Benchmarking for Organizational Excellence in Addiction Treatment

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Benchmarking for Organizational Excellence in
Addiction Treatment

• Paul M. Lefkovitz, Ph.D.
• President, Behavioral Pathway Systems

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The Measurement of Organizational Performance

• Performance is measured in all addiction
  treatment settings
• How helpful is performance data?
• Does data drive organizational vision?
• Does data drive organizational decision-making?

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The Limitations of Outcomes

• A thermometer reading would be of no value as a
  measure of your health
• If you didn't know that 98.6 is the average
  temperature!

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The Limitations of Outcomes in Your Organization

• Similarly, knowing that your missed appointment
  rate is 27 is of little value in evaluating the
  health of your agencyif you dont know how
  others are performing

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Data without Meaning

• We are deluged with data without meaning
• Data without a context is just a bunch of numbers
• What is the answer?

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The Role of Benchmarking

• Benchmarks provide the vital external context for
  understanding your outcomes

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Benchmarking Defined

• Gift and Mosel (1994) define benchmarking as
  the continual and collaborative discipline of
  measuring and comparing the results of key work
  processes
• Gift, R. and Mosel, D. (1994). Benchmarking in
  Health Care, American Hospital Association

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A Tiered Model of Benchmarking

• Descriptive Benchmarking
• Comparative Benchmarking
• Process Benchmarking
• Each builds on the preceding type

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Descriptive Benchmarking

• Most common form of benchmarking
• Industry overviews, government reports
• Static snapshot of industry performance
• No formal or statistical comparisons between an
  organizations performance and industry norms
• Eyeball analysis can be misleading

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Comparative Benchmarking

• Formal comparison of an organizations
  performance against a descriptive benchmark
• Typically reported as percentile rankings but can
  be reported in graph form also

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The Importance of Formal Comparative Benchmarks
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The Limitations of Benchmarking

• Benchmarks profile your organization against
  others and help identify opportunities for
  improvement

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Improve? How?

• Benchmarks do not give any indication as to how
  to improve

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The How Process Benchmarking

• Based on a simple premise The methods of top
  performers differ from those of others
• Process benchmarking systematically compares
  tactics of top performers with those of others
• Methods that distinguish between top performers
  and others may be regarded as potential best
  practices

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Benchmarks Where are They?

• Readily accessible, relevant and affordable
  comparative benchmarking data is hard to come by

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Benchmarking for Organizational Excellence in
Addiction Treatment

• SAAS, NIATx, and Behavioral Pathway Systems are
  partnering to sponsor an addiction-specific
  national benchmarking initiative
• BPS specializes in behavioral health and human
  services benchmarking and has numerous state and
  national benchmarking initiatives underway

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Objectives of Benchmarking Initiative

• Provide SAAS with information it needs to
  advocate for its members
• Provide participating organizations with
  individualized comparative benchmark data that
  can serve as a vital context for understanding
  measured outcomes
• Provide a powerful vehicle for the identification
  of best practices and organizational improvement
  through process benchmarking and the application
  of NIATx principles

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Benchmark Selection Process

• National interest survey conducted
• Interest
• Availability of Data
• 354 respondents
• Survey findings guided Steering Committee
  decisions

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Scope of Benchmarks

• Comprehensive range of benchmarks
• Operational, clinical, organizational climate,
  and financial domains of performance
• 21 benchmark dimensions
• Approximately 150 input metrics

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Operational Benchmarks

• Initial Access
• Length of Stay/Utilization, by Level of Care
• Subsequent Access (Number of days from intake to
  first treatment appt)
• Average Caseload Size of Clinician, by Level of
  Care
• Outpatient Productivity
• Average Group Size

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Clinical Benchmarks

• Engagement/Retention, by Level of Care
• Outpatient No-Show/Cancellation Rates
• Client Satisfaction/Perceptions of Care
• Degree of Engagement with Recovery Support
  Services
• Involvement of Significant Others

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Organizational Climate

• Staff Morale/Satisfaction (25 Item Measure and
  automated administration and scoring to be
  provided)
• Staff Retention/Turn-Over
• Percent of Staff Position Vacancies (Counselors)

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Financial Benchmarks

• Cost per Unit of Service, by Level of Care
• Salaries, by Role
• Administrative Overhead as a Percent of Total
  Expenses
• Payer Mix
• Current Ratio (Assets Divided by Liabilities)
• Net Days in Accounts Receivable
• Days of Cash on Hand

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Data Submission

• On-line benchmarking survey
• Aggregated anonymous data-no complicated
  encounter-level data
• No software needed
• User-friendly, encrypted and secure
• Available 24/7
• Submit relevant and available data--no reporting
  requirements
• State-of-the-art on-line data validation

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BenchmarkingReports

• Standard Report
• Executive Summary Report
• Organizational Climate Report
• Run Charts

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Standard Benchmarking Report

• Normative Data
• Sample Size
• Mean
• Median
• Standard Deviation
• Comparative Data
• Overall Percentile Rankings
• Peer Group Comparisons (budget size, geographic
  area, setting) Apples to Apples
• Maine Norms
• Previous Scores

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Standard Benchmarking Report
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Executive Summary Report

• Designed for busy senior leaders and boards
• Graphic representation of scores
• Brief, key highlights

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Executive Summary Report
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Executive Summary Report II
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Run Charts

• Track your data over time
• Trend analysis
• Examine interplay among different benchmarking
  dimensions

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Accommodations for Multiple Locations

• Satellite locations easily accommodated
• Each location can be benchmarked independently to
  produce a separate report
• No limit to number of additional locations

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Moving Beyond the Numbers

• Benchmarking is not just about data
• When data is generated, real fun begins
• Identify potential best practices through process
  benchmarking and other vehicles
• Enhance organizational performance through NIATx
  principles
• Emphasis on shared learning from one another and
  from top performers
• A learning community

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Shared Activities and Available Resources

• Monthly audio-conferences/user support meetings
• Monthly newsletter to educate and inform
• Telephonic and E-Mail user support
• Free telephonic consultation in interpreting your
  data and developing improvement strategies
• Articles and other resources

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One Year Subscription Fee

• Annual Subscription Fee 1,000
• Includes all benefits described
• Brochure/Order form available through SAAS

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Questions?

• Contact
• Paul M. Lefkovitz, Ph.D.
• President, Behavioral Pathway Systems
• 877-330-9870 (Toll-Free)
• plefk_at_bpsys.org
• www.bpsys.org