Tag: SIMI Analytics

3 Essential Benefits to Creating a Process Manual

Human Resources, Managing Others, Practice, Resources, Training & Onboarding

|

0
(0)

Our consulting partnership, SIMI, recently went through a significant change. One of the founding members left to pursue a new opportunity.  Working as partners for five years, we had naturally fallen into a pattern of knowing who covered what and had complete faith that the other would fulfill their tasks and obligations.

Now venturing alone, I had to quickly figure out how to close any knowledge gaps.  And suddenly I was following the advice I give my clients; creating a “Processes and Procedures” manual to document each step of every process critical to the business.

Three Key Benefits

Going through this exercise has multiple benefits.  The first and most obvious benefit  is that the exercise reduces the likelihood of missing a step.  Certainly, until tasks become  habits, following written instructions might take more time but require less effort in memory recall.

The second benefit comes from the deliberate review of a process.  When we break down a task into steps, there is an opportunity to re-evaluate the effectiveness of the current process.

Recently, I saw a great example of this in an office.  The doctor wanted to know the reason for any cancellations on any given day.  However, to get to this information displayed in the EMR, the office created a process that required many unnecessary steps.  The benefits of knowing the reason for the cancellation did not outweigh the steps it took to create this transparency!  And by adding so many additional steps, there was a lot more room for error.   Moving forward, it was decided that staff would rebook or create an appropriate recall in the EMR for any cancellations or rebooks.  As well, a daysheet would be printed at the beginning of the day – and a quick note would be added beside a patient who cancelled so the doctor could refer to it later.

A third benefit to creating this manual is for onboarding and training purposes.  As I went through the exercise of learning new things myself, I understood the value of written documentation first hand!  Having a reference guide provides a reassuring sense of security.  In a small organization it’s easy to fall into the trap of having just one person handle a certain task in the office.

I remember clearly an incident that happened when I was an optometric assistant many, many years ago.  I came down with a stomach flu.  I could barely walk without feeling like I wanted to pass out.   One of the doctor’s I was working with at the time called and begged me to come in.  I was the only one in the office at that time that could do OHIP billing and submission (think paper files and minimal electronic support – gasp!).  In hindsight, creating a step by step instruction sheet for this process would have made it possible for another employee to step in with confidence.

How to Start

While creating a Processes and Procedure manual  is not a small project , it’s  an essential undertaking for the benefit of your practice.  Start my making a list of every single task that is done in the office – from answering the phone and the greeting you expect, to how to how to order products.  Have the team member currently responsible for the task, write out their current step by step process.  Together, review each one for efficiency opportunities.

This will be time well spent and benefit your practice in all the years to come.

KELLY HRYCUSKO

is the co-founder and managing partner of Simple Innovative Management Ideas (SIMI) Inc. and expert Practice Management contributor for Optik magazine. She can be reached at info@simiinc.com.

Share:
Rate:

0 / 5. 0

Getting the Pulse of the Practice

Marketing, Practice, Resources

|

0
(0)

When we are analyzing the health of a practice, the first thing we look at is the big picture of the Practice Performance. That is, we look at how much revenue is brought in on a monthly basis, how many patients are seen, how many doctor days were available, resulting in how much profit. It is amazing how much information we can glean by looking at this information on a monthly basis and by comparing it month over month and year over year.

 

From this overview, we can get a sense of trends happening in the office and start to dig deeper.

For instance, if we see the number of patients increase but revenue decrease, we know that the practice is working harder not smarter. We will then assess the number of patients being seen each day. In a full scope, primary care practice, seeing too many patients often translates into less revenue – there is a direct correlation. Staffing is also considered. If we are understaffed, it is possible that we are not able to offer as much assistance to each and every patient, which would also negatively impact the amount of revenue generated by the practice.

If we notice that the number of doctor days available in the clinic is less than the previous year, we will confirm that this was anticipated – either because of vacation or because an associate left the practice. This change often has the biggest impact on staff incentives. If the staff incentive has been set up to incentivize based on growth, the staff is unlikely to meet the goals in this scenario. This is one of the reason’s that we recommend that incentive programs be based on number of doctor days rather than straight practice growth.

If we find the doctor days are going up and revenue and number of patients is remaining fairly stable, we might suspect that we need to increase our marketing efforts. Digging deeper into the patient numbers and evaluating which efforts are the most successful would be our next logical step.

As with any business, there are ebbs and flows in an optometric practice business. Having access to data that will easily show you the pulse of your practice will help guide your business as you experience these constant changes.

KELLY HRYCUSKO

is the co-founder and managing partner of Simple Innovative Management Ideas (SIMI) Inc. and expert Practice Management contributor for Optik magazine. She can be reached at info@simiinc.com.

Share:
Rate:

0 / 5. 0

Finding Purpose and Meaning

Human Resources

|

0
(0)

The average person spends 13 years and two months at work, according to one analysis from HuffPost Australia. Compare this to the 328 days people spend socializing with friends, on average, over the course of a lifetime and it is a startling difference.  No wonder it is so important that our work lives bring us purpose and meaning.

