FAQ

1. What are some of the questions that are answered on the survey and do they change from month to month?

Because the questions are available to subscribers only, we cannot list them here. However, they do involve questions relating to payer categories, meeting cash goals, inpatient and outpatient A/R, and open accounts, and medical records that require a YES or NO response. It couldn't be easier! Data to answer these questions should all be available to you through your trial balance and other reports and should not be difficult in any way to answer. The questions remain the same every month.

2. Who can submit monthly data?

When completing your enrollment form, you will designate your primary subscriber. We allow you to designate two additional subscribers, each of whom can complete the monthly questionnaire. However, once an authorized submitter completes the survey, no one else will be able to enter data.

3. What if a mistake is made entering data?

While we hope this will only occur infrequently, we have made provision for an authorized subscriber to contact us (by phone or email). You will receive special instructions on how to resubmit your data. [Note: Should an inadvertently wrong selection be made (e.g. you selected YES instead of NO), please contact us as described above, and we will make every effort to help you correct your error and resubmit your answers. [Note: There is no guarantee that corrections can be made.] Should we find hospitals constantly requesting changes to data already entered, we will reserve the right to prevent a subsequent change.]

4. What if we receive revised or updated reports after we’ve submitted our monthly data?

You should only enter and submit your questionnaire when you are able to definitely answer the questions asked. For example, if you submitted your data on the 15^th of the month, and on the 20^th day of the month you received an updated cash report, you will be unable to resubmit your data. Keep in mind that you’ll have received points based on the time of the month you’ve reported. If you must wait for final data to be submitted, then that is the date you should submit your questionnaire. So pick your submission date that takes into account these factors. Remember, the ranking reports will always be based upon last month's data. [For example, September's rankings will be based upon August's data reports.]

5. What if no one submits data for the month?

Although general reminder notices may be sent from time to time, each subscriber will be required to submit their own data. The ability to enter data for the month just ended will exist until Midnight (EST) on the last day of the following calendar month. [For example: You can report November 2002's data until Midnight (EST) on 12/31/02.] After that, the reporting period is closed, and you will be deemed "not reporting" for the month. As a result, there will be no entry in your client history for that month, nor will you be counted in the national, regional or bed size rankings for that period. There are no credits or extensions provided as it relates to your subscription fee or renewal date if you have non-reporting periods.

6. What happens when a submitter leaves the hospital, or you no longer wish them to have access?

When any of your authorized submitters leaves the hospital, you will need to notify us (by phone or email). We will delete their sign-on and password privileges. At your request, we will also change the remaining subscriber’ sign-ons and passwords, as well as your screen name identity if you wish. Your client history will be unaffected by this change, and your prior month's data will remain unchanged, except for the new identity.

7. What happens when a hospital wants to add a new subscriber?

We will provide you with up to three sign-ons and passwords. If the additional subscriber is a replacement, you must follow the steps outlined in #4, above, and then simply submit a new subscriber enrollment form. If you wish to have more than three authorized users, there will be an additional annual charge of $50.00 per authorized subscriber in excess of three.

8. What if there are email address changes?

Please notify us of the change. We will use email to notify subscribers of important information. If we receive notice of email non-delivery, we will attempt to contact you, but it is your responsibility to notify us.

9. How will I be able to renew my subscription?

Renewal notices will generally be sent to you three months before your subscription is due to expire. We know that you must often submit your internal paperwork for payment requests, and that this process and time frame varies at each hospital. We hope that this will be adequate time for you to process your renewal requests.

10. Can I subscribe without submitting data?

Yes. Non-submitting subscribers can purchase a subscription. While there will not be any access to an "individual client history file," you will have access to the national, regional and bed-size rankings. These subscriptions are available on a per person basis, and each non-submitting subscriber must enroll, and pay the associated fee.

11. What if my hospital doesn’t have all of the measurements in place to answer some of the survey questions?

There are two options. First, you can enroll as a non-submitting subscriber. Second, we will make available certain reporting tools and techniques available for purchase from our Power Toolkit^sm. We can also arrange to speak with you to offer more specific suggestions on a case-by-case basis.

12. Should hospitals "round-off" data before answering questions?

We doubt most hospitals will report a decrease in a Power Rank category if they had to round to the nearest "penny." However, we do suggest that you are consistent from month to month, and don’t change the way you measure. Rounding is acceptable, and for most categories, rounding off to a whole number should be sufficient.

13. What does my score mean?

You can look at your score in two ways. First, is your facility improving over time against its own previous scores. Second, you can compare your score to other facilities of the same size, and or within the same region. The comparisons can be of the total score, or on any of the 14 questions. You can see which categories are contributing to your strengths, as well as identifying your weaknesses. That said, it’s then up to you and your staff, as well as others in your organization to work towards improving your scores.

14. Can there be a tie score?

Yes, and there will be. Throughout the national, regional and bed size rankings, you’ll see the rank expressed as a fraction "1/100." That means that your facility ranked 1st out of 100 hospital PFS departments submitting data for that period. If there were a tie for second place, the scores for those two facilities would both appear as "2/100." The fourth hospital, however, would be listed as "4/100." In effect, there is no "third" place ranking, as its place was taken by the two tied hospitals in second place. There may be many ties throughout the rankings depending on how the scores on the various questions were answered.

15. Can you get a perfect score of "30"?

Yes, and there will be perfect scores. How often and how many will depend on how well hospitals are doing. If attained, it will be hard to maintain it, because some of the ranking questions require a facility to achieve results in consecutive months (the consistency factor). We think people will be surprised at where the scores "cluster," especially at the averages, and upper and lower ranges.

16. Will you reveal the identities of those with the best Power Rank scores?

No. We believe the anonymity will encourage submitters to use the opportunity to report accurately, so that those in the industry will benefit from the comparative measurements.

17. How can subscribers learn how someone did so well?

We will have an optional feature called the PFS Power Rank Bulletin Board. This will allow submitters to post comments into two categories after completing their monthly submission: "What Was Successful," and "What Didn’t Help." These messages will be shown, but individual respondent identity will be removed to maintain subscriber anonymity. Both "submitter" and "non-submitter" subscribers will have access to review this feature.

18. What other comments and analysis will be provided?

Monthly, subscribers will receive the PFS Power Rankings Monthly Trends and Analysis Report with graphs to explain what has been happening during the month around the country. This has proved to be an invaluable extra-added service to subscribers in interpreting the rankings. A personalized version for your specific hospital is available through the PFS Power Analysis at an additional cost.