Slice of the pie: Results of telehealth benchmarking survey

AAACN Viewpoint, Mar/Apr 2002 by Cartwright, Julie P

National Office: (800) AMB-NURS * Web Site: www.aacn.org

This is the first 2002 installment on the results of the TeleHealthSurvey endorsed by AAACN. We are presenting in Viewpoint one data point (or "slice") from the survey at a time. We will feature data points that are of most interest to our readers. This survey is sponsored by IMS Northwest, Inc. Note that 2002 marks the third year for the survey. Results from the past 2 years are already starting to show a trend in industry data.

The survey is available online by going to www.hmsnorth west.com and clicking on the link to the TeleHealthSurvey(C) 2002. In 2000, 67 organizations registered and over 30% participated. The 2001 edition had 65 registered organizations.

The survey is intended to be a continuous process in collecting benchmarks from the telehealth industry. This includes any organization with telephone triage, physician referral, appointment scheduling or health plan contact center services provided to their clients. It also includes physician office nurses and support. Annual updates are planned. The 2002 edition was available for data input as of January 1, 2002 and until December 31, 2002. If you would like to suggest survey questions for future publication in Viewpoint, please e-mail Julie Cartwright at cartwright.julie@hmsnorthwest.com.

Data Query: Strategic Goals Alignment

The importance of aligning the strategic goals of a telehealth program with those of the organization has been a topic of discussion at several conferences these past years. The question is: "Have we gotten the message?" The importance of this message has been reflected in the responses of the participants from survey results from both 2000 and 2001

Results

In Section 8 (Budgeting) the survey asks, "In the past year, has the viability of your operations been questioned by upper management?" Results showed that 40% of the 2001 respondents said that the value of their program had been questioned; 60% of the respondents had not felt the squeeze. When asked what the primary reason was for their program to come under scrutiny they stated that "not enough revenue" was the culprit. Call centers continue to be identified as cost centers and are not seen as revenue-producing enterprises. In addition return on investments (ROI) strategies currently in use are not always valued by CFOs.

So how do we continue to miss the boat? In Section 2 Program/Service Descriptions we asked: "Rank the following that best describes the goals of your program/service?" The results were as follows, in order of priority. (The results for 2000 and 2001 survey varied only slightly.)

1. Improve access to care (ranking first with an 18% frequency)

2. Educate/empower clients (17%ro)

3. Community service (15%)

4. Manage demand (15%)

5. Revenue source (Ranking last with 13%)

Management's ranking changed dramatically. "Increased Service Utilization" moved from almost last in the ranking (#6) to first, and "Increase Revenue" moved up two positions to fourth. It was evident that the information provided by the survey participants themselves proved the senior management had a dramatic change in how they looked at the program.

Interpretation

We need to reprioritize our goals. We also need to look at ways to value our programs through additional revenue resources, cost shifting, and cost avoidance, and then provide documentation. It is a natural shift for upper management to look to "cost center" departments for expense savings during times of stress. Telephone triage will be no exception. It is essential that the organizations provide methods to prove ROI fits the needs of senior management. Finding models that senior management can relate to and support are the trick.

Julie P. Cartwright, MBA, RN

cartwright.julie@hmsnorthwest.com