Tracking HPM Physician Performance - Physician Value Index

At a recent regional symposium  for  hospice executives and chief medical officers, following a presentation on the building blocks of a high-performing medical staff,  I was asked  how I would assess if the performance of a hospice medical staff is "high-performing". Of course, there is no single answer, but we (DAI Palliative Care Group)  have developed a tool that has successfully been used to benchmark performance.

Many factors weigh in upon the performance of HPM physicians within a hospice setting. Some factors can be quantified, many cannot not. So, based upon years-long study of hospice physician practices, our research group developed  a metric we refer to as the HPM Physician Value Index , or HPM-PVI. As with other indices, such as an economic index used to track changes in the economy, the HPM-PVI is a single number calculated from an array of figures. In other words, it is a statistical composite that measures changes from one period to another, and can be used to help answer a question often posed by hospice executives - "how can I  determine if I'm getting a reasonable return for the investment (physician compensation) in the medical staff"?

The HPM-PVI has served as a useful metric because it assigns a value to one of a hospice physician's principal activities - oversight of an interdisciplinary team. I invite your feedback and participation in our ongoing efforts to spread the use of this HPM physician value index.