Transcript Survey FAQs - Medical Group Management Association

Dos and Don’ts of Surveys
Kristina Ziehler, MPH [email protected]
Meghan McMahon, MS [email protected]
Survey Operations Department
Copyright 2010. Medical Group Management Association. All rights reserved.
Common FAQs in Surveys
• MGMA Surveys provide a wealth of information
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Compensation
Productivity
Cost
Revenue
• How can you get the most out of these benchmarks?
Copyright 2010. Medical Group Management Association. All rights reserved.
Mean vs. Median
Do use the median.
We recommend benchmarking against
the median in most cases since it is not
influenced by extreme values
Copyright 2010. Medical Group Management Association. All rights reserved.
Mean vs. Median
What are the average and median number of
beignets purchased at the local café?
Copyright 2010. Medical Group Management Association. All rights reserved.
Mean vs. Median
What was the average number of beignets
purchased per person at the café?
Person A
Person B
Person C
Person D
Person E
1 beignet
2 beignets
3 beignets
4 beignets
5 beignets
Average = SUM(PersonA:PersonE)/N
(1+2+3+4+5)/5 = (15)/5 = 3
There was an average of
3 beignets purchased.
Copyright 2010. Medical Group Management Association. All rights reserved.
Mean vs. Median
What was the median number of beignets
purchased per person at the café?
50% Below
50% Above
Person A
Person B
Person C
Person D
Person E
1 beignet
2 beignets
3 beignets
4 beignets
5 beignets
There was a median of
3 beignets purchased.
Copyright 2010. Medical Group Management Association. All rights reserved.
Mean vs. Median
What was the median and average number of
beignets purchased per person at the café?
Person A
Person B
Person C
Person D
Person X
1 beignet
2 beignets
3 beignets
4 beignets
90 beignets
There was a median of 3 and
average of 20 beignets purchased!
Copyright 2010. Medical Group Management Association. All rights reserved.
Sample Size
Do be aware of the Population.
The larger the count, or “N” of the data, the more reliable
the benchmark.
Don’t add up the N’s in the
Cost Survey staffing tables.
Due to data outliers being excluded, and response rate,
N’s won’t always necessarily add up.
Copyright 2010. Medical Group Management Association. All rights reserved.
Hourly compensation
Don’t try to create an hourly
compensation using the data
in the Physician
Compensation survey.
This data is collected as an annual total and may not give
an accurate compensation when divided by an estimated
number of hours worked per year.
Copyright 2010. Medical Group Management Association. All rights reserved.
Salary data: Cost vs. Physician Comp
Don’t try to gather
compensation benchmarks
for your support staff using
the Cost survey.
Many State-level MGMA groups conduct support staff
salary surveys; we urge you to reach out to them.
Copyright 2010. Medical Group Management Association. All rights reserved.
Comparing Data Across Tables
Don’t divide data across
various tables.
Take a look at the N’s in each table. You’ll notice—the
population size is different!
There typically is not a relationship between the
percentiles in one table and the percentiles in another
table
i.e. 75th ptile compensation correlated to 75th ptile wRVUs
Copyright 2010. Medical Group Management Association. All rights reserved.
Comparing Data Across Tables
Do utilize ratio tables.
Compensation to Work RVU Ratio Table includes only
participants that reported both types of data; we do the
math for you!
Do use the Physician Pay-toProduction Plotter tool.
Interactive Report offers physician compensation to
production ratio organized in a scatter plot.
Copyright 2010. Medical Group Management Association. All rights reserved.
Comparing Data Across Tables
Do explore MGMA Custom
Analysis reports.
Copyright 2010. Medical Group Management Association. All rights reserved.
Percentiles
Don’t default to the highest
benchmark. If your practice performs at the 48th
percentile, it is not realistic to benchmark at the 90th.
Don’t assume 90th percentile is
always the best. While production or
revenue at high percentiles is great, operating cost is not.
