Comments for CEO Forum http://pmpcoach.com/blog Exchange Ideas With Other CEOs Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:49:30 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 hourly 1 Comment on Increasing Productivity: Click here for the results of the CEO survey on productivity. by Kathy Welch-Torres http://pmpcoach.com/blog/?p=25&cpage=1#comment-55 Kathy Welch-Torres Tue, 16 Feb 2010 17:07:21 +0000 http://pmpcoach.com/blog/?p=25#comment-55 As an agency, we were faced with a year where our productivity was low, turnover high, and the state cut our reimbursement rate resulting in a significant deficit. Utilizing the principles learned through our collaboration with PMP, our senior management team approached the many challenges facing the center in a novel way. One of the keys was not just raising our standards, but doing so in a supportive culture that promoted staff leadership and commitment to our mission. Our net result was a 19.6% increase in productivity and a decrease in turnover. This positioned us well to face further economic challenges posed by federal and state cutbacks As an agency, we were faced with a year where our productivity was low, turnover high, and the state cut our reimbursement rate resulting in a significant deficit. Utilizing the principles learned through our collaboration with PMP, our senior management team approached the many challenges facing the center in a novel way. One of the keys was not just raising our standards, but doing so in a supportive culture that promoted staff leadership and commitment to our mission. Our net result was a 19.6% increase in productivity and a decrease in turnover. This positioned us well to face further economic challenges posed by federal and state cutbacks

]]> Comment on Increasing Productivity: Click here for the results of the CEO survey on productivity. by Bill Walsh http://pmpcoach.com/blog/?p=25&cpage=1#comment-54 Bill Walsh Fri, 12 Feb 2010 20:09:45 +0000 http://pmpcoach.com/blog/?p=25#comment-54 Productivity has been an on-going issue for many years at CCS. Staff have complained about management’s focus on finances to the exclusion of client services. The past 6 or 8 months have really served to “bring home” the importance of productivity to our staff. We have gone through two staff lay-offs and a huge change in funding from sub-capitated to “fee for service”. Our survival now depends on the maximization of billable services. Our staff have responded well. Some of our out-patient units have been averaging over 70%. When I respond to the survey question of line staff priorities I was thinking from their perspective that I would hope that productivity is an important priority for them but perhaps not the “top” priority. As Jeff suggested. management should be doing all that it can to help staff do their jobs as effectively and efficiently as possible. The Electronic record system we started last March has been an immense help to staff Productivity has been an on-going issue for many years at CCS. Staff have complained about management’s focus on finances to the exclusion of client services. The past 6 or 8 months have really served to “bring home” the importance of productivity to our staff. We have gone through two staff lay-offs and a huge change in funding from sub-capitated to “fee for service”. Our survival now depends on the maximization of billable services. Our staff have responded well. Some of our out-patient units have been averaging over 70%.

When I respond to the survey question of line staff priorities I was thinking from their perspective that I would hope that productivity is an important priority for them but perhaps not the “top” priority.

As Jeff suggested. management should be doing all that it can to help staff do their jobs as effectively and efficiently as possible. The Electronic record system we started last March has been an immense help to staff

]]> Comment on Increasing Productivity: Click here for the results of the CEO survey on productivity. by Jeff Brown http://pmpcoach.com/blog/?p=25&cpage=1#comment-53 Jeff Brown Fri, 12 Feb 2010 20:08:14 +0000 http://pmpcoach.com/blog/?p=25#comment-53 My View: Maximizing Productivity and effectiveness is one of my top organizational priorities. It is also one of the top priority for the people we serve. Directly attacking this apparent gap in perception is a key priority in our strategic plan. To bridge the gap our first step is to make sure we understand the definition of increased productivity from the service provider point of view as well as from the point of view of those we serve and lastly from the “management perspective. The definitions contain different elements and have different metrics. The outcome of productivity “increased consumer life outcomes” is commonly held by each perspective. The important piece in bridging the gap is the barrier identification and barrier busting from each perspective. We must initiate, encourage and support this activity that frees people up tp do more important things… bridge the gap one commonly held improvement at a time My View: Maximizing Productivity and effectiveness is one of my top organizational priorities. It is also one of the top priority for the people we serve. Directly attacking this apparent gap in perception is a key priority in our strategic plan. To bridge the gap our first step is to make sure we understand the definition of increased productivity from the service provider point of view as well as from the point of view of those we serve and lastly from the “management perspective. The definitions contain different elements and have different metrics. The outcome of productivity “increased consumer life outcomes” is commonly held by each perspective. The important piece in bridging the gap is the barrier identification and barrier busting from each perspective. We must initiate, encourage and support this activity that frees people up tp do more important things…
bridge the gap one commonly held improvement at a time

]]> Comment on Increasing Productivity: Click here for the results of the CEO survey on productivity. by Jeff Walter http://pmpcoach.com/blog/?p=25&cpage=1#comment-50 Jeff Walter Wed, 10 Feb 2010 20:45:19 +0000 http://pmpcoach.com/blog/?p=25#comment-50 I agree with Brad. The task of management is to close the perception gap about the importance of productivity. We have taken a step in that direction by providing each clinician with their own bi-weekly productivity report. They can see, graphically by CPT code, how much of their time is billable and what their no show/cancellation rate is. Their first reaction generally was to question the data. Once we got past that, they started focusing on what they can do to improve the numbers. We have formed several process improvement teams to remove barriers and solve problems that have resulted in lower no shows/cancellations. Things are looking up, but we have a ways to go still. I agree with Brad. The task of management is to close the perception gap about the importance of productivity. We have taken a step in that direction by providing each clinician with their own bi-weekly productivity report. They can see, graphically by CPT code, how much of their time is billable and what their no show/cancellation rate is. Their first reaction generally was to question the data. Once we got past that, they started focusing on what they can do to improve the numbers. We have formed several process improvement teams to remove barriers and solve problems that have resulted in lower no shows/cancellations. Things are looking up, but we have a ways to go still.

