Sponsored Content
By Justin Holt, OD
April 22, 2020
Dashboard management technology, which helps you closely track your practice performance and finances, is essential in times of crisis. Though it’s always good to know where you stand financially, when your business is threatened by circumstances out of your control, it’s even more crucial.
Here is how ABB Analyze, powered by Glimpse is helping us keep our finger on the pulse of the practice both in good and challenging times like the one we are currently in.
Make Use of Historical Data
My practice has been using ABB Analyze, powered by Glimpse for about three years now, but the technology can retrieve reports from my EHR for many years before that point. This feature allowed me to pull and utilize the data from day one, helping me set baselines for my practice. I became familiar with this technology from a colleague and instantly saw its value and now log in to the program at least once a day, if not more.
Year-Over-Year Comparisons and Industry Benchmarking
When your practice is under a significant strain, such as that posed by COVID-19, it is helpful to know how the decrease in revenues compares to past periods. First and foremost, I look at how our revenue generated compares to our revenue for the same time period last year, then how it compares to like-sized practices across the country.
I compare all my numbers to the next biggest demographic. For instance, if my office generates $400,000 a year, I will always compare my numbers with practices making $500,000-$1 million per year. If I’m keeping up with their numbers, I should be able to grow into that demographic. Using those metrics, if I see one is lacking in comparison to those larger practices, I can drill down into the numbers further and see where the disconnect is.
Check In Every Day to Ensure You’re Staying On Track
When our practice gets back up and running, we will need to push aggressively to get back to where we left off financially. Having the ability to check our metrics on a day-to-day basis is invaluable. We can immediately catch potential lost opportunities to better serve patients and grow profitability.
Other Articles to Explore
I really do use ABB Analyze, powered by Glimpse daily, for both current decisions and pivots, as well as for a larger view, such as per quarter. I don’t log in once a month or a quarter to see what changes I need to consider because the information in the system is as current as the previous day, so I look at those reports daily.
Make Essential, Smart Business Decisions
The data is actionable, which is what makes ABB Analyze powered by Glimpse so valuable in making business decisions. For instance, I adjusted my frame inventory after seeing that I was overloaded in certain price points. I also evaluate my contact lens prices depending on what my capture rate is, both same-day capture rate and overall. If my rate dips below the national average, I may be pricing my lenses too high, or it may be an issue with how the annual supply is being presented to patients in the optical.
Setting Practice & Team Goals After Reopening
After reopening, a new goal-setting area for us will be tracking and improving how many annual supplies of contact lenses we are selling compared to other practices similar to our own. First we’ll get our baseline from the data and then determine ways in which we feel we can improve that number. As the system tracks the results we’ll know if what we put in place needs to be continued, adjusted or removed altogether.
Additionally, I’ll continue to look at my opticians and staff individually, and identifying where they are excelling and where they may need to work harder. I really enjoy seeing the “opportunities” page that tells me where my office is meeting or exceeding industry standards, as well as where I may be missing opportunities. Having this information will be critical in helping us through the recovery phase.
Go Beyond the Gut in Crucial Decision-Making
This is too important a time to rely on gut-level decision-making. A dashboard technology like ABB Analyze, powered by Glimpse allows us to make decisions based on quantitative evidence.
I have found that many practices make decisions based on what their rep or their optician tells them they are doing or not doing. That is very subjective information, at best.
There is nothing that compares to the data that ABB Analyze, powered by Glimpse generates directly from your EHR. These analytics are the benchmarks you should be comparing yourself to from years past, as well as to what other similar practices are doing across the country, and make decisions based on that!
It’s this kind of dependable, foolproof information that will help us get through this crisis and move forward to better, more profitable times.
Justin Holt, OD, is the owner of West Point Eye Center in West Point, Utah. To contact him: jchod5150@yahoo.com
