Using Healthcare Data Analytics to Rock New Practice Development

Getting to know and engaging newly recruited providers in your market is a critical step to planning a successful practice launch. But, before you even sit down with these physicians, liaisons should research their markets to better understand each new provider’s growth position.

Easier said than done, right? Well, actually… no, if you have access to good healthcare data analytics. Here is how I have used internal referral data, external data and field intelligence to rock new practice development.

Improve Network Utilization with Internal Referral Data

When I was a service line liaison, I typically started with my internal referral data to explore opportunities to improve new practice network utilization. Here are some “telling” questions to get you started:

• Who are the new provider’s peers within our provider network?
• Of these peers, who are we primarily getting referrals from today (meaning: who should we steer away from so we don’t erode our existing referral base)?
• What specialties are driving the majority of the peer group’s patient pipeline?
• Are any in-network providers still sending outside of the network within this specialty group?
• Based on past field intelligence, are there clear reasons as to why (i.e. alignment, capacity, access, quality, proximity, payors, politics, patient preference, personal)?
• Does the addition of the new provider remove any of these key barriers?
• [If yes] How can we facilitate introductions that improve network utilization once the new provider joins?

Spot Market Trends with External Claims Data

Next, I would review external claims within my healthcare data analytics to get a better handle of trends occurring within the market. Ask yourself these questions:

• Who are the top providers in the market for each of the referral groups identified from our internal data trends? (Drill down into specific locations, if satellite development is part of your organization’s service line growth strategy.)

• When looking at shared patients, who do they appear to be most “connected to” within the new provider’s specialty?

• What percentage of patients do they share with competing providers?

• Based on past field intelligence, are there clear reasons as to why (i.e. alignment, capacity, access, quality, proximity, payors, politics, patient preference, personal)?

• Do data trends over time suggest these connections are weak–outside of their own network alignment or declining?

• [If yes] How can we further explore these prospects’ willingness to test & potentially redirect patients to our new provider?

The 3 Rock Stars of Healthcare Data Analytics

Identifying Best Growth Opportunities with Field Intelligence

Lastly, I aimed to complete a series of pre-visits to collect the field intelligence I needed to both qualify and quantify opportunities spotted in our data. As part of these pre-visits, you can ask referral prospects:

Tools to Launch Your Tour

What other ways do you use healthcare data analytics to support new practice development planning? Are there additional questions you pose to prospects when collecting intelligence before a new provider arrives? Let me know, and I will update this post.

In the meantime, feel free to download our new tool kit: Using Data to Drive Outreach. With a data inventory worksheet, recommended outreach strategies and a template for building your data-driven growth case, it has everything you need to rock your new practice planning and development.