The past year has brought challenges that would have seemed unimaginable just 12 months ago. While we in the retail healthcare space have risen to meet these challenges, we certainly look forward to happier and healthier times ahead. As we mark a year since the start of the pandemic in the United States and quickly ramp up vaccinations on our way to what you might call “The Great Return” to normalcy, now is the ideal time to reevaluate what you need to do to ensure you maximize effectiveness during this pivotal time in history. A big piece of your planning should revolve around your practice’s financial goals.
Do you have specific goals? Many of you are working with Consultants or Practice Advisors, and, if that is the case, you probably have a plan in place, but it is a good rule of thumb to review your goals annually at the very least.
Real-world businesses regularly review their goals and adjust accordingly. According to an article in Dental Economics, goals should be set annually and be based on the practice’s vision. A powerful vision, supported by appropriate and challenging goals, inspires the team to improve performance. It is a common recommendation that every dentist should set at least 10 written, deadline-driven, measurable goals each year. These goals create accountability and motivate the doctor as well as the team to achieve the targets by a certain date.
Of course, there are many variables in setting goals that involve the overall atmosphere of your office, but we help you manage the statistics that are measurable with Key Performance Indicators and Reports.
Sikka Practice Optimizer allows you to set Goals for the Entire Practice and/or Individual Providers. Let’s dive into how Practice Optimizer can help you achieve revenue growth for the remainder of 2021 and beyond.
Improving Collections
Pulling a report on your collections is an excellent way to view outstanding balances in order to target patients and/or insurance companies. With Practice Optimizer, you can also view “high-priority” collections so your staff members can focus on collecting overdue fees that need attention. An Insurance Patient Analysis Report displays a breakdown of the number of patients, gross production and the amount adjusted for each Insurance Carrier, which allows you to evaluate insurance reimbursement.
Maximizing Treatment Plans
You can increase practice production by scheduling the maximum amount of treatment needed for each visit. Practice Optimizer can run a report showing you what treatment has been created by each provider, what treatment has been scheduled and completed, and what remains unscheduled in the treatment plan. Prioritizing and reducing the number of visits can increase your practice’s income per visit while still focusing on top-quality patient care.
Staying Consistent with Your Fees
Consider updating your fees to align with what other practices in your area are charging. When reviewing production reports from the previous year, you can visually look for any outliers and adjust accordingly to ensure maximum payment on procedures. Sikka’s Fee Survey lets you choose up to three zip codes for which you will receive 50th, 60th, 70th, 80th, 90th and maximum percentile fees across 900 different procedure codes.
Enhancing Efficiency
Utilizing your practice’s KPIs is the best way to align, and ultimately achieve, your business goals. Start defining what you want to track to avoid any effort or data confusion. Practice Optimizer lets you conveniently filter what data best suits your practice goals in a simple to read format. To increase performance, productivity and profitability, everything needs to work together seamlessly so that your practice can execute daily, monthly and yearly gameplans.
Use the power of big data and reach your full potential as society returns to normal. To learn more about Practice Optimizer, visit https://www.sikkasoft.com/DentalPOEssentials. Better yet, experience Practice Optimizer by booking a FREE demo.
Appendix – a small sampling of the out-of-the-box KPIs in Practice Optimizer:
- Production goal vs. actual
- Collection goal vs. actual
- Adjustments broken up by category
- Accounts receivable and aging report
- Number of new patients, referral sources and results from marketing efforts
- Number of patients who left the practice and why
- Number of patients who did not follow up with treatment
- Number of active patients who have not been seen in the last 18 months
- Procedures by Production analysis report – procedure codes, number of procedures provided in any time frame
- Expenses
- No shows and cancellations