By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    back pain
    No More Aches! A Guide To Effective Back Pain Relief
    March 28, 2024
    workplace first aid
    First Aid Training Can Improve Workplace Health & Safety
    June 27, 2024
    U.S. Drug Shortage Crisis Creates Greater Health Risks
    September 4, 2024
    Latest News
    How Probate Planning Shapes the Future of Your Estate and Family Care
    July 17, 2025
    Beyond Nutrition: Everyday Foods That Support Whole-Body Health
    June 15, 2025
    The Wide-Ranging Benefits of Magnesium Supplements
    June 11, 2025
    The Best Home Remedies for Migraines
    June 5, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    2/365 teenage pregnancy
    Make IUDs and Implants More Affordable and Accessible for Teens
    September 25, 2012
    Health Insurance Coverage for Legal Immigrants in Massachusetts: Doing the Right Thing and the Smart Thing
    January 7, 2012
    Image
    Terminating the Doctor-Patient Relationship …
    December 21, 2012
    Latest News
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
    How Health Choices and Legal Actions Intersect After an Injury
    July 17, 2025
    How communities and healthcare providers can address slip and fall injuries with legal awareness
    July 17, 2025
    Let Your Lawyer Handle the Work Before You Pay Medical Costs
    July 6, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Putting Physician Practices Into Context
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Business > Putting Physician Practices Into Context
BusinessSpecialties

Putting Physician Practices Into Context

Brian Klepper
Brian Klepper
Share
5 Min Read
SHARE

 

An organization’s ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage. 

 

An organization’s ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage. 

More Read

Organizations Slowly Considering Greater Scrutiny of Aging Physicians’ Practice
Leapfrog and the Hospital Safety Score
Healthcare’s Stumble Toward Greater Levels of Consumer Centricity and Engagement
Comfort Eating Is A Hidden Contributor To The Obesity Epidemic
How Should Medical Professionals React to Men’s Health Emergencies?

                                                                                                                                               Jack Welch

Physicians and medical societies in all specialties would do well to take a look at this article, published in the November issue of The Journal of Oncology Practice. Authored by Elaine Towle, Thomas Barr and James Senese of Oncology Metrics (a subsidiary of the oncology electronic health record firm Altos Solutions), this year’s National Oncology Practice Benchmark Report aggregates and analyzes data on a wide variety of clinical, operational and financial business metrics. There are 89 charts in categories – work units, patient visits, revenue, practice expense, pharmacy operations, clinical trials, and staffing/productivity – from oncology practices around the country. The focus here is on the practice. The report does not delve into relative patient quality or cost.

The authors have deep experience with oncology practice, and they note that the cornerstone of their firm’s approach is “to promote the discovery and adoption of best practices.” Towle and Barr previously ran oncology practices in New Hampshire and Ft. Worth. This is their 7th annual report, meaning they have had the benefit of years of immersing in and refining their work product.

In other words, this is about helping oncologists identify performance – areas of strength and weakness – and understanding how their practices compare with others around the country so they can undertake efforts to improve. Without this kind of information, practices exist in isolation and assume that others’ experience and performance must be like theirs. Without context, there is little impetus to get better.

The team received survey responses from 103 practices, representing just under 800 hematology/oncology (HemOnc) physicians, or about 16 percent of the US oncology community. There were also 136 non-HemOnc specialists in 36 of these practices, making a total of 913 physicians in the survey population. While the authors believe this is the largest existing oncology practice data set, they acknowledge the criticism that the interpretive value of their report may be limited by its sample sizes. For some measures – e.g., full time equivalent (FTE) imaging staff per FTE physician (n=23 practices) – the available sample size  is small. That said, while the results should be considered cautiously, they are a window into practice nationally that was unavailable before this report began, and remains unavailable for most physician practice.

American physicians are caught within intensifying transformational pressures that are associated with competition, reimbursement and market consolidation. It is no longer enough to simply practice and bill. Success is, more than ever, tied to one’s ability to run a measurably efficient, financially viable and demonstrably high quality practice.

Despite the mythology, it is increasingly possible for purchasers – health plans, employers and patients – to make credible judgments about a physician’s relative quality, cost and value. The teams in my primary care clinics want to know, within each specialty and for each major condition, which physicians to refer to and, equally important, which ones to steer away from. We have committed to facilitate higher value care for the employees and families of our clients. The art of medicine is not so ethereal that there are no measurable bases for understanding whether physicians provide good quality care within a specialty with reasonable resource consumption. The business measures explored in the Oncology Metrics survey are a reflection – though not an exhaustive one – of an approach to practice.

Even so, knowing how your practice performs compared to peers is the right place to begin. In a competitive environment, physicians who have these data and can act on it have an advantage. Those who don’t have it work at a disadvantage.

The team at Oncology Metrics has a vision and has developed a big head start. They will undoubtedly expand into other areas of analysis. But their approach is certainly important for every medical organization. It will become more critical as the market moves away from fee-for-service and toward risk/value.

 

TAGGED:oncologyPhysicians
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
Global Healthcare Policy & Law
July 17, 2025
paramedics in surgical gloves and masks
How Health Choices and Legal Actions Intersect After an Injury
Health care
July 16, 2025
a woman giving a key
How Probate Planning Shapes the Future of Your Estate and Family Care
Health
July 16, 2025
a woman with kinesio tapes on her back arm
How communities and healthcare providers can address slip and fall injuries with legal awareness
Health care
July 16, 2025

You Might also Like

Dental healthSpecialties

9 Signs You Need An Emergency Dentist

October 28, 2019

The Human Side of Molecular Imaging

June 11, 2012

World’s First Approved Malaria Vaccine Shows a Ray of Hope but Also Leaves Much Scope for an Improved Solution

August 20, 2015

Understanding the Medical Device Tax

January 2, 2013
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?