Ever feel like you’re playing “a guessing game” with your dental practice numbers? The good news: you can eliminate the “guess-work” by understanding the anatomy of effective dental practice reports.
Business management expert, Peter Drucker, reminds –
”What’s measured improves.” 1
Or more to the point as he’s often quoted –
”If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” 2
Measurement: a best-practice for your dental practice reports
Keep in mind that your dental practice data tells a story. Those stories revolve around the numbers or metrics you track on daily and/or routine basis.
Aside from your numbers are the KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that set the pace for production, team productivity, and your overall standard of care.
A key player on your reporting “team” is your dental practice management platform. And alongside that is your dental KPI dashboard.
Use these data analysis tools to stay informed about the core measurements worth tracking.
- Production and case acceptance
- Collections
- Schedule management
- Hygiene
- New patients 3
The data within each of these zones can be mined on a daily, monthly, quarterly, or annual basis. Actionable insights follow Drucker’s wisdom for making necessary improvements throughout your dental practice.
The anatomy of an effective dental practice report
Reporting in your dental practice will ultimately end up at your revenue cycle. Along the way you’ll discover the metrics that impact your bottom-line.
It’s essential to be as strategic as possible about the what, when, and how of your report measures.
”What to measure”
The earlier list started with production/case acceptance and collections. These numbers tell the story about the strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities that affect your practice revenue.
Good reporting tools also help you gain perspective by comparing your practice data with industry-wide benchmarks. Of equal importance are those comparisons you customize to see how your numbers measure alongside previous analysis periods.
Your KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) help set the pace across your practice and are crucial reporting benchmarks.
- Active and new patient numbers
- Hygiene and provider production numbers
- Scheduling numbers
- Case acceptance numbers
- Collections numbers
Focus your reporting here. And do a deeper dive as necessary.
”When to measure”
Frequent measurement keeps you and your team on-track. Sooner is better than later.
Constant improvement being the goal of measurement – you’ll want to have designated times for reporting. You can’t go wrong with standard monthly reports.
- Maximize your dental practice management platform by scheduling report data extraction on set dates/times.
- Utilize the practical option such as a “Daily Huddle Report” to track day-to-day progress on your goals.
”How to improve on what’s measured”
Data-driven decisions can increase your dental practice productivity. Measurements observed via your reports give you perspective on the status of your production numbers.
Are your numbers declining?
- Focus on strategies that can increase hygiene production.
- Invest some team-time brainstorming strategies for improving case acceptance, new patient referrals, patient retention, etc.
- Schedule more strategically with time blocks for specific procedures, dental emergencies, and new patient appointments.
- Follow-up with inactive patients and no-show and cancellation patients to reappoint them.
- Create a list for ASAP patients who can fill open schedule gaps.
Keep an eye on your benchmark metrics. And watch for downward trends.
Your dental practice reports enable you to pay proactive attention to your numbers. Effective reporting also keeps you from living in panic or reactive-mode.
Stay a step ahead and be trend-aware. Your data is key to eliminating the guesswork in your dental practice.
Explore the following resources for additional insight into data-centric reporting:
Your Data Could Be a Catalyst to Increase Your Dental Practice Production
Measure and Improve the Financial Health of Your Dental Organization Using Your Data
Accurate and useful dental practice reports rely on proven analytic tools
The Jarvis Analytics platform helps assure that you’re tracking the important metrics and staying on-track with your goals as your dental practice and/or DSO grows and expands.
Experience Jarvis in action. Request a demo today!
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