Moneyball for LTC – Part 1 – Prospecting

In our recent white paper, Moneyball: Data for a More Sustainable Operation in Long-Term Care, our team here at Cantata Heath examines how to focus in on the most important aspects of the data that is available to LTC professionals.

The book and movie of the same name, Moneyball, documents how Billy Beane, former baseball player turned general manager of the Oakland A’s Major League Baseball team, revolutionized the sport. Beane used statistics and data to transform the A’s from a financially struggling organization to champions. While baseball economics and running a MLB team might seem distant from running a skilled nursing facility, the fundamentals of utilizing data to improve efficiency, effectiveness, and care can help improve survey scores, generate better star ratings, improve team morale and stability, and create a more sustainable business.

Turning your data into information and then action is the most important aspect of using the “Moneyball” concept to drive your future success. According to Beane, “Every business has metrics that correlate to success – it’s just about finding them.” That’s the aim of this blog series and our white paper – helping you determine the metrics you need to thrive as a business and deliver unrivaled care.

Where to Start:
One of the biggest challenges people face on the use of data is where to start. With today’s technology, we can measure virtually anything and everything.

But you need data points that give you actionable information needed to drive such actions as:

• Improve clinical outcomes
• Advance operations
• Grow revenue and profitability
• Reduce financial and clinical errors
• Improve quality of care

While each facility might have unique business challenges, there are always some key data points that are the leading key performance indicators (KPIs). These can help you take the action you need to strengthen your organization.

These data points can help you get the right prospects into your facility. And can help you estimate how long the resident might be there, how much money you will make, and most importantly the quality of the outcomes. Too often, facilities are not integrated enough, or at all, with referring partners; nor are they using the data available. Therefor they are seeing poor outcomes and lost revenue before the new resident even arrives.

Make sure you have ready access to these key data points during the admissions process:

• Payer: Validating the payer prior to admission and the type of services covered
• Diagnosis and any comorbidities
• Referring hospital or facility and your outcomes and history with that facility: Is your outcome success rate better with residents from one facility as compared to others? Is the information they share more accurate and detailed?
• The expected number of days the resident will be in your facility and the full and complete list of medications, treatment, and therapy required
• High-cost medications. We recommend you double-check to ensure the medications are not on the exclusion lists and confirm IV versus oral or subcutaneous.

Knowing which data you have access to, what it means, and how to apply it to your operation can make a world of difference! And you don’t need to be a statistician to do it. Stay tuned for the rest of our blog series on how the “Moneyball” approach can help your long-term facility.

“Every business has metrics that correlate to success – it’s just about finding them.”
– BILLY BEANE, FORMER BASEBALL PLAYER AND GENERAL MANAGER OF THE OAKLAND A’S