Maximize Rural Health Clinic Performance: A Data-Driven Approach

This session explores how Rural Health Clinics can leverage key performance indicators to drive financial and operational success.

Learn how accurate cost reporting, data-driven decision-making, and the new Rural Health Clinic (RHC) Dashboard can enhance efficiency, ensure compliance, and improve patient care.

Gain actionable insights and be among the first to experience this powerful tool for optimizing clinic performance and sustaining long-term growth in rural healthcare settings.

Key learnings include:

  1. Interpret Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Gain a deeper understanding of essential financial and operational metrics that drive Rural Health Clinic success.
  2. Leverage Data for Strategic Decisions: Explore real-world examples of how Rural Health Clinics have used data-driven insights to improve financial performance and operational efficiency.
  3. Experience the New RHC Dashboard: Be among the first to interact with the innovative Rural Health Clinic Dashboard, designed to simplify cost reporting, track KPIs, and enhance decision-making.
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Q&A

What are the biggest barriers Stroudwater has seen when encouraging RHC’s to review their KPIs?

The largest barrier is helping an RHC to identify that the information is out there in the RHC Dashboard. Once they understand what information is available they become very engaged in reviewing their KPIs

Is the producivity standard still being enforced after January 1, 2025?

Productivity standards are no longer applicable effective with cost reporting periods ending after 12/31/24.

I don’t prepare the cost report for my RHC. How should I engage the preparer in reviewing these KPIs?

Stroudwater would be happy to review the results for your RHC with both you and your cost report preparer at the same time.

What are you substituting as a metric now that the productivity standard is no longer in effect?

Even though the productivity standards are no longer being enforced by CMS, we are seeing many RHCs continue to use them as a metric to monitor provider and clinic productivity.

Any thought of using wRVU as a measure of provider productivity?

We did not include that in our first version of the RHC Dashboard, however it could be a possibility for future versions.

If productivity standards no longer effect reimbursement, what strategies should we focus on to ensure cost is effectively managed in provider-based RHCs. Do time studies for medical directors and providers who work across different service lines still matter?

Yes, time studies, or other relevant allocation methodologies, still matter as we should be reporting RHC cost in the RHC cost center on the cost report. We should still maintain accurate records around RHC time vs time spent in other areas of the hospital or non-RHC activities for applicable providers. In addition to direct cost, one area to be mindful of is overhead allocations to the RHC. This isn’t necessarily new, but it remains important to ensure that we are appropriately allocating overhead cost to our provider-based RHCs. Additionally, using available benchmarking data such as MGMA can help in managing our PB-RHCs.