Which metrics to measure by profession

Depending on which department of the healthcare center an employee works in, their daily tasks will vary, so the metrics they must be measured by will change accordingly. Performance standards may also vary based on the size of the organization, but the professionals will remain largely the same regardless of a clinic’s size.

Communicate to your staff what metrics mean the most to you as an employer and where they should prioritize their efforts. Collaborate with your employees to create rules and performance standards and undergo individual employee goal setting. This can help you think outside the box in the metrics and questions you come up with in your review process, as well as foster a team spirit in your company and make employees more receptive to the review process.

When determining what to measure for performance reviews, you can look at the job description for ideas. A clear job description will include a list of key responsibilities and requirements you can verify are being met in a review. Standard performance metrics across specialties are:

• Tardiness and absenteeism
• Attitude towards unfriendly or hostile clients
• Compliance with clearly stated company policies found in the employee handbook

Physicians review process

A physicians review will include challenges and resulting metrics unique to other positions, including:

• Performance in video and direct observation of procedures
• Auditing medical records
• Strict federal standards regarding adherence to Medicare policies
• Sales stats based on products being offered to patients
• Peer assessment

A medical peer review is a slightly different process, involving the input of other physicians and medical professionals in similar fields within the same department to ensure the hospital’s processes meet health and safety standards. This type of physicians review takes into account:

• Patient outcomes and analyzing the standard of care and safety such as length of stay trends and rates of post-procedure infection
• The design of systems that ensure high-quality care within the company

Peer reviews must be performed in good faith by a fellow physician who is within the same specialty and location. This ensures the same metrics are being used by other trusted professionals in that area. It’s recognized that peer reviews are a vital tool in the prevention of medical malpractice and increasing physician accountability.

In a committee physicians review, a team of administrators and fellow physicians come together to interpret whether performance and safety standards are being met. Medical peer review organizations perform the same function as a reviewer but on a higher level, with a focus on improving patient safety standards. Committees as well as physicians performing reviews are subject to peer review privacy policies.

The findings of a physicians review are held to strict privacy laws under the Health Care Quality Improvement Act, created in 1986 and revised in 1998. The act was created to encourage peer reviews by protecting committee members from legal fallout in the case of medical malpractice cases. Creation of the National Practitioner Data Bank was another provision of the act, helping prevent doctors at fault for malpractice from working in different states.

Other medical office professionals

Aside from the physicians, a medical office has a variety of roles to fill. Take a look at the differing key performance indicators (KPI) different medical staff will be reviewed on.

Nurses

As direct care staff, nurses are upheld to many of the same standards as physicians though on a smaller scale. Mistakes such as medication errors are kept in files for review periods in order to notice patterns. Patient communication is also a core focus, so healthcare facilities may assess metrics such as average patient wait time and the frequency of patient communication.

Back office staff

Overhead operations are crucial to any healthcare facility and administrative staff are just as important to review as any other team member. To assess the performance of your medical office staff, review metrics such as:

• Processing time of new patient paperwork and walk-in patients
• Accuracy of insurance and co-pay verifications
• Adherence to HIPAA privacy policies
• Efficiency in scheduling and average occurrence of errors, including double bookings

Facility support professionals

Medical janitorial crews have different performance standards, which may include:

• Maintenance engineers can be reviewed based on speed of completing maintenance needs and the number of rework requests in a period, as well as machine setup time and overtime hours.
• Medical janitorial staff can be assessed by looking at their adherence to safety and cleanliness standards, customer satisfaction according to surveys and general appearance of their assigned areas.
• Facility maintenance manager reports include the length of time it takes to address issues, work order backlog and reactive versus planned maintenance undergone, an indication of the effectiveness of maintenance processes.

Conducting the review

When it’s time to prepare your review process, make sure you have a list of objectives and expectations that you’re comparing performance to.

Conduct a review using a general process that studies the results of the past period or by using a 360-degree review approach, or you can combine the practices. Reaching out for the opinion of colleagues and others that the person being reviewed interacts with is the basis of measuring performance in a 360-degree review. This can take longer but tends to provide more in-depth analysis than simple metrics can.

Identifying and analyzing performance data

Accurately reviewing an employee’s performance based on the past period, typically a span of an entire year, can be complicated at best. Ensure your medical staff review is thorough, using external, internal, qualitative and quantitative data to see a comprehensive picture of your employees’ accomplishments and weaknesses.

Prior to your medical staff reviews, ask your employees to complete self-evaluation forms. Give the staff members a list of questions on which to rate their performance, such as using a scale from one to five. Use direct questions for self-evaluation ratings:

• What is your level of reliability based on attendance, accountability, etc.?
• How effective are you at prioritizing your daily tasks?
• Rate your level of productivity including how you contribute to increasing workplace productivity.

Ask them open-ended questions such as:

• What activities have you participated in this year that contributed to your professional growth?
• How do you like working with the other medical staff at the facility?
• What are three goals you have for the next year?

Add feedback from the overall company and clients, and use your 360-degree review research to get the qualitative feedback that you need to make a proper assessment. Add this to the specific metrics you use for your staff member and you can then create a holistic review.

Once you’ve gathered the appropriate data and can see the big picture and smaller details of your employees’ performance, you can make a thorough analysis. Keep a keen eye out for areas where the employees’ strengths can be recognized. This motivates employees individually to keep up the good work and provides a competitive drive to the rest of the staff.

When you find problems, think about what could be contributing to your employees falling behind in that metric. Does their schedule need to be adjusted to make room for more rest? Studies show that workers in the nursing field suffer from exhaustion and depression, along with behavioral disorders after only four years of working in their positions. Make a list of issues to discuss and make sure to brainstorm solutions with the employee at your meeting.

Presenting the review

Ideally, a performance review will be a one-on-one meeting where both parties can be comfortable and focused. In a telecommuting position, this may not be possible, so it’s best to use videoconferencing tools if you have to. Sit down with your employee and provide them a copy of their review to peruse before discussing.

Make sure to identify both positive and negative factors for each employee, as growth is stimulated by having goals to reach and even employees with exemplary performance strive to be better. Point out failings but remember that the last thing you want as a manager is for your medical staff to feel like you don’t notice or appreciate their achievements.

Not every company conducts performance reviews. This leaves employees wondering where they can improve and possibly losing sight of their goals or benchmarks. Make sure to provide sporadic feedback to your staff and perform medical staff reviews periodically. Informal feedback can be just as valuable and motivating as a formal review. Make sure your feedback is honest and insightful.

Medical staff review FAQs

How often do I need to conduct a staff review?

Most medical offices choose to review their employees yearly or biannually, but ultimately it is up to the office to determine how often they review their employees. New hires should be evaluated soon after employment, typically within the first 90 days.

Do nurses undergo peer reviews?

Depending on your location, there may be state and local requirements for nurses as well as physicians not addressed in this article. For example, Texas nurses are subject to regular peer reviews and hospitals may be responsible for employing a nursing review board, depending on the size of their nursing staff. Always research your local regulations when preparing your medical staff review process.

What are the five main KPIs for healthcare offices?

The five key performance indicators to keep in mind when preparing your reviews are time to service, customer service, quality of care, financial performance and company growth.