Medical Practice Excellence: What sets MGMA Better Performers above the rest?

MGMA · MPE (Medical Practice Excellence): What sets Better Performers above the rest?

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Few people are as well suited to help us define “medical practice excellence” for the inaugural episode of MGMA’s new, semi-regular podcast series as David N. Gans, MSHA, FACMPE, senior fellow for industry affairs.

His decades of contributions to MGMA — in survey data collection and interpreting that data — provide historical grounding to what makes a medical practice stand above the rest, as defined by MGMA’s Better Performer standards.

In this episode, Gans recounts his two most-recent Data Mine articles for MGMA Connection magazine:

“Good management is timeless”

In this article, Gans delves into the significant differences between median practice performance and MGMA Better Performer performance as evidenced in revenue and expenses per full-time-equivalent (FTE) physician and staffing for business operations, front office, clinical support and ancillary support, drawing on physician-owned multispecialty group data from 2020 MGMA DataDive Cost & Revenue.

Ultimately, MGMA data show that while higher staffing levels contribute to slightly higher expenses for the organization, the investments are made in areas that help physicians be more productive. MGMA data show these same Better Performer practices do significantly better in productivity measures, such as 25% better than the median for work RVUs (wRVUs), and similar improvements on median total RVUs and median total encounters.

“Reaping what you sow: Keys to MGMA Better Performer productivity”

In this January 2021 article, Gans explores revenue and expense data for groups to provide a more in-depth view of how they spent money on staffing.

For 2% more support staff spending and 13% more in general operating costs, those Better Performer practices got a return on their investment, to the tune of 18% greater total medical revenue and 19% greater physician compensation and benefits.

Narrowing down to three key specialties — family medicine without OB/GYN, noninvasive cardiology and general surgery — Gans details how actions at the practice level translate directly to improve physician performance and, in turn, increase compensation for those doctors. Specifically:

• Family medicine (without OB/GYN) physicians at Better Performer practices had 35% greater wRVU production and 28% higher compensation than the median.
• Noninvasive cardiology physicians at Better Performer practices had 45% more wRVUs and 29% greater compensation.
• General surgeons at Better Performer practices had 46% higher wRVUs and 35% greater compensation.

“Practices that maximize production maximize output of the practice,” Gans said, “and they reap what they sow.”

The MGMA Insights podcast is hosted and produced by Chris Harrop. 
 @MedEdit

Additional resources

• MGMA Better Performers Data Report: Performance and Practices of Successful Medical Groups — This MGMA data report offers insights into what sets the top performers above the rest.
• “Better Performers: Great care from people who care” — This MGMA Connection magazine feature chronicles the work done by Missoula Bone & Joint LLC in Montana to become an MGMA Better Performer.
• MGMA Insights: “A discussion with one of MGMA’s Better Performers” — Hear from Steven K. Sinclair, CPA, CMPE, chief financial officer of Graves Gilbert Clinic of Bowling Green, Ky., about the group’s path to Better Performer status.
• Medical Practice Evaluation Tool — MGMA members can use this comprehensive, web-based tool to assess where their organizations measure up against industry-standard practices.