate
- Percentage of back office hours (non-patient visible costs)
- Patient file organization (instances of missing information)
- Patient through-put time elapsed
If you do not truly review and evaluate your practice from the eyes of a visiting patient then you are not truly evaluating the operational effectiveness of your practice. Operational evaluation includes patient experience, file and informational organization, communication, risk management, facilities management, IT support, IT strategy, compliance and staff management and development.