Important Metrics for Measuring the Value of Your Referrals?

This is part 3 of a 4 part blog series on Measuring the value of referrals. In part 1 of this series, I noted that the average referral is worth $1000, and discussed the importance of making the most out of every referral. We have found that rather than focusing on the total number of referrals, our top-performing customers focus on what their front office and therapy teams are doing with those referrals.

In part 2 of this series, I introduced the first 2 of 4 important measures that top-performing practices analyze. The first measure I covered was Conversion Rate – why it is important to measure, as well as the importance of setting goals for your staff and having a strategy for conversion. The second measure I covered was Average Scheduled Frequency, and why the best performers always schedule ahead, and strive to sell the value of regular attendance. In this blog post I will cover the 3^rd important measure: Case Mortality Rate.

Measure 3: Case Mortality Rate

Case Mortality Rate = Number of Cases Discharged (Goals Not Met) with less than 3 Visits/Number of New Cases

Now that we’ve tackled getting the patients in for their initial visits and convincing them of the value of regular attendance, it’s important to know whether or not we get the patients to the finish line. Anecdotally, I’ve heard that as many as 40% of patients self-discharge. One of the big challenges is knowing why patients have stopped therapy and tracking patients who drop out before their goals are met. The Case Mortality Rate looks at a cohort of new cases (a set of referrals who have shown up for their first appointment) that drop out early and before meeting their goals (they were discharged). You might think three visits is too low a number given the average of nearly eleven  visits. That’s fine. What you want to do is establish a baseline and make sure you’re managing this number lower.

Ask yourself these questions:

• What is my case mortality rate?
• What can it be?
• Does my staff have an easy way of identifying patients who’ve stopped attending and seeing their last visit date and total number of visits?
• Do we have a process for following up on patients that stopped attending therapy?
• Does my staff have an easy way of tracking who met their goals?
• Does my staff have a way of tracking the reason for discontinuing therapy? Are there things we can do better?

Stay tuned – in my next blog I will be wrapping this series up with the 4^th and final measure. Give us your comments and let us know how your practice manages referrals and what you’ve learned.

If you would like more information on resources to help improve your practice, visit our Revenue Cycle Management Resource Page.