Data overwhelm can be a problem. Having access to it and missing the opportunities to unlock the value in data relative to your organization is even riskier.
These days data is being comparatively valued in the same way as gold. And those who discover how to “mine” it will have an advantage.
Information in whatever form gives you insight.
As a dental provider, data can help you understand your patients, their health habits, their relationship to treatment, and an ever-evolving care-based perspective.
This adds relevance to having a strategy for obtaining, tracking, and utilizing data analytics.
How is the value of data unlocked for your dental business?
You can gather data all-day… every day. But that alone doesn’t make it useful to you and your dental organization.
Data analytics promotes the gathering of data but takes it steps further.
- Reveals revenue gaps and opportunities
- Compares patient experience to profitability drivers
- Improves patient care standards
- Creates training modules and measurable outcomes
- Refines workflows and operational systems
- Enhances patient engagement across all dental practice and organization departments
Each of these practical data-points contains a “gold-mine” of information.
Analyzing it piece by piece can enable you to create systems and workflows that improve your practice or organization’s productivity and profitability.
What essential data analytics should be used to unlock the value of data for your dental practice(s) or DSO?
There is a vast amount of informational territory within your dental practice(s) to apply data analytics. And there are fundamentals you can apply, so you know where to probe.
Data-mining precedes data analysis
- Locate relevant data across your practice or organization.
This requires routine input from your team(s). Data analysis via a dedicated dental dashboard and/or your chosen software is a huge benefit. - Cross-section your data to gain understanding and insight.
Benchmarks will emerge as you begin to understand your information and how to interpret it for your practice/organization. - Create, implement, and take action on the data you uncover.
An actionable data plan will give “legs” to the insights you’ve discovered through data analysis.
In essence, you’re looking for trends.
- What’s a leading trend?
You’ll possibly need a more capable tracking platform (e.g., data analytics dashboard and software) to do a deep trend scan for KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). - What’s lagging?
The same tools apply here. You’ll want to consider investing in the technology that will help you get the most from available data.
Data specifics to monitor and track for growth
Practice and patient information
Key demographics can give you valuable perspective. For example, age analysis can help you know how you can better target your marketing and communication strategies.
You might discover age-based indicators such as those who prefer cosmetic dentistry, those in need of restorative treatment, those with a leaning towards orthodontics, etc.
This skew of data can give you an indication of whether your practice or one (or more) in your organization should up its social media game (e.g., younger demographics would apply here). The same data could sharpen and help you segment your marketing strategies in your practice or throughout your DSO.
Referral origins
Who’s referring your dental practice? How are new patients finding your practice?
These questions can be answered by certain available and “mined” data.
Beyond the initial referral analysis, you will want to uncover the production totals that a particular range of referrals is generating.
- Monitor and track your targeted marketing campaigns. Analyze the specific strategy that produced the best return (e.g. email, social media, Google ads, social media ads, direct mail, etc.).
- Customize follow-up strategies for referring patients. Track and analyze the effectiveness for generating ongoing patient retention and loyalty.
- Determine if incentives work for your referral campaigns. Track the reward responses for future planning.
Cancellations and no-shows
This is a common reality. How you deal with them can be the result of your data analysis.
Awareness of the who, when, and why of cancellations and broken appointments helps you be proactive rather than reactive.
- Gauge your reporting based on the frequency of cancels and no-shows. Bi-weekly, weekly, or monthly data analysis can increase your insight.
- Document patient comments relative to their call to cancel. Track any related trends and “code” the information in their patient file.
- Monitor cancels to reschedules. And as noted previously, post codes to track their appointment journey.
This data can provide you a good insight into patient affinity with dental treatment, their health goals, and more.
You’ll know how to educate, communicate, and market-based on the information you mine.
Insurance aging, AR, collections, and end-of-day
Stay a step ahead of insurance providers. A proactive approach to claims filing is better than waiting for them to confirm or deny a patient’s coverage.
Delays could create gaps in your practice’s or organization’s revenue stream. And past due amounts can add up the more you have on the books.
- Run insurance aging reports. A weekly analysis (at a minimum) will help you stay on top of the data that is a big portion of your profitability.
- Electronic claims filing provides a beneficial time-stamp that confirms receipt by the insurance provider. Mailed claims offer no guarantee unless you invest team energy with phone follow-ups.
- Anticipate all necessary information an insurance provider will need for paying on claims. Data analysis can help you pinpoint trends in payment and processing delays – improving your bottom-line.
Systems and workflows driven by available data can also keep you current with accounts receivables (AR) and with outstanding collections.
An end-of-day (EOD) report provides a data-based review that audits the day’s activity and production. This routine overview (plugged into a data analysis dashboard) can help you spot issues or trends in your practice(s) or across your DSO.
Technology enhances your data mining capabilities. It also provides the value that’s within the data you routinely and strategically analyze.
Check out the following resources to gain insight into how you can effectively perform data analysis on a dedicated platform:
4 Keys to DSO Success Using a Dental KPI Dashboard
The Importance of Dental Dashboards and Dental Analytics
An all-in-one dental KPI dashboard for DSO, group practice, and solo private practice success
Streamline data analysis with an all-in-one solution that includes the essential capabilities expected from a dental dashboard.
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.
Jarvis…
- Integrates seamlessly with your chosen practice management software/platform
- Presents the metrics you want and need in an easy-to-view dental dashboard that reduces data complexity for growing dental practices, dental groups, and DSOs
Experience Jarvis in action. Request a demo today!
Or…
Contact us for more information about data tracking that leads to profitability.
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