There is another compelling reason that I wanted to look more closely at Purpose and how achieve it at work: the Millennials.  Most of our offices employ people in this age group.  How can we understand what drives and motivates this group better so that their job satisfaction is greater? And in turn, their performance is better?

The first task is to define and understand what purpose is and how is comes to have meaning for each individual.

When we first set out to open Simple Innovative Management Ideas, our purpose was clear. With the changing regulations in Ontario and the ability to charge retail for the first time in Ontario, many Optometrists were seeking assistance to guide them through the transition.  The idea of being able to use my business acumen and years of experience to help optometrists improve their business outcomes appealed to me very much!

As the years have passed by, however, and the work has evolved and increased, my purpose has become unclear at times.  Just like the clients we serve, I have had to spend time reflecting on the “why” of what I am doing. According to Emotional Intelligence:  Purpose, Meaning & Passion from Harvard Business Review, in order to find your leadership purpose the first task is to “mine your life story for common threads and major themes.”  In order to do this, ask yourself these questions:

  1. What did you especially love to do when you were a child? Describe a moment and how it made you feel
  2. What have been two of your most challenging life experiences? How have they shaped you?
  3. What do you enjoy doing in your life now that helps you sing your song?

The ultimate goal here is to sum up all of these experiences to succinctly articulate your purpose.

By example, let me share my own thinking on this.  I have always enjoyed meeting new people. I derive a lot of satisfaction from listening to their stories and relating it to something I have heard or learned elsewhere. I just enjoyed this type of interaction.  It was while I was doing my MBA that I came to understand what I was doing from a different perspective. We had an assignment where classmates were asked to reflect on what each team member brought to the table.  For me, they said “Kelly is able to take all the opinions and ideas generated around her and formulate a cohesive and collaborative plan.”  Now with SIMI, the ability to bring collective knowledge and agreement to bear with new clients brings me a deep sense of fulfillment and satisfaction.

From this, I am imagining my purpose statement could be something like: To share all that she learns to orchestrate success for others. This statement feels powerful to me. I WANT to be the person who does this.

As a practice owner, it is vital that you take time to think back on your purpose; what brought you to optometry and what drives you forward today.  Because the reality is, employers have the added burden of facilitating a sense of purpose for their employees.  An employee’s sense of purpose will be directly related to the purpose expressed by the owner.

The receptionist’s purpose might be to make every patient feel welcomed and cared for.  The optician’s purpose might be to ensure that every patient leaves feeling confident in their new glasses.  The challenge for employers and employees alike is to look deeper than the surface tasks to uncover the piece that drives them to excel in their role.

It is the sense of purpose – that idea that there is true value in what each of us is doing – that will ensure that the 13 plus years that we each spend on average at work are enjoyable and productive.

KELLY HRYCUSKO

is the co-founder and managing partner of Simple Innovative Management Ideas (SIMI) Inc. and expert Practice Management contributor for Optik magazine. She can be reached at info@simiinc.com.

Share:
Rate:

0 / 5. 0

Return on Investment on Marketing Spend

Advertising & Promotion, Digital Marketing, Finance|Wealth, Marketing, Practice Metrics & Benchmarks, Resources

|

0
(0)

Marketing has become a more complicated endeavour for optometric practices.  Not too long ago, offices would ensure their business listing was in the Yellow Pages and would maybe pay for an ad in a local publication. That was the extent of their marketing.

Today, marketing for optometric practices includes many more elements; building a website which needs to be refreshed every 3-5 years, spending money on Adwords and maintaining a presence on different Social Media platforms.  The question we are always asked is how much do we spend?

In general, we recommend that our practices spend 5% of their average monthly gross revenue. We also need to understand what the clinic’s business goals are, which will impact this spend. If the clinic is rolling out a growth strategy – because they are bringing on a new associate, offering more office hours or even opening a second location – the spend is going to be greater.

If the goal is to ensure that the clinic keeps it’s new patient acquisition number close to their attrition rate, the spend may be a bit lower.

Once the clinic has determined how much they are budgeting for their spend,  it is critical that the clinic then track some key metrics to ensure they are getting the expected ROI.

I am going to use an example in order to demonstrate how we evaluate an ROI for a practice’s marketing spend.

A clinic wants to increase its new patient numbers. It currently brings in $60 000 gross revenue on average per month.  If we multiply $60,000  by 12 months we know that the clinic brings in approximately $720,000 in gross revenue every year.

The marketing budget should be 5% of $720,000 which is $36,000.

Further, this clinic’s revenue per patient is $300. Therefore, if the clinic spends $36 000/year or $3000/month, the breakeven point would be 120 new patients over the year or 10 new patients in each month month. The 121st patient represents the net gain.  In order to claim a return, we would be looking for at least 11 new patients each month.

As well, in order to accurately credit this marketing spend to new patient acquisition, you will need to determine that it is NