Growing a health system’s robotic gynecological services

The challenge

The hospital system’s DaVinci robotic fleet was maxed out. To understand partnership opportunities and how they could expand capacity for robotic gynecological services, the business development team needed to understand clinical activity and the scope of services performed by local obstetricians and gynecologists (OB/GYNs).

Drawing from their expertise in the service line, the team knew that while most obstetricians deliver babies, many are also proud surgeons who place importance on the gynecological surgeries they perform. In addition, the team had seen many more physicians coming out of medical school or residencies with DaVinci robotics training who looked at working with health systems with more availability on the machines. Seeking providers with that mindset would support the hospital’s drive to expand the types of procedures and service locations they could offer to their patient population.

The solution

Analyzing all-payor claims data in the Provider Explorer Volume dashboard from the Definitive Healthcare Network Intelligence product, the women’s health business development team was able to filter for and identify OB/GYNs in the community that use DaVinci robots as part of their patient procedures.

Data analysis began with filtering down and reviewing claims activity for a one-year period. In the tool, the team defined the primary and secondary service areas for their markets and then filtered through the service lines to review gynecology procedures. They captured the claims that had a surgery flag, and referencing a coding reimbursement playbook, defined the specific codes related to DaVinci robotic surgery.

The insights gave the team a better understanding of their market and their next steps. They validated their market share and position among competitors for robotic surgery volume and could now more effectively segment and target OB/GYN providers in the community based on their utilization of surgical robotics.

The impact

The analysis allowed the women’s health business development team to see a fuller picture of their local gynecological robotic surgery activity and determine associated potential with expanding their capabilities. From there, they were able to strategize and prioritize which providers to begin discussions with around their expanding robotic surgery fleet and procedure availability.

During their research, the team also learned that more and more OB/GYNs are implementing a concierge model for their practices. Those providers create an opportunity for the hospital system to contract with them to boost surgical volumes for the individual provider as well as the health system.

Finally, the insights the team uncovered showed that their minimally invasive gynecologic surgery (MIGS) program was also ready to expand. They knew that the system’s fellowship trained surgeon was busy but still needed to justify an expansion to the executive team. Drilling down into sub service line procedure activity, the team confirmed that surgeries such as oophorectomies have been on the rise in their market over the last several years and provided an additional opportunity to strategically grow their surgical offerings to meet patient and community demand.