Managing Through the Chaos

ED physician alignment strategies for the value-based care era

In busy emergency departments, there’s no such thing as routine.

In the United States, there are roughly 146 million ED visits each year, including 42 million injury-related visits, 13 million visits that require a hospital stay and 2 million that result in a critical care unit stay, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data.[1] Of these millions of visits, nearly 40 percent of ED patients are seen within 15 minutes, and less than 10 percent result in a hospital admission, CDC data shows.

Clinical decisions there are often made quickly and independently, and with a patient’s best interests in mind at that particular moment. Amid the clamor of an especially hectic shift, however, that means even the best-laid plans may, at times, be cast aside. One such area that frequently suffers in this hectic environment: Physician alignment, or the integration of a patient’s care within a hospital or health system’s clinical referral network.

And while there appears to be a consensus among physicians that clinical integration is important, there’s a wide gap between acknowledging its importance and actually putting it into practice. According to a Deloitte survey, 90 percent of U.S. physicians say alignment and clinical integration are top priorities. Meanwhile, only 65 percent of them have access to the details necessary to make an informed referral decision and, even when they do, just 16 percent say they use it.[2]

“Despite the proliferation of data, many physicians do not have access to insights that can support clinical and care management decisions,” the Deloitte study concluded.

As healthcare continues its transition from volume to value, clinical integration and physician alignment will remain prerequisites for success. A recent American College of Healthcare Executives survey underscores this need: physician-hospital relations — a general barometer of clinical integration — ranks among the top 10 biggest concerns of hospital CEOs; and about half of the hospital leaders surveyed list the switch away from fee-for-service as one of their biggest financial challenges.[3]

Poor physician-hospital relations also may lead to high ED physician turnover, which may affect the entire hospital and harm long-term patient outcomes, according to a Western Journal of Emergency Medicine study:

“Turnover significantly impacts hospitals through lost productivity and recruiting and relocation costs; remaining faculty may have decreased morale. As well as having an immediate economic impact on the hospital system, departures can also affect efforts to study and improve clinical practice through quality improvement efforts and knowledge translation initiatives.”

Interested in learning more about physician alignment? Let’s talk. We’d like to discuss how your practice can gain access to a strong partnership of like-minded groups and a robust technology platform that increases efficiency, supports clinical integration and facilitates participation in value- and quality-based payment models. Specifically, our physician alignment strategies include:

  • Clinical consistency: We believe consistency drives quality and efficiency. We also achieve it by assembling a core group of physicians who understand their colleagues’ practice patterns — in the emergency department and throughout the hospital or health system.
  • Local control: Our physicians are part of the communities they serve. They understand — and often know personally — their patients, families and colleagues.
  • Leading turnaround times: Patients in the emergency department want to be seen quickly and told what will come next. We use the latest technology to identify bottlenecks and, more importantly, facilitate conversations among a core group of physicians on how to fix them.
  • Smart financial incentives: Reimbursements are increasingly dependent on value, not volume. Using the latest technology, we are continually improving our workflow and processes to improve patient outcomes and operational performance — and we share these successes with our partners.

Professional Emergency Medicine Management’s partnership model provides alignment between our team, the hospital and physicians, allowing us to work as a unit and break down barriers that hinder process improvement. Our goal is to remain small and focused, allowing us to provide tailored services to emergency departments and work hand-in-hand with staff to drive metrics.

  • What we do: We offer data-driven management and real expertise in emergency department services — exploring the complete extent of the efficiency process. Our process improvement strategies are based on proven lean methodologies and transparent, collaborative relationships with hospitals and physicians. Our services aim to enhance patient satisfaction by making visits better, faster and more efficient.
  • How we do it: In many cases, we offer a physician partnership model which enables us to accomplish several goals. First, the establishment of an engaged core physician group and consistent staffing. Second, the implementation of interdepartmental, collaborative meetings centered around process improvement. Third, the delivery of quality care and a premier patient experience. Our end game is to attract physicians who will support the management and continuous improvement of the department.

[1] https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/emergency-department.htm

[2] https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/life-sciences-and-health-care/articles/physician-alignment-strategy-health-system-executive-survey-findings.html?id=us:2el:3dp:mdrnhlth:eng:lshc:012518

[3] https://www.ache.org/learning-center/research/about-the-field/top-issues-confronting-hospitals/top-issues-confronting-hospitals-in-2018

About Professional Emergency Medicine Management

Community hospitals face unique emergency department challenges, and PEMM provides solutions specifically designed to address evolving clinical and business needs.

We offer data-driven management and real expertise in emergency department services — exploring the complete extent of the efficiency process. Our process improvement strategies are based on proven lean methodologies and transparent, collaborative relationships with hospitals and physicians. Our services aim to enhance patient satisfaction by making visits better, faster and more efficient.

