It’s well understood that the intake operation is fast-paced and time-dependent, with much of the process spent in the weeds of paperwork and scattered patient information. This reactive approach gets the job done but fails to collect structured data, leaving little to no understanding of process bottlenecks, gaps in workflow, or opportunities for new business. If your organization is not investing in the collection and standardization of referral data, you leave the door wide open for data-driven organizations to take the lead.

To optimize the overall health of your business and be a leading provider of patient care, your organization needs to track and examine four metrics regularly.

Do you have a healthy referral network?

Knowledge of your performance in relation to your referral network is instrumental in uncovering the health of your operation and ensuring you are serving the needs of your community. Data on lost referrals by source can flag if you are losing a concerning number of referrals from a good partner. Once identified, you can then drill down into lost referrals by reason to identify trends. For example, your facility may receive a steady stream of adolescents in need but have limited beds for that specific demographic.

Why this matters: Having a pulse on referral source health allows for an intervention before underlying issues have the chance to threaten the relationship

What are the new business opportunities?

Metrics in support of understanding the opportunity for expansion and added service lines allow facilities to make data-driven business decisions with added confidence. Once a facility’s leadership team has identified the cause of lost referrals, they can strategize whether to introduce new treatment offerings or scale back on existing services, for example. It can also be helpful to consider the demographics and geography of incoming referrals, which can help inform decisions on where to open new facilities and what treatments to offer at those locations.

Why this matters: Point blank: Data-driven decisions have a higher likelihood of success and can save an organization money

Who are your top performing coordinators? Who needs more coaching?

Understanding how a coordinator spends their time moving through the intake process is key to shining a light on areas of improvement.

Track the following metrics daily to prevent process bottlenecks:
• How long it takes a coordinator to open an assigned referral
• How long a referral is in the “holding” state once it has been opened
• The completion of a comprehensive review of required information for referral processing
• Accurate designations of exclusion criteria
• The total time to disposition

Why this matters: Your intake operation is only as productive as the team that is running it. Identifying sticky points in the process is necessary in order to quickly identify coordinators that would benefit from further training.

Where are the bottlenecks occurring?

Process bottlenecks occur when referrals continuously get stalled along the path to disposition. This can happen for a variety of reasons, including a delay in the medical review process, stalled intake staff, or a growing wait list for available beds. Identifying where your process bottlenecks occur gives insight into ineffective workflows that result in patients “falling through the cracks” and, ultimately, receiving care at competitor facilities. Once trends are identified, your team can brainstorm operational improvements that can help mitigate kinks in your intake process.

Why this matters: Keeping an eye out for process gaps allows leaders to quickly step in and remedy the situation before it has a measurable impact on the organization.