Analytics for ambulatory infusion centers
One center or ten: see where patients stall, which chairs sit empty, and which visits never got paid.
What gets in the way
These come up in almost every first conversation with an infusion center operator.
- Your EHR reports take a long time to run, and they still miss the field you need.
- Referrals come in, but you can’t see how many reach a first infusion or where the rest stop.
- An authorization expires before anyone notices, and the visit gets denied.
- Two people pull the same number and get two different answers.
- Each site counts a little differently, so comparing sites starts an argument.
- Billing moved to another system, and your margin and A/R reports went with it.
What we build for AICs
Each report has a written definition, checked against the source before you see it.
- 01Referral and intake pipelineEvery open referral by stage and age, from received to first infusion, so stalls stand out.
- 02Expiring authorizationsActive patients whose authorization ends in 7, 14, or 30 days, matched to their next appointment.
- 03Capacity and no-showsBooked against open chair time by site and day, plus no-shows and whether each was rebooked.
- 04Unbilled visits and revenueCompleted administrations with no claim yet, then billed, paid, and denied amounts by payer, drug, and site.
- 05Sales and referral source reportingReferrals, first infusions, and visit value by referring provider and rep.
- 06Multi-site rollupOne set of definitions at every site, with a site-by-month view and the rows behind each number.
The metrics we’d set up first
The right column is where each one usually goes wrong.
| Metric | What it measures | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Referral to first infusion | Days from order received to the first completed infusion. Track the median and the slowest tenth, not just the average. | Split it by stage (benefits, authorization, scheduling) or you can’t tell where time goes. |
| Referral conversion | Share of referrals that reach a first infusion, with a reason for each one that doesn’t. | Count orders and patients separately. One patient can have several orders. |
| Expiring authorizations | Active patients whose authorization ends within 7, 14, or 30 days. | Status names vary by center. Agree on the list of statuses before you filter. |
| Chair utilization | Booked chair time divided by available chair time, by site and day. | Usually built from scheduled times. Actual chair time needs check-in and check-out data you may not record. |
| No-show and late cancel rate | Missed and same-day cancelled visits divided by scheduled visits, tracked apart. | Also track whether the visit was rebooked inside the dosing window. |
| Unbilled completed visits | Completed administrations with no claim, by count and days since the visit. | A check-in with no drug given is not a completed administration. |
| Denial rate | Denied claims or dollars divided by submitted, by reason, payer, drug, and site. | Needs remittance (835) data, which often lives outside the EHR. |
| Billed vs documented units | Drug units billed against units documented, waste included. | Sum by billing code, not NDC. One visit can use several vial sizes. |
Full definitions for these and more are in the infusion center KPI glossary.
AIC work we’ve done
A multi-site AIC group and a multi-site infusion provider. Client names stay private.
Multi-site ambulatory infusion center group
Gave an infusion group’s referral sales team one value per administered visit: billing units by J-code, waste included, priced at public CMS ASP.
Multi-site ambulatory infusion provider
Built four manufacturer data-contract feeds in an infusion provider’s embedded Looker, with status and dispense reconciled and QA before every upload.
Read the case studyFree tools and guides
Calculators
- Chair utilization calculatorThe share of chair-hours you use, and the extra infusions a week it takes to reach your target.
- Referral leakage calculatorWhere referred patients drop out before the first infusion, and the margin at stake.
- Buy-and-bill margin calculatorMargin per administration after waste, patient balances, and collections.
- No-show cost calculatorWhat no-shows and same-day cancels cost you in margin and drug over a year.
Guides and white papers
- 12 weekly infusion center reportsWhat each report answers and how each one usually goes wrong.
- Referral to first treatmentWhere referrals stall before the first infusion, and how to measure each stall.
- Infusion revenue leakageEvery stage from order to deposit, what leaks at each, and what to measure.
- Multi-site KPI rollupsOne definition per metric across every site, so comparisons hold up.
More in the infusion analytics guides and free tools.
Common questions
What analytics should a multi-site AIC have in place?
Start with four: referral to first infusion, expiring authorizations, chair utilization, and unbilled completed visits. Define each one once, apply it the same way at every site, and add revenue and denial reporting once those four agree with what your teams see.
How is this different from what our EHR reports?
Your EHR reports show one system at a time. We build reports with written definitions, check them against the source, and join EHR data with billing, remittance, or CRM data when the question needs it.
Do we need a data warehouse?
Not always. Many first reports can live in your EHR’s own reporting tool. You need a warehouse when you have to join the EHR with billing, remittance, CRM, or finance data, or keep history the EHR doesn’t keep.
We run one center. Is this worth it for us?
Sometimes not. If the standard reports answer your questions, use them. A single center usually needs help when a partner asks for a data feed, when billing data lives outside the EHR, or when the reports and the bank account disagree.
We may sell or take on investors. What data do we need?
Buyers ask for the same numbers by site and month: volume, payer mix, therapy mix, revenue, and collections, each with a definition. It is far easier to make those reports reproducible before diligence starts than in the middle of it.
Start with the report you argue about
Bring the number your sites define differently, or the referral list nobody trusts. We’ll trace it back to the order and agree on where to start.
WeInfuse is a trademark of its owner. Greyfield Data is independent and not affiliated with WeInfuse.