]]> Comment on Increasing Productivity: Click here for the results of the CEO survey on productivity. by Brad Zimmerman http://pmpcoach.com/blog/?p=25&cpage=1#comment-49 Brad Zimmerman Wed, 10 Feb 2010 20:02:04 +0000 http://pmpcoach.com/blog/?p=25#comment-49 Virtually all of the suggestions here address either 1) How to track staff productivity 2) How to incent staff with pay to improve productivity or 3) Training to help staff be more productive. While these are important and valuable suggestions, there is a fundamental issue that, in my opinion, is being overlooked. If you look at the data in the chart at the top of the page (from the survey many of you completed) you will see that 80% of the CEOs said that productivity is either the top priority or very important, while only 33% said that staff see it that way. This gap in perception is a root cause issue to the struggle with productivity. If staff don't see productivity as important, or worse yet (as with many of the clients we have worked with) they see it as an annoyance or an impossible target to attain, you can give them all the data and training in the world and many of them won't use either. Closing this gap in perception, having them see productivity as the lifeblood that allows them to serve consumers is vital to making substantive improvement. What do you think? Virtually all of the suggestions here address either 1) How to track staff productivity 2) How to incent staff with pay to improve productivity or 3) Training to help staff be more productive.

While these are important and valuable suggestions, there is a fundamental issue that, in my opinion, is being overlooked. If you look at the data in the chart at the top of the page (from the survey many of you completed) you will see that 80% of the CEOs said that productivity is either the top priority or very important, while only 33% said that staff see it that way. This gap in perception is a root cause issue to the struggle with productivity. If staff don’t see productivity as important, or worse yet (as with many of the clients we have worked with) they see it as an annoyance or an impossible target to attain, you can give them all the data and training in the world and many of them won’t use either.

Closing this gap in perception, having them see productivity as the lifeblood that allows them to serve consumers is vital to making substantive improvement. What do you think?

]]> Comment on Increasing Productivity: Click here for the results of the CEO survey on productivity. by Dawn Abbott http://pmpcoach.com/blog/?p=25&cpage=1#comment-48 Dawn Abbott Wed, 03 Feb 2010 09:49:56 +0000 http://pmpcoach.com/blog/?p=25#comment-48 Success is contingent upon helping the clinician understand and buy into that this is a key performance issue and expectation of the job, training them on how to bill effectively for the work they do, and providing regular, consistent feedback and data around the issue. Training on concurrent documentation has been hugely helpful, with supervisor feedback and support in assisting clinicians in becoming proficient with this. Success is contingent upon helping the clinician understand and buy into that this is a key performance issue and expectation of the job, training them on how to bill effectively for the work they do, and providing regular, consistent feedback and data around the issue.

Training on concurrent documentation has been hugely helpful, with supervisor feedback and support in assisting clinicians in becoming proficient with this.

]]> Comment on Increasing Productivity: Click here for the results of the CEO survey on productivity. by Jeff Brown http://pmpcoach.com/blog/?p=25&cpage=1#comment-47 Jeff Brown Tue, 02 Feb 2010 08:30:47 +0000 http://pmpcoach.com/blog/?p=25#comment-47 As a funder of organizations that provide services and supports what are the best contract mechanisms that optimize service activity and outcomes? As a funder of organizations that provide services and supports what are the best contract mechanisms that optimize service activity and outcomes?

]]> Comment on Increasing Productivity: Click here for the results of the CEO survey on productivity. by Donna Sabourin http://pmpcoach.com/blog/?p=25&cpage=1#comment-46 Donna Sabourin Tue, 02 Feb 2010 01:02:06 +0000 http://pmpcoach.com/blog/?p=25#comment-46 Over time I have come to believe that using the term "productivity" gives a conflicting message. We place many requirements on staff in addition to face to face service, do we consider staff to be "non-productive" when completing those tasks which we require? We have tried to shift our focus to providing the services defined in the consumer's person centered plan. We have a goal of our EMR being able to accurately project out time commitments based on authorizations tied to PCP's. The data system is not quite there yet, but having focused our conversation with staff in this way has resulted in reduced encounter rates over the last several years, which is a good proxy measure for "productivity". Over time I have come to believe that using the term “productivity” gives a conflicting message. We place many requirements on staff in addition to face to face service, do we consider staff to be “non-productive” when completing those tasks which we require? We have tried to shift our focus to providing the services defined in the consumer’s person centered plan. We have a goal of our EMR being able to accurately project out time commitments based on authorizations tied to PCP’s. The data system is not quite there yet, but having focused our conversation with staff in this way has resulted in reduced encounter rates over the last several years, which is a good proxy measure for “productivity”.

]]> Comment on Increasing Productivity: Click here for the results of the CEO survey on productivity. by Sandra Lindsey http://pmpcoach.com/blog/?p=25&cpage=1#comment-45 Sandra Lindsey Mon, 01 Feb 2010 10:46:17 +0000 http://pmpcoach.com/blog/?p=25#comment-45 Creating reports that staff can use to monitor productivity and posting the results within units. Creating reports that staff can use to monitor productivity and posting the results within units.

]]> Comment on Increasing Productivity: Click here for the results of the CEO survey on productivity. by Bill Walsh http://pmpcoach.com/blog/?p=25&cpage=1#comment-44 Bill Walsh Sat, 30 Jan 2010 19:19:41 +0000 http://pmpcoach.com/blog/?p=25#comment-44 Measurement indicators that are reliable, valid and timely. Measurement indicators that are reliable, valid and timely.

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