Survey Takes Guesswork Out of
Medical Society’s Strategic Planning
By Matthew Ralph
Greater Louisville Medical Society Louisville Medicine May 2008
Physicians in greater Louisville are generally satisfied with what GLMS
has to offer, according to the findings of a Louisville-based economist
and survey researcher. Michael Bewley, of Enalysis, was
commissioned last year to survey some 1,141 existing and potential
members in the region. His findings were developed from a total of
326 responses—29 percent—to questionnaires delivered by hand, e-
mail and fax to physicians over a month-long period in July and August
of last year. The goals of the survey were wide reaching. “The primary
purpose of the GLMS Membership Survey was to appraise and
measure awareness of, opinions about the importance of, and
satisfaction” held by Louisville area physicians with the services and
benefits offered by the medical society, Mr. Bewley wrote in his final
report, dated Oct. 8, 2007.
Bert Guinn, director of communications and membership for GLMS,
called the survey the “most comprehensive” ever conducted by the
society. “For new member recruitment, there’s nothing like
communicating the true physician perspective,” Mr. Guinn said.
“Before this comprehensive survey, we had to guess. Now, we know.
Likewise, we no longer have to guess why some physicians have
chosen not to be members.” About 12 percent of respondents were
non-members. Lack of time was one of the reasons indicated by
nonmembers for not joining. Time was also a factor indicated by
members for not being involved more. Tradition, meanwhile, was the
primary reason cited by respondents for joining. Listing in the annual
pictorial roster was judged the most recognizable, most used and
most important member benefit offered while vendor endorsements
were ranked as the least recognizable and least important.
Findings indicated that 87 percent of all respondents classified their
practices as “private,” but when combining private practices managed
by a hospital and physicians employed directly by a hospital the
percentages of “solely” private practices decreased dramatically. Mr.
Bewley has been commissioned to conduct a subsequent study
looking more in-depth at the decreasing numbers of solely private
practices and the impact this could have on the medical society and its
membership. The margin of error for the statistical results was 4
percent, Mr. Bewley stated.
Mr. Guinn said the survey results have been distributed to all of the
GLMS departments and will be used to “evaluate the level of
awareness of their particular services for members and non-
members as well as to gauge their own staff performance in each
area.”“This will help us all tweak our services and determine how we
should focus our communication efforts,” Mr. Guinn
said.
One example of how GLMS departments are using the survey results
already is an electronic report the Professional Relations department
launched in late March. Dottie Hargett, director of professional
relations, said the report will be going out to all members monthly,
keeping them abreast of the latest information related to quality and
advocacy. The Practice Q&A (Quality & Advocacy) Report will feature
valuable tips and a host of other tidbits and resources ranging from
insurance carrier updates to new claims information.
“We want members to be able to take advantage of the services we’re
offering,” Mrs. Hargett said. Many of the department’s services ranked
low in the area of familiarity and awareness with those surveyed. For
example, 62 percent of those surveyed were not aware of the
department’s Practice Management Hot line.
Survey results will also be used to assist elected officers during
strategic planning sessions to help decide where the society’s global
priorities should be placed in the coming years. “It’s always good and
sobering to get a report card,” Mr. Guinn said. “I see this survey as kind
of a performance evaluation from our true customers: our members.”
“If we are not doing what a majority of our members want us to, then
we have failed in our mission,” Mr. Guinn added. I am pleased to see
that overall we are doing a good job. I’m also glad to see that there is
room for improvement.”
For the full report, go to www.glms.org and log-in to
the member’s only area. If you do not know your member
number or password, call the membership department at
736-6334.
|
Physician Survey: Insurance Carriers
improve slightly, but marks still low
GLMS News February 2009 Volume 19 & Issue 2
Most local insurance carriers showed some signs of
improvement, but the group as a whole performed poorly again
in an annual survey of physicians commissioned for the
second year by the Physician Practice Advocacy Committee.
Humana, National Government Services, United Healthcare
and Passport gained a few points in their overall score while
Anthem’s score decreased, but no insurer scored higher than
what would qualify as a passing grade in school. Aetna and
Cigna were included in the survey for the first time.
“There’s still great need for improvement,” said Dottie Hargett,
director of professional relations for the Greater Louisville
Medical Society.
The survey, conducted by Enalysis and commissioned under
the direction of PPAC Chairman Michael Dee, MD, was
comprised of 36 questions related to a variety of issues
ranging from timeliness of claim payments to the knowledge
and helpfulness of the carrier’s customer service
representatives. The survey respondents represented 305
physicians, which comprise a sample size of 19 percent of the
total Greater Louisville Medical Society physician population.
Ms. Hargett said in many cases the results of the survey reflect
issues the insurers have already identified.
“There aren’t too many big surprises,” Ms. Hargett said.
Ms. Hargett said the survey quantifies many of the issues
physician practices are faced with in their dealings with
insurers.
“Because we are able to get a viable response from physicians
that is statistically sound the carriers aren’t able to deny the
results,” Ms. Hargett said. The survey has a 95 percent
confidence interval, indicating that the results are accurate
within plus or minus 4 percent, according to the report issued
by researcher Michael Bewley, PhD.
The data collected are being discussed by physicians and
representatives of the individual carriers who attend quarterly
meetings of the PPAC’s Insurance Issues Resolution
Committees. The findings are also being included as the main
focus of discussion at the open forums PPAC is holding with
insurance companies
throughout the year. All GLMS members and their office staff
are invited to attend the open forums to address their concerns
directly with leadership from each of the major carriers.
Ms. Hargett said the survey results have been provided to the
administrators of all seven carriers identified in the report. She
said the insurers have been “very cooperative” since the survey
initiative began last year.
More information on the payer survey and the open forums is
available on the Practice Advocacy page of the GLMS website at
www.glms.org.
Note:
The Payer Survey was comprised of a total of
36 questions in seven categories. Each of the
responses received from the questionnaire
were converted into a numerical score on a
scale of 1-100 with 100 being the highest
rating received and one being the lowest.
For this summary, each question in the seven
separate categories was calculated as men-
tioned above, and an average score was cal-
culated for each category. These scores were
also calculated to give an overall score for
each insurance carrier.
|
