Form #4 Form #4 Pretest Survey for Medical Office VE Survey

Attachment D – Draft Pretest Survey for Medical Office VE Survey

Medical Office Value and Efficiency Survey

1-17-13

Form Approved
OMB No. 0935-XXXX
Exp. Date XX/XX/20XX

Medical Office Value and Efficiency Survey

Instructions

Think about the way things are done in your medical office and provide your opinions on the efficiency with which care is delivered.

If a question does not apply to you or your medical office or you don’t know the answer, please check “Does Not Apply or Don’t Know.”

For the purposes of this survey, the following definitions apply to several items in this survey:

• The term provider refers to physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners who diagnose, treat patients, and prescribe medications. The term staff refers to all others who work in the office.

• Wastesuch as wasted time, wasted materials, extra steps in a process, repeating work, etc.is anything that does not add value for patients or staff.

• Efficiency in health care means removing waste from the system and establishing care and business processes that are as streamlined and simplified as possible.

• Value includes quality, cost, and outcomes and is ideally driven by patient preferences of care.

Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 15 minutes per response, the estimated time required to complete the survey. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to: AHRQ Reports Clearance Officer Attention: PRA, Paperwork Reduction Project (0935-XXXX) AHRQ, 540 Gaither Road, Room # 5036, Rockville, MD 20850.

1. Manager support for value/efficiency/waste reduction

How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements? Think about your medical office when answering:	Strongly Disagree 	Disagree 	Neither Agree nor Disagree 	Agree 	Strongly Agree 	Does Not Apply or Don’t Know 
Managers expect staff to identify ways to simplify work processes	1	2	3	4	5	9
Managers encourage staff to come up with more efficient ways of doing things	1	2	3	4	5	9
Managers follow up with staff about their suggestions to improve work processes	1	2	3	4	5	9
Managers discuss workflow problems with staff but don’t follow through with solutions	1	2	3	4	5	9
Managers recognize staff for their ideas to improve efficiency	1	2	3	4	5	9
Managers recognize staff for implementing an improvement effort	1	2	3	4	5	9

2. Staff engagement & empowerment

How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements? Think about your medical office when answering:	Strongly Disagree 	Disagree 	Neither Agree nor Disagree 	Agree 	Strongly Agree 	Does Not Apply or Don’t Know 
Staff are asked for their opinions when changes to their work processes are proposed	1	2	3	4	5	9
Decisions about work processes are made with little involvement from those doing the work	1	2	3	4	5	9
Staff are encouraged to come up with more efficient ways of doing things	1	2	3	4	5	9
Staff feel empowered to try solutions for their own workflow problems	1	2	3	4	5	9
Staff in this office take responsibility for improving work processes	1	2	3	4	5	9
Staff are treated as experts on how to improve their work processes	1	2	3	4	5	9
Staff prefer to just do what they are told rather than try to improve things	1	2	3	4	5	9
Staff are comfortable making suggestions to managers/senior leaders about ways to make their jobs more efficient	1	2	3	4	5	9

3. Waste reduction

How often do the following statements apply to your medical office?	Never 	Rarely 	Sometimes 	Most of the time 	Always 	Does Not Apply or Don’t Know 
We examine our work processes to get rid of unnecessary steps	1	2	3	4	5	9
We waste time looking for needed supplies or equipment	1	2	3	4	5	9
We waste time trying to get necessary information from providers or staff	1	2	3	4	5	9
We keep supplies where they are commonly used at the point of care	1	2	3	4	5	9
Providers spend too much time on tasks that others could do	1	2	3	4	5	9
Staff spend too much time on tasks that others should be doing.	1	2	3	4	5	9
Different providers expect staff to follow different processes to do the same things	1	2	3	4	5	9
Physicians in this office tend to resist efforts that promote standard ways for them to do things	1	2	3	4	5	9
Staff have to duplicate work that has already been done	1	2	3	4	5	9

4. Measurement & data monitoring

How often do the following statements apply to your medical office?	Never 	Rarely 	Sometimes 	Most of the time 	Always 	Does Not Apply or Don’t Know 
This office uses data to see how well improvement efforts are working	1	2	3	4	5	9
This office collects and reviews data to guide our work processes	1	2	3	4	5	9
This office uses data/information to make changes to improve our work	1	2	3	4	5	9
This office uses visual displays or graphs to show us how well we are performing	1	2	3	4	5	9
This office examines costs when evaluating the success of improvement initiatives	1	2	3	4	5	9

