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In Part 1 of this series, we examined the overall “Moneyball” approach – how focusing in on the most important aspects of your data that is available can be a real game changer for LTC professionals. Turning your data into information and then action is the most important aspect of using the “Moneyball” concept to drive success. This part of the blog series moves beyond pre-admissions and how examining ideal prospects can affect your sustainability into the true resident stay and data to examine to ensure they’re getting the best of care and that your business is running in an efficient manner.

Admissions and Discharge

Now that you’ve identified your top prospects and admitted them to your facility, tracking performance is critical to successful outcomes, reputation, and profitability. While you should look at many of the same metrics, you look at them in a different light. You are reviewing changes in diagnosis, transfers in and out of the facility, changes in payor-types, and outcomes.

Your software should allow you to monitor these key data points easily and be flexible enough to work around the different work flows of residents, treatments, therapies, and physicians.

While a lot of data matters, we recommend you pay close attention to the following:

  1. Being able to tie physicians to outcomes is critical to the health of patients/residents, as well as to your facility’s reputation and financial health.
    1. Do you know which doctors are providing you with the referrals that support positive outcomes and sustainable business practices?
    2. Can you tell if the physicians are responding in a timely manner?
    3. Is your software capturing changes in your workflows to ensure they’re appropriate and that they support proper treatments, therapies, and medication distribution?
  2. Similar to tracking physicians to outcomes, it’s also important to understand the success rate of your nursing staff based on their assigned residents/patients. It can help you identify training needs, workload imbalances, positive factors, and “better next times.” This data can ensure improved outcomes, profitability, and sustainability as well as help identify areas of the business for expansion or new services.
  3. Actual stay days versus expected stay. This helps determine the responsiveness for the physician and staff because you are accepting higher acuity residents, etc.
  4. Ensure you have the tools to track infection, wound care, and other critical issues during their stay.
  5. Once they have been discharged you need to stay aligned with your key data points to be tracking same information as above:
    1. Discharge physician
    2. Continuing care destination
    3. Final payor
    4. Total length of stay

To learn more, check out our white paper: Moneyball: Data for a More Sustainable Operation in Long-Term Care and stay tuned for Part 3 of this blog series!

“Too often, facilities are losing visibility to residents because their EHR is not flexible enough to conform to needed workflow changes, leaving a hole in healthcare and business information. It is becoming even more important to have feedback on the person once they leave your facility as well – the post-stay information can help you ensure your care and coordination across the continuum supports healthy outcomes beyond your prevue.”

– Kevin McCormack, Senior Revenue Cycle Consultant, Cantata Health.