Productivity

Drive Practice Results with DASHBOARD REPORTS

Use dashboard reports to drive practice results. Here’s how.

Andrew Maller, MBA, Phoenix, AZ

In the first issue of Ophthalmic Professional (September/October 2012) the concept of dashboard reporting was introduced in “Use Dashboard Reports to Help Maximize Operational Efficiency,” page 26. The article offered a general overview of the topic and provided examples of metrics worth tracking for each department in a practice. This companion article expands on these concepts and provides key success tips on how to best implement and utilize dashboard reports to drive practice results. A case study is provided that illustrates how the process works.

What is a Dashboard Report?

A dashboard report is a brief, easy-to-interpret report that brings key performance indicators (KPIs) together in a way that allows identification of opportunities for practice improvement. A KPI is any type of performance measurement that is essential to the health of the organization. Examples of typical practice KPIs include exam workup time, patient no-show rate, and net collection ratio.

In effective dashboard reports, the KPIs are tracked and compared with prior periods or established goals. Using this methodology, it is possible to identify trends that pinpoint key areas of opportunity for practice improvement. Once these opportunities have been identified, specific goals can be established and the staff can focus attention on implementing change in work processes and have a means of measuring success.

Keys to Success

Setting up a dashboard report alone does not guarantee that a practice or department will achieve improved results. Challenges that can prevent a report from serving its primary purpose are numerous, but fortunately, avoidable. When implementing a dashboard report, practices can head off typical challenges by heeding the following advice:

Consider practice goals. All dashboard reports must tie into overall practice goals and strategic imperatives. For example, if a goal is to reduce wait time in the reception area, the dashboard report should focus on the amount of time patients must wait between check-in and when they are seen for their appointment. This data should be tracked over time in order to identify trends and to establish a baseline measure. Once the practice establishes this baseline, the front office department can begin identifying potential obstacles in reaching the practice goal as well as opportunities for process improvement.

Obtain buy-in. Without buy-in from key stakeholders, the success of dashboard reporting is limited. Stakeholders can include physicians, practice management, and any staff member who has the ability to impact the results. Without buy-in, the dashboard report becomes one of the many monthly generated reports that have no meaning or purpose. Involving the appropriate stakeholders throughout the entire process, from the planning to implementation, is crucial in achieving desired outcomes and improved results.

Do not track too many KPIs. Tracking the right number of KPIs is critical for success. Practices sometimes struggle with identifying the “right” things to measure and often end up tracking too many. To avoid this problem, it is crucial in the planning stages to only identify metrics that will drive results that team members can influence. It is recommended limiting the report to between three and five measures.

Put all KPIs on one dashboard. Having all of the KPIs on one dashboard saves time and is preferred over having to go through multiple reports.

Be committed to the process. Maintaining a dashboard over time requires discipline and commitment. Practices should identify someone on the team who is responsible for inputting the data on a regular basis. It’s easy to let this type of task slip down the priorities list so it is wise to be persistent about completing the report every month.

Set achievable goals. As mentioned previously, it’s crucial to set goals after reviewing the dashboard report over a period of time. Goals should be measurable and achievable within a specific period. If goals set are not attainable, the dashboard report loses meaning.

Identify opportunities and take action. Acting on opportunities identified in a report requires more than just setting goals. A goal means nothing unless it is accompanied by specific action items that are focused on reaching the goal. To take full advantage of opportunities presented in reports, practices must follow through with adjustments of processes and protocols.

Table 1 shows the effectiveness of the steps taken to reduce the Claims Error Rate.

Case Study

After setting up its dashboard report in the first part of last year, the billing manager noticed that the practice’s insurance Claims Error Rate (claim errors/total claims submitted) was increasing each month and was close to 15%. This resulted in longer than normal delays between claim submission and receipt of payment.

Knowing that this type of problem could be detrimental to the practice’s cash flow, the billing manager set a goal to reduce its Claims Error Rate to 5% or less by the end of the year. She then set out to diagnose the problem and began looking for common reasons for the claim rejections. She identified that most of the rejections were the result of improper coding. With this knowledge, she gained the support of the practice manager and owner and together they put a number of steps in place to rectify the problem.

First, they brought in a billing and coding consultant who provided detailed training to the billing staff and doctors. Next, they implemented a number of new processes for claims to be reviewed before they were submitted. Although this resulted in additional workload for the staff, the manager knew it was a necessary step to cleaning up their claims process. By the end of the year, the additional training and new processes proved to be effective (see Table 1). The practice was able to reduce its Claims Error Rate to 8%. While there is still work to do to achieve their goal of 5% or less, the billing manager feels they are moving things in the right direction.

Case Study Analysis

Having set up a dashboard report with meaningful KPIs tracked over time made it fairly easy for the practice to identify the claim rejection issue. Without the report, the issue may have gone unnoticed until the practice experienced cash flow difficulty. The billing manager was able to make effective use of data from the dashboard report in order to identify the root cause of the problem. She created a plan of action with a measurable goal. By doing so, she was able to aggressively attack the problem and achieve success.

This process is very similar to a doctor seeing a patient. The dashboard report brought to life the chief complaint. Next, the billing manager looked at the various symptoms, identified causal factors, and was able to make a proper diagnosis. Then, a prescribed treatment plan was implemented. After completing the various treatments, the health of the practice improved and the practice was able to monitor continued progress over time.

Worth the Effort

Using KPIs and dashboard reports is extremely helpful in determining the health of a practice and—ultimately—driving practice results. The process, however, can be challenging and time-intensive. Practices hoping to avoid the typical roadblocks often encountered in the process can heed the advice woven into the tips outlined in this article. The payback is worth the effort: who doesn’t want a healthy, robust practice with the ability drive practice results when it counts most? OP

Mr. Maller is a consultant with BSM Consulting, located in A financial benchmarking specialist, he assists in the development of a wide variety of practical practice management tools and resources for BSM clients. Contact Mr. Maller at amaller@bsmconsulting.com.