By Allison McCarthy, MBA
Effectively measuring ROI on physician sales and retention activities requires two key elements – quantitative data and qualitative data. While producing the quantitative data has its own set of challenges, qualitative data trending and reporting is similarly matched to the quest for the Holy Grail. But without it, and if the quantitative data stands alone, it can be tempting for internal stakeholders – such as CFOs and clinical leadership – to presume that incremental growth is due to market dynamics or other internal efforts. The qualitative data is the connecting link between activity and outcome – providing the “proof” and validation around results.
To capture this qualitative data, tracking systems need to include these important elements:
- Targeted physician lists segmented using two categories – growth and retention.
- Clearly defined objectives – interactions, activities, volume – for each physician identified in the target list.
- Documentation of all activity and interactions with these physicians.
- Coding and trending processes to measure actual interactions against the objectives.
Organizations that have been successful in this area have learned that there is more to it than simply loading the physician names into a system and approaching each physician with an equal level of effort and attention. They realize the value in an intuitive coding system that:
- Defines physicians by either growth or retention
- Ranks each physician based on the targeted goal (A,B,C or 1,2,3)
- Determines the specific clinical services to focus their relations effort
This becomes as important in physician relations as the projected budget is in the fiscal world. It provides the internal roadmap that articulates what is to be accomplished and the tactical steps to get there. And just like in financial management, quarterly reports can be generated comparing actual results to original plans. More on that later.
With the physician database ready, it is in the documentation of activity with a physician that provides the proof of effort. Beyond recording a note, effective ROI reporting also needs details that put more specifics around the interaction. The easiest method to report or trend results is through coding; codes define the type of activity completed (e.g. meeting, orientation, CME program) as well as the “subject” of the interaction (e.g. cardiology, ortho surgery, cancer). From this, reports can be generated correlating the degree of effort (or amount of activity) on behalf of specific clinical services (or subject of the interaction). Then, when the quantitative results are reported, physician relations can identify their efforts in increasing clinical and referral activity.
I mentioned benchmark reports earlier. These reports help the team review what works and what needs improvement. For example, if the quantitative reports show limited growth in a specific clinical area, these reports become the tool to validate if that outcome resulted from lack of field attention. Or if a physician was an “A” target for growth but his referral activity didn’t change, was it because there was not enough dedicated attention to this key customer or were there other factors that created those lackluster results.
Documenting and tracking physician relations activities can be the least exciting part of the job, but it can also be the most valuable. The knowledge that these reports provide can help physician relations teams sharpen their focus, target their activities and generate the results that their organizations’ leaders want to see.