Lines of Business in Healthcare: Examples and FAQ
A line of business (LOB) is a specific category of products or services provided by a company. In healthcare, LOBs refer to the different specialized patient services offered by a particular facility or organization. These clinical groups are established to treat unique patient populations and conditions. When discussing lines of business in healthcare, examples may include services like primary care, surgical care, oncology treatment, and diagnostic imaging.
The lines of business offered by each healthcare organization will vary based on the size of the company and the complexity of the care they provide. Proper service line management can enable healthcare organizations to monitor team performance, improve care quality, and optimize health outcomes for patients receiving care.
In this article, we’ll review the function of healthcare lines of business and explain why organizations use specialized LOBs to develop tailored patient care efforts. Then, we’ll provide tips on how you can optimize your organization’s LOB strategy to improve patient satisfaction and boost care quality.
What is the Function of a Line of Business in Healthcare?
Healthcare lines of business allow facilities to deliver specialized patient services. Each LOB operates with its own multidisciplinary team of clinicians who have the appropriate experience and expertise to deliver customized care.
In smaller organizations, service lines are usually housed in one main hospital building. Companies often design the layouts of these facilities around the service lines they provide. For example, the first floor of a smaller community hospital might house emergency services, the second floor may house all pediatrics subspecialties, and the third floor may house all surgical suites.
In larger institutions, LOBs may operate as separate business units, each with its own mission, goals, and budget. Organizations with large operating budgets often build separate freestanding facilities for each service line. For example, a large academic medical facility may have one main acute care hospital, a separate oncology treatment center, and multiple specialty clinics located across the community.
Why Would a Healthcare Organization Create Lines of Business?
In healthcare, it can be challenging to develop tailored quality improvement initiatives when hundreds of providers work in the same facility. Organizations often opt to develop separate service lines so that they can develop targeted care strategies and goals for each clinical subgroup.
Organizing services into separate lines of business also allows administrators to track clinical and financial performance metrics for each specialized team of clinicians. This oversight improves the efficiency, resource utilization, and quality of care each department is able to provide.
What Are Some Examples of Healthcare Lines of Business?
Curious about what might be considered a healthcare line of business? Examples of individual service line categories — and the teams that work under them — are listed in the table below.
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| Primary Care Departments |
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| Surgical Services |
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| Disease Management Teams |
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| Diagnostic Imaging Services |
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| Population Based Care Teams |
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Optimizing Lines of Business in Healthcare: Examples of Strategies
If you’re a facility administrator, you may want some tips for how your organization can improve the efficiency and performance of your existing lines of business. The following three suggestions can help you get started.
1. Streamline Clinician Workflows
To ensure your service lines operate productively, you’ll want to map out existing clinical workflows. Identify areas of weakness to reduce errors and deliver safe, efficient care. Consider automating basic tasks to allow clinicians to work at the top of their license and scope of practice.
2. Utilize Technology Platforms to Improve Communication
In large organizations, each service line can include hundreds of employees. Without structured team-based communication, it can be challenging for clinicians to provide high-quality care.
You’ll want to use technology-based communication platforms to ensure all members of each clinical subgroup have the most accurate and up-to-date information. Instant messaging through electronic health records, encrypted text messaging, and mass notification systems allow teams to spread information quickly.
3. Refine Care Practices Based On Performance Metrics
Productivity tracking is an essential aspect of boosting efficiency and quality. You’ll want to periodically assess performance metrics and make changes when necessary. Curious about how to evaluate the quality of care offered by your facility’s lines of business? In healthcare, examples of tools for evaluating performance can include:
- Distributing patient and family surveys.
- Evaluating key performance indicator (KPI) data.
- Soliciting employee feedback.
Discover More Ways to Improve Care Quality
When it comes to understanding lines of business in healthcare, examples can only get you so far. If you’re looking for additional insights, IntelyCare can help. Our team of clinical and legal experts has crafted hundreds of free healthcare resources, tools, and guides to keep your clinical operations running smoothly.