Suggested Questioning Style
1. How does speech pathology schedule 6+ hours of direct patient treatment per day? Are patients seen at bedside or in the department?
2. Does your department float or rotate staff? How is this process scheduled?
3. What is captured in the patient charge at your hospital? Does it include chart review, scheduling, billing, report writing, travel time, and waiting time?
4. Are dysphagia procedures, especially videos, more time consuming, and how are they managed? Is the total amount of time related to these procedures captured in the charge?
5. Who registers patients for videos? Is there ever a delay for scheduled appointment times due to a delay in outpatient registration?
6. How much time do videos take, including scheduling, patient arrival, report writing, waiting time, and billing? How much of this time is captured in the patient charge?
7. How are secretaries utilized, and whose budget are they under? Are any hours for secretaries included in the benchmarking data?
8. Are reports generated through a computer? Who transcribes them?
9. What clinical services are performed that are not charged for? How much time?
10. What is staff turnover? Do you have any speech assistants on staff? How much paid time off/sick time do the staff have?
11. Is your facility based at more than one location?
12. What is the average length of stay for patients in your hospital? What is the average length of stay for stroke patients in your hospital?
13. Do you have a subacute unit and/or rehab unit at your facility? Does the benchmarking information include this unit?
14. Please comment on any method that has improved productivity.
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