Strategic Planning
Increased competition, the impact of baby boomers on demographics, and the expanding pressures of costs on operations are forcing providers to develop comprehensive strategic plans. Unfortunately, many health care executives postpone or eliminate their strategic planning/analysis because of time constraints. This decision hinders an organization from effectively applying resources, while also meeting the current and future needs of its community.
McBee Associates assists organizations in planning for their future. The firm delivers a full range of strategic analysis and planning services that encompass all critical forecasting factors such as demographics, staffing levels, market share, market-based rate analysis, expansion of services, and network affiliations.
Long Range Plan
The long range plan is more operational in nature than the strategic plan. It discusses projected volumes, facility needs, operational needs, and staffing needs. The plan differs from a strategic plan in that its focus is on operations, while a strategic plan's focus is on market share. A long range plan normally includes the projected volume and financial data for a five-year period.
The process begins with the gathering of volume statistics and demographics, and projecting services for the next five years. The plan also requires determining current physical plant needs and forecasting the institution's capital needs. The management team, through a series of meetings, determines the operational needs for the future.
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Staff Levels
McBee Associates can assist an institution in determining appropriate staffing levels for each department. McBee Associates develops a staffing model based on institutions of similar size. Comparing the current staffing levels to the staffing model provides insight into areas that may be over or under staffed.
McBee Associates works with department heads and administration to determine reasons for staffing differences and develop plans to bring staffing in line with the model. The methodology helps insure that staffing changes are incorporated into the operations of the facility and the changes are beneficial over time.
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Assessment
The assessment is a review of a particular function to measure its operational efficiency and identify problems. Identifying and analyzing problems is normally the first step in correcting them. Most of our consulting engagements begin with an assessment to identify issues and develop a work program to correct them.
A typical assessment in patient billing includes a review of the flow of data from registration to billing and payment. Staffing levels, processes, data quality and computer systems are also be reviewed. McBee Associates provides detailed opinions of the operational efficiency, recommendations for improvement and an estimate at the financial impact of the improvements.
McBee Associates can provide an assessment of all departments related to financial services, including patient accounting, reimbursement, managed care, accounts payable and budgeting. By providing individual assessments, the institution can address the specific areas that are having difficulty.
The results of the assessment are discussed in a detailed report. The report discusses the current operations, operating statistics, specific short term recommendations that can be implemented immediately and long-term recommendation that will be implemented over the coming year. The assessment provides guidelines of tasks needed to improve operation, resources required, and estimated timelines to implement recommendations.
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Demographics
Planning normally requires an in-depth understanding of the demographics of your institution's service area and source of patients. Where do your patients come from? What is the age distribution of your patients? In what areas are you not capturing patients? A demographic study will answer these questions.
This study takes into consideration the historical population growth, age distribution, and capture rates. The economic status of the service area and major employers will be considered. This information is then analyzed to project future population trends.
The population data and actual admission data are used to estimate capture rate by zip code. This information is combined with the usage model to determine services that are not being captured by the institution. This information is used to uncover opportunities for new services.
The final step is to forecast volumes for the next five years. Forecasting volume is not an exact science. It is based on historical data and subjective factors such as future trends in medicine and service are economy. McBee Associates utilizes management input to estimate the future impact on patient volumes.
The demographics study includes a final report that forecasts population growth and the institution's volumes. The report is normally composed of an executive summary and a detailed report that includes five-year forecasts. These forecasts could be used as a basis in other plan studies such as budgeting, competitor analysis, etc.
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Market Share Analysis
Is my institution capturing its share of the market? Are there opportunities for my institution to increase its volume? Are these services that should be offered? The answers to these questions begin with an in-depth understanding of the institution's market environment. A market share analysis will help identify locations in your service area where business is being missed.
The analysis starts by determining your institution's primary and secondary service areas. The demographics of the service area are analyzed and population trends forecasted. Using databases developed by McBee Associates, the service mix and related volumes are forecasted for the institution's services area.
The institution's historical service mix and volumes are summarized and forecasted for future use in planning. The historical actual data is compared with the service area's overall data to calculate the institution's market share. A report is then be developed that discusses the market share and service mix by zip code. This report highlights opportunities for additional volume through expanding current services or through the development of new services.
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Competitive Analysis
What are the institution's weaknesses and strengths as compared to the competition? How can an institution improve on its weaknesses? Understanding the competition yields significant insight into your institution. The competitive analysis compares several significant factors between institutions. These comparisons provide insight into your strengths and weaknesses.
McBee Associates compares such factors as cost, charge level, services offered, medical staff composition, future plans for expansion, physical plant capabilities, and market share. McBee Associates surveys the service area. The analysis compares financial benchmarks and financial ratios. Staffing ratios and staffing costs are studied and comparisons made on available data.
The analysis also includes studying the current environment of the service areas. McBee Associates summarizes the major employers in the institution's service areas, the market area, and the insurance coverage being offered to its patients. The economic trends of the service areas are reviewed and summarized in the institution's competitive analysis.
Once the information is gathered, it is presented in an executive summary suitable for board presentation. A detailed report is also be provided that discusses the institution's competitive analysis. This information is particularly useful when preparing for strategic planning or when establishing a managed care contract.
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New Services
The steps involved in a health care institution bringing a vision for a new service to implementation can be extensive. McBee Associates can help your institution fast track the implementation by resolving the financial issues in the planning and implementation phases of the project.
Based on estimated volume, McBee Associates projects revenue, staffing, operating expenses, profitability, cash flow, start-up capital, and capital needs. Using this information, we prepare forecasted financial statements and a report detailing the assumptions used.
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Market Basket Survey
Are my institution's rates competitive in its services area? Is my institution losing patients due to high rates? Even though most services provided in an institution are based on fixed fee or negotiated rate, there are still some areas that are rate sensitive.
McBee Associates can help identify those rate sensitive areas and determine if the rates are competitive for the particular service in the particular market area. Once these areas are determined, corrective action may be taken to alleviate rate inconsistencies.
McBee Associates maintains several national databases of charge data. Using these databases and information obtained by surveys, McBee Associates can compare an institution charge structure to its competition.
A market basket survey is useful when aligning rates, attempting to gain market share in price sensitive areas, and assisting in managed care contract negotiations. At the conclusion of the study, McBee Associates delivers a detailed report comparing the institution's charges by CPT code.
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Budgeting
What is my institution's financial plan? Is the financial plan accurate? The budget is the financial plan for the coming year. If the budget is not accurate and obtainable, the financial strength of an institution could be hurt. McBee Associates believes the budget is essential to help guarantee financial success for years to come.
McBee Associates can provide support in the budgeting process from supplying staff or support in the actual budget preparation, to providing an interim budget director, the implementation of the entire budget. McBee Associates has assisted clients by developing individual sections of the budget from forecasting reimbursement from third party payers, and estimating payments from managed care contracts, to forecasting patient volumes.
McBee Associates can assist in the implementation of the budget. We assist our clients in aligning patient rates to generate required revenues with the least impact on rate increases. We can also help allocate the budget by month and provide software assistance if necessary.
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