You didn’t enter this profession to analyze data, and you probably have an intense disdain for “bean-counters.” At the same time, your science/technology side acknowledges the need for validation of your work via data analysis, and your business-owner side feels the pressure to justify costs. Analyzing your costs and the procedures you routinely employ to provide services will not only arm you with the knowledge to negotiate your reimbursements intelligently and identify ways to lower the costs of providing a service, it is also the first step in developing a continuous quality improvement program and, by extension, elusive outcomes measurements.
