【正文】 , finance and otherwise, and is shared by employees at all levels and in all areas throughout the organization. This high level mitment fuels best practices in the six core areas researchers examined at 14 highperforming organizations featured in the special report. Metrics Health care provider organizations that struggle with poor revenue cycle performance can take some solace in knowing that highperforming counterparts, too, have hit such lows. Regardless of how difficult a situation may appear, improvement is possible, and dramatic improvement can be achieved within a relatively short period of time, researchers found. Charting a course for improvement and sustaining gains require an ability to diagnose areas in need of improvement and an ability to continually monitor progress and performance using relevant revenue cycle metrics. Such metrics are essential to measure and monitor revenue cycle performance, and to set appropriate goals and adjust as needed to achieve goals. The type of metrics, or measures, tapped by high performing revenue cycle hospitals varies, as do the ranges for acceptable performance for these measures. Several highperformers, however, note that meaningful progress reports aid staff members to best identify actions required for improvement. Further, highperformers underscore the importance of frequent reporting, to allow for early identification of issues of concern so the intervention can occur before the issues manifest as significant problems. Although the precise metrics and performance report formats and details may vary, there are three monalities in the realm of metrics shared by highperforming organizations. Highperforming revenue cycle hospitals evaluate performance frequently, are willing to look beyond traditional metrics as needed, and highly value and incorporate consumer perspectives. Monitoring and Reporting revenue cycle hospitals share a pulsion to measure and monitor performance, and they do so frequently based on metrics that also are frequently reviewed. The metrics used vary, but the constant among topperforming organizations is the need for frequent, timely review and reporting of performance to metrics. Frequent performance monitoring and reporting is essential to track performance—improvements and declines—over time. Importantly, the information and insights gleaned from performance reports are shared with the employees whose work is reflected in those reports. And, more often than not, researchers note that realtime tracking and reporting is more often a norm among highperforming organizations, so that the information can be timely incorporated into strategies to improve. As noted, the metrics vary by hospital. In patient access, metrics may include registration errortracking systems or call length and call abandonment rates for willingness to embrace nontraditional metrics is a trait shared by highperforming hospitals that, in turn, results in natural variances as metrics are designed and tailored based on the needs of the respective organizations. It is not that traditional metrics are cast aside. Rather, traditional metrics are supplemented with nontraditional measures that allow highperforming hospitals to gain a better understanding of the origin of larger trends and to identify opportunities for improvement specific to their organization. Among the nontraditional metrics that highperforming hospitals