5. Patient centeredness

How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements? Think about your medical office when answering:	Strongly Disagree 	Disagree 	Neither Agree nor Disagree 	Agree 	Strongly Agree 	Does Not Apply or Don’t Know 
Patients/caregivers participate in our workflow redesign efforts	1	2	3	4	5	9
We consider what patients value when we change our workflow	1	2	3	4	5	9
We remove steps in the care process that don’t add value for patients	1	2	3	4	5	9
We take steps to reduce patient wait time	1	2	3	4	5	9
We obtain patient input on ways to make patient visits more efficient.	1	2	3	4	5	9

6. Senior leadership support for value/efficiency/waste reduction

How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements? Think about your medical office when answering:	Strongly Disagree 	Disagree 	Neither Agree nor Disagree 	Agree 	Strongly Agree 	Does Not Apply or Don’t Know 
Senior leaders send a clear message that it is everyone’s job to look for ways to improve work processes	1	2	3	4	5	9
Senior leaders provide time and resources for staff to identify ways to make their work processes more efficient	1	2	3	4	5	9
Senior leaders support staff efforts to reduce waste in systems and procedures	1	2	3	4	5	9
Senior leaders are committed to reducing waste in the way we do things	1	2	3	4	5	9

7. Priority on value and efficiency

How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements? Think about your medical office when answering:	Strongly Disagree 	Disagree 	Neither Agree nor Disagree 	Agree 	Strongly Agree 	Does Not Apply or Don’t Know 
This office places a high priority on finding cost-effective ways to improve patient care	1	2	3	4	5	9
A major goal in our office is to increase efficiency without compromising patient care	1	2	3	4	5	9
This office pays attention to both costs and quality outcomes when we implement changes in work processes	1	2	3	4	5	9
In this office, we continually look for more efficient ways to do our jobs	1	2	3	4	5	9
We strive to improve patient flow throughout our office	1	2	3	4	5	9

8. Experience/Involvement with quality or process improvement activities

In the past 12 months, have you done the following activities to improve efficiency, add value, or reduce waste in your medical office?	Yes 	No 
I mapped a workflow process.	1	2
I shadowed/followed patients to identify ways to improve their care experience.	1	2
I made a suggestion to management about something that needed improvement.	1	2
I identified inefficient work processes.	1	2
I identified ways to reduce waste in work processes.	1	2
I identified opportunities to standardize work processes.	1	2
I participated in an improvement project in my work area.	1	2
I implemented an improvement activity.	1	2
I served on a team or committee to improve a work process.	1	2
I collected data on the progress of an improvement activity.	1	2
I tracked costs to determine if there were savings.	1	2
I reviewed data to determine if an improvement activity was successful.	1	2
I made a change to an improvement activity to make it better.	1	2

9. In my experience, improvement efforts in this medical office tend to result in:

Mark ONE answer

1	Long-term or lasting change
2	Initial or temporary changes, but the changes don’t last
3	No change—no noticeable improvement

10. Overall rating

Thinking back on your survey answers, what overall rating would you provide for your medical office on value, efficiency, and waste reduction?

Poor ▼	Fair ▼	Good ▼	Very good ▼	Excellent ▼
1	2	3	4	5

11. Background Question

What is your position in this office? Check ONE category that best applies to your job.

a. Physician (MD or DO)

b. Physician Assistant, Nurse Practitioner, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Nurse Midwife, Advanced Practice Nurse, etc.

c. Management

Practice Manager

Office Manager

Office Administrator

Business Manager

Nurse Manager

Lab Manager

Other Manager

d. Administrative or clerical staff

Insurance Processor

Billing Staff

Referral Staff

Medical Records

Front Desk

Receptionist

Scheduler (appointments, surgery, etc.)

Other administrative or clerical staff position

e. Nurse (RN), Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN), Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN)

f. Other clinical staff or clinical support staff

Medical Assistant

Nursing Aide

Technician (all types)

Therapist (all types)

Other clinical staff or clinical support staff

g. Other position; please specify:

12. Your Comments

Please feel free to write any comments about things you think could be improved in your medical office to increase efficiency, increase value, or reduce waste.

Thank you for completing this survey.

MEDICAL OFFICE VALUE AND EFFICIENCY SURVEY, DRAFT 1-17-13 13