Q: We are very busy and have little time to gather and analyze outcome data. What should we do?
A: “We find great value in not having to pull out data as we need it and instead tracking data along the way”
A: “Identify the parameters you wish to look at from the beginning, outcomes that are important to you.”
A: “If you don’t know exactly what you are looking for, get help and ideas from your software vendor.”
A: “Transition to a different mindset. How do we set priorities within the context of the realities of our time? Quality and cost are central to health- care. We can use our EMR to enhance quality and affect costs at the program and end-user level.”
Q: What types of outcome data are most important to gather and analyze?
A: “Look at treatment metrics per ACOEM guidelines and NAOHP service metrics such as time from admission to discharge.”
A: “Look at things you have some control over. If you have no control, it is not a productive use of your time.”
Q: How do we use outcome data once we have it?
A: “Decide at the outset how you wish to share information and what you want the recipient of that information to do with it. ”
A: “We have found great value in supporting our coding and making adjustments to payments. We also review and react to follow-up ratios, observing how they measure against historical ranges.”
A: “Be careful not to share outcome data in a vacuum; try to ask other parties what action should be taken to bring outcomes from sub-optimal to optimal or, if measured as optimal, what the program can do to leverage this information.”
Q: How do we get outcome data if we do not have occupational software?
A: “Manual systems are time-consuming and it is best not to go that route. If necessary, you can use Excel to look at coding mixes and physician evaluations, for example.”
A: “One low-cost option in the absence of software is to survey your employer clients once a year and ask them to rate your program’s ability to generate positive outcomes and then ask sub-questions. It gives you some numbers and a sense of performance.”
Q: What EMR measures are best for benchmarking?
A: “Money per center, productivity per provider, visit-type data.”
A: “Best practice ACOEM standards used in treatment, document and code appropriately, and provide feedback to client companies.
A: “We provide information directly through an employer portal. Allowing online access to information provides real-time employer access to information (drug test results, physical exams, injury management issues) and does not consume the clinic team’s time.
”A: “Focus on the three Cs that employers look for: communication, customization, and costs.”
