The Effects of Audits and Reviews on Health Care Outcomes

Healthcare audits and healthcare reviews are two very important elements of ensuring that a practice is performing the way that it should be for itself and for its patients.

Audit and feedback has and always will be an effective strategy to improve the professional practice. It is quite logical that healthcare professionals want this information so they can modify their practice in a way that is consistent with the practices of their peers and also gives their patients exactly what they want.

But what can be said about the consistency in effectiveness of audits and feedback?

It has been shown that it is not always consistent for a number of reasons.

Compromised Effectiveness of Healthcare Audits and Reviews

There are a number of elements that go into whether or not the information gathered from audits and reviews are effective. If the review is a patient review rather than a review by an outside organization, it could be subject to personal opinion. A physician may give a patient the necessary care, but then the patient may not see it that way. Perhaps there was something that rubbed them wrong that didn’t exist. Reviews on the patient level are simply subjective and may not be a perfect reflection of what really occurred in the exam room.

A second factor that can affect the effectiveness of healthcare audits and reviews is the fact that the physician may not make the necessary changes. If that’s the case, then the audit and/or reviews may not mean anything and things continue as they have been. If patients have not been satisfied, employees overworked, and financial issues have come about due to a lot of errors, then things continuing the way they have been may not be the best course of action to take.

So what has to be done is a change of mindset. Any healthcare audits that may be performed for one reason or another need to be taken seriously and any reviews by either patients or another entity also need to be taken seriously.

Benefits of Healthcare Audits

Of course, audits can be performed in any instance. Perhaps Medicare wants to perform an audit because something is not right. Then again, there are many physicians that choose to have their practices audited so they can see what areas they can perform.

One of the most effective types of audits that you can have performed is by a medical practice consultant.

A medical practice consultant will review everything from your billing to the overall management of the practice. There are different types of audits and reviews that can be performed so you know exactly what you need to do to improve your practice. If you are having time management issues, billing issues, chart issues, or the office isn’t running smoothly, all of this can be identified in the audit and review of your practices.

Some of the audit types include:

•    Annual chart auditing
•    Surgical chart auditing
•    Annual account management analysis
•    Annual fee schedule review

You can have your practice audited yearly so that new and old issues can be identified. This is an important tool toward a streamlined practice.

Using The Information to Improve

Once the information from the healthcare review and audit is complete, it is much easier to identify the problems. It can be difficult for the physician and his or her staff to identify the issues because they are so close to what is wrong. With an outside perspective, the entire ballgame can change. You will be presented with a full picture of what is happening so that improvements can be made.

You also don’t have to worry about making those improvements on your own. Your medical practice consultant will help you devise a plan so that everything is more efficient and errors are minimized. This is a service that pays for itself because you can lessen your losses that are typically made because of errors.

Overall, audits and reviews can be very helpful when they are used the right way and taken seriously. Your medical practice consultant will break it down for you so that you are not overwhelmed by the big picture. This will allow you to create steps toward improvement, making the practice more ideal for you, your patients, and your staff.

 

If you wish to have a more streamlined medical practice, healthcare audits and healthcare reviews can go a long way in improving health care outcomes. To learn more, call us at 508-946-1665 or fill out our contact form.