Contact Our Team

Name(Required)
Untitled
Professional Emergency Medicine Management, (“we”, “our”, “us” and “Company”) operates the website located at pemmanagement.com, and other related websites and mobile applications (collectively, the “Site”). This policy explains our privacy practices that apply to the Site. Please read this policy carefully to understand our policies and practices regarding your information and how we will treat it. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, your choice is not to use our Site. By accessing or using this Site, you agree to this privacy policy. This policy may change from time to time. Your continued use of this Site after we make changes is deemed to be acceptance of those changes. Please check this policy periodically for updates. Important Definitions. When we use the term “Personal Information” in this policy, we mean information about you that is personally identifiable to you, such as your contact information (e.g., name, address, email address, or telephone number), personally identifiable health or medical information (“Health Information”), and any other non-public information that is associated with such information (collectively, “Personal Information”). Personal Information does not include Publicly available information from government records, de-identified or aggregated consumer information; information excluded from the CCPA’s scope, such as Health or medical information covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA) or clinical trial data, and financial Information covered by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, and implementing regulations. Information We Collect. The Personal Information we collect or maintain may include: Your name, age, email address, username, password, and other registration information. Information about the computer or mobile device you are using, such as what Internet browser you use, the kind of computer or mobile device you use, and other information about how you use the Site. Other information you input into the Site or related services. Uses of Personal Information. We may use Personal Information for the following purposes (subject to applicable legal restrictions): To provide you with information, products or services you request from us. To improve the services offered by performing quality reviews and similar activities. To provide you with email alerts, event registrations and other notices concerning our products or services, or events or news, that may be of interest to you. To fulfill any other purpose for which you provide us with Personal Information. For any other purpose for which you give us authorization. To respond to law enforcement requests and as required by applicable law, court order, or governmental regulations. Sharing of Personal Information. We may share Personal Information with third parties (subject to applicable legal restrictions) including: Our wholly owned subsidiaries and any medical groups affiliated with us. Contractors, service providers and other third parties we use to support our business and who are bound by contractual obligations to keep personal information confidential and use it only for the purposes for which we disclose it to them. As required by law, which can include providing information as required by law, regulation, subpoena, court order, legal process or government request. When we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect individual safety or the safety of others, to protect our rights, to investigate fraud, or to respond to a government request. Buyer or other successor in the event of a merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution or other sale or transfer of some or all our assets, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation, or similar proceeding, in which Personal Information maintained by the Site is among the assets transferred. Information We May Collect Via Technology. As you use the Site, certain information may be passively collected by Cookies, navigational data like Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) and third-party tracking services, including: Site Activity Information. We may keep track of some of the actions you take on the Site, such as the content of searches you perform on the Site. Access Device and Browser Information. When you access the Site from a computer or other device, we may collect anonymous information from that device, such as your Internet protocol address, browser type, connection speed and access times. Cookies. A cookie is a small file containing a string of characters that is sent to your computer when you visit a website. When you visit the Site again, the cookie allows that site to recognize your browser. Cookies may store unique identifiers, user preferences and other information. You can reset your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, some Site features or services may not function properly without cookies. We use cookies to improve the quality of our service, including for storing user preferences, tracking user trends, and providing relevant advertising to you. Google Analytics. We may use Google Analytics to help analyze how individuals use the Site. Google Analytics uses cookies to collect information such as how often users visit the Site, what pages they visit, and what other sites they used prior to coming to the Site. We will use the information we get from Google Analytics only to improve our Site and Services. Google Analytics collects only the IP address assigned to you on the date you visit the Site, rather than your name or other personally identifying information. Although Google Analytics plants a persistent cookie on your web browser to identify you as a unique user the next time you visit the Site, the cookie cannot be used by anyone but Google. Google’s ability to use and share information collected by Google Analytics about your visits to the Site is restricted by the Google Analytics Terms of Use and the Google Privacy Policy. Third Party Sites. The Site may contain links to other sites. The Company does not share personal information with those sites, unless specifically authorized by you. The Company is not responsible for the privacy policies of any site linked to this website and not wholly owned and controlled by the Company, its affiliates, and subsidiaries. We aim to work with trusted partners and organizations which are also bound by state and federal laws governing privacy and security; however, we encourage users to be aware when you leave our Site and to review any privacy policy of a non-Company site. Data Security. We have implemented measures designed to secure Personal Information from accidental loss and from unauthorized access, use, alteration, and disclosure. All Personal Information you provide to us is stored on secure servers behind firewalls. However, since the Internet is not a 100% secure environment, we cannot guarantee, ensure, or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us. There is no guarantee that information may not be accessed, disclosed, altered, or destroyed by breach of any of our physical, technical, or managerial safeguards. Even though there are many benefits to using this Site, as with all electronic communications there are some risks such as (i) failure of hardware, software and/or Internet connections; we are not responsible for failures, distortions, delays, or other problems resulting from equipment configuration, connection, signal power, hardware, software or any equipment used to access the internet; and (ii) no guarantee that the confidentiality or security of electronic transmissions via the Internet can be assured due to potentially unsecure computers and links. This could result in your data becoming lost or intercepted during transmission. It is your responsibility to protect the security of your login information and to use good judgment before deciding to send information via the Internet. The safety and security of your information also depends on you. Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password for access to certain parts of our Site, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. As a condition of accessing the Site, you are not permitted to share your password with anyone. Non-Discrimination. We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your CCPA rights. Unless permitted by the CCPA, we will not: Deny you goods or services. Charge you different prices or rates for goods or services, including through granting discounts or other benefits, or imposing penalties. Provide you a different level or quality of goods or services. Suggest that you may receive a different price or rate for goods or services or a different level or quality of goods or services. Changes to Our Privacy Policy. It is our policy to post any changes we make to our privacy policy on this page. If we make material changes to how we treat our users’ personal information, we will notify you by email to the primary email address and/or through a notice on the Site home page. The date the privacy policy was last revised is identified at the top of the page. You are responsible for ensuring we have an up-to-date active and deliverable email address for you, and for periodically visiting our Site and this privacy policy to check for any changes. A Special Note about Children and Minors. The Company does not knowingly allow individuals under the age of 18 to access our Site or use the Services. If you are below the age of 18, you are not permitted to use this Site or the Services. Other Applicable Law. If you are a resident of California, this following information and rights are provided to you as required by the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”). Any terms defined in the CCPA have the same meaning when used in this notice. Password Protected Areas. Any password-protected area of this Site may be subject to additional terms or agreements with us. Contact Information. If you have any questions, concerns, complaints or suggestions regarding this policy, our privacy practices or otherwise need to contact us, please email us atsupportecp.net.(Required)
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

© 2019 Professional Emergency Medicine Management