Taking Better Control of Your Practice
Background
Our team interviewed more than 250 owners and general managers of specialty healthcare practices during the course of designing PracticeLight’s services. “Taking Better Control” was one of seven themes that came up repeatedly in our conversations with those we interviewed. The observations, commentary and recommendations presented here are based on the real-world challenges and aspirations they shared with us.
What Does Taking Better Control Mean to You?
For most clinic owners and general managers, “Taking Better Control” is all about planning and feedback loops–knowing exactly what you want to accomplish and having an effective way to measure your progress. This makes a great deal of sense. After all, without a plan and regular feedback, it’s impossible to know whether your business is moving in the right direction and at the right speed for you to succeed. Naturally it’s very difficult to feel in control under those circumstances. Yet many individuals we consulted in our research felt as though they were trying to run their practices without these two basic ingredients or that they had a plan without any meaningful measurement attached.
Understanding the Challenges
The owners and managers who spoke with us were clear about the challenges they faced when it came to getting useful feedback about the performance of their clinics. They were drowning in data, but the right kind of information was simply too hard to get and too hard to use on a regular basis.
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“We don’t have a systematic way of collecting the really useful information on an ongoing basis. Since we haven’t developed any good habits about management reporting, it feels like a real chore to the staff and we mostly fly blind.” |
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“The information we have now is scattered, incomplete and focused on the wrong things. We have to print reports, piece together handwritten notes and work with a bunch of spreadsheets to collect and analyze data. And we still don’t have a good picture of our progress. There’s got to be a better way than this.” |
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“We already have lots of information about the little stuff we do inside the practice. What we’re missing is some external reference points to tell us how well we should really be performing in areas that matter and where we can get better.” |
Owner and Manager Priorities
When our team asked clinic owners and managers what we could do to help them close the measurement gap they were experiencing, they had a wish list that was very short. At the same time, it was a wish list that would require us to rethink how specialty healthcare practices develop and use performance feedback.
“Show us how to measure what’s useful, not just what’s easy.”
“Provide us with performance feedback in time to do something with it.”
“Give us the right information to make the big strategic decisions, not just the day-to-day operating ones.”
“Help us put our clinic’s performance in context.”
“Reduce the staff effort it takes us to collect and analyze management information.”
How PracticeLight Can Help
PracticeLight was designed from the ground up to help you see practice performance the way you want to see it. From the data collection process to the metrics we report and the way we display data, our approach helps Members take better control by showing them what’s really happening inside their clinics and giving them the tools to understand it better. And while we’re doing that, PracticeLight also helps Members develop important internal management disciplines that serve them well as their businesses grow and evolve.
| Take Better Control of Your Practice. | |
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Powerful Business Insights. Performance metrics, benchmarks, and analysis tools help you see your practice in a new light. |
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Flexible Services. Solutions that can be tailored to your own information requirements help you get what you need the way you need it. |
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Simple, Secure Process. Common sense approaches to collecting data, managing access and providing support help make it easier to do the right thing for your business. |
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Affordable Pricing. Low-cost memberships with just-in-time access to expanded services help you invest in your practice’s future without affecting your cash flow. |
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Easy to Get Started. Web-based services that don’t require any new technology and let you use your existing systems help you start by building on what you already have. |
Check out our complete Overview and Highlights for more detailed information about PracticeLight’s performance management and benchmarking services.
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Read About Other Reasons Members Use PracticeLight
Achieving and Managing Growth
Attracting and Retaining the Right Patients for Your Practice
Improving Profitability
Making Fact-Based Management Decisions
Setting Goals and Focusing Your Team on Performance
Taking Better Control of Your Practice
Working Smarter Instead of Harder
We offer both Members and non-Members opportunities to participate in events that feature PracticeLight’s performance management and benchmarking work.
