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How to form a performance committee

Hospitalist Leadership Connection, November 18, 2008

The purpose of creating a hospitalist performance committee is to improve quality, efficiency, and the bottom line for the program and the hospital. Provider productivity is essential to the financial viability of the practice, and clinical performance is integral to ensuring quality patient care and superior clinical outcomes.

When organizing a hospitalist performance committee membership, remember to include:

• Performance improvement director
• Quality assurance director
• Hospital vice president of medical affairs/medical director
• Hospitalist clinical/medical director
• Hospital chief financial officer
• Hospital administrator overseeing the hospitalist program
• Hospitalist practice manager
• Guests or representatives from ER, cardiology, nursing, social services, laboratory, radiology, and data analyst sector

Meeting frequency and attendees will vary according to the tasks at hand. In general though, the following guidelines should apply:

• Monthly meetings between hospital administrator and the hospitalist clinical/medical director will serve to review the following issues: average daily census and average length of stay, admission activity, delay days, ancillary utilization, cost per case, current in-house outliers, 30-day readmission rates, coding performance, and medical record completion data
• Quarterly meetings with all members to address the following issues: number of admissions/consultations, total patient visits/patient days, average daily census and average length of stay, delay days, ancillary utilization, cost per case, top 10 DRGs and payor mix, monthly/quarterly/year-to-date charges, hospitalist profit-and-loss reports, referral source (by provider and practice), clinical guideline utilization (pay-for-performance measures), 30-day readmission rates, return rate to the critical care unit/intensive care unit, medical record completion data, and coding audits
• Year-end meeting with all members to review performance

The above excerpt is adapted from Hospitalist Case Studies: Tactics and Strategies for 10 Common Hurdles by Kenneth G. Simone, DO, published by HCPro, Inc.

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