Copyright 2010. Medical Group Management Association. All rights reserved.
Percentiles
Do remember the importance of
internal benchmarking.
Determine your practice’s baseline performance.
Do use benchmarks as a guide
or a goal.
Strive for continuous improvement.
Copyright 2010. Medical Group Management Association. All rights reserved.
Specific Population
Do use tables that apply to your
group. Look at a variety of tables (by group size,
region, hospital ownership, etc.) that best fit your practice.
Don’t shop around for the bestfit data. Agree internally which tables your group
will use before looking at data, avoid “pick-and-choose”
behavior, and stick with the median!
Copyright 2010. Medical Group Management Association. All rights reserved.
Surveys FAQs
Q: Cost – What’s in Total Cost?
A:
Total operating cost + total provider cost
– Appendix C: Formulas and Methodology
• Total operating and NPP cost
• Total Medical Revenue after Operating Cost
and NPP Cost
Copyright 2010. Medical Group Management Association. All rights reserved.
Survey FAQs
Q: What’s the difference between the
More Than 1 Year in Specialty and More
Than 2 Years in Specialty salary tables?
Which do I use?
A:
It is best to use More than 1 Year, since Years in
Specialty is not a required question in the survey—every
physician is required to have worked an entire 12 months,
so more will fall under the More than 1 Year category.
Copyright 2010. Medical Group Management Association. All rights reserved.
Survey FAQs
Q: How do I use Cost staffing tables properly?
A: Take the number of FTEs you have and multiply it
by the median.
If the full-time equivalent for your practice is 0.8,
multiply it by the appropriate metric.
 Practice Type: FP, Not Hospital/IDS owned
 MGMA benchmark: Total support staff FTE
i.e. Benchmark: per FTE physician=4.86
 Formula: .8 (FTE) x 3 physicians x 4.86
(MGMA metric)=
 Support staff FTE needed: 11.67
Copyright 2010. Medical Group Management Association. All rights reserved.
Survey FAQs
Q: What does “TC/NPP Excl” mean in the
Physician Compensation Report?
A:
TC means Technical Component. NPP means
Nonphysician Provider. Tables with this designation have no
TC and no productivity attributed to NPPs in the data.
Copyright 2010. Medical Group Management Association. All rights reserved.
Survey FAQs
Q: Cost – what is the difference
between per Physican and per
Provider?
A: Per physician is per 1.0 FTE
Per provider includes every practice
that has both a nonphysician provider
+ one physician
Copyright 2010. Medical Group Management Association. All rights reserved.
Survey FAQs
Q:
What are the Physician
Compensation Report Summary
Tables?
A:
These tables act as “snapshots” of specialties.
They offer benchmarks on compensation,
collections, wRVUs, and ratios for national, group
type, and geographic sections.
Copyright 2010. Medical Group Management Association. All rights reserved.
Survey FAQs
Q:
Can I compute total medical revenue after
operating cost?
A:
We recommend allowing MGMA to do the calculations for you!
Copyright 2010. Medical Group Management Association. All rights reserved.
Survey FAQs
Q: Is there ever a time I should use the mean?
A:
Yes!
Exception to the Median Rule within the Cost Survey:
o
o
o
Total Days in A/R
Accounts Receivable and Collections Percentages
Percentage Breakout of Total Gross Charges
Reason to use the mean instead of the median
o
o
When using percentages, medians can be 0.00% which will not allow
benchmark insight
Metrics should add up to 100% i.e. A/R percentages
Copyright 2010. Medical Group Management Association. All rights reserved.
Conclusion
Do feel comfortable with the data.
MGMA does take the time to contact and verify answers with
participations ensuring we are publishing accurate and useful
data.
Do feel free to contact us with
questions.
Many of our staff have years of experience working with the
surveys and are eager to help with any questions a user may
have.
Copyright 2010. Medical Group Management Association. All rights reserved.
Questions?
[email protected]
Copyright 2010. Medical Group Management Association. All rights reserved.