At the most basic level, PracticeLight is designed to help Members solve a different set of problems than can be addressed by traditional surveys and polls.  PracticeLight creates a steady stream of regularly-updated performance information from both inside and outside Member practices that owners and managers can use to make better management decisions more quickly and with greater confidence.  By contrast, surveys and polls generally take a “group snapshot” of many respondents’ performance at a particular point in time or over a long interval (usually a year in healthcare) and attempt to discern broad patterns and trends by comparing the results over several periods.

Because we’re trying to accomplish something very different than the organizations that publish surveys and polls, our approach to collecting, analyzing and presenting information is also very different in at least seven important ways:

  • We start with better questions so that our Members end up with better answers.
  • We put the individual Member at the center of our analysis, not the group.
  • We focus on performance factors that Members can control.
  • We incorporate Members’ forecasts and goals into our analysis of their performance.
  • We present the range of Member performance, not just the average or median.
  • We use peer group definitions that help Members put their performance in the right context.
  • We help Members develop a disciplined approach to planning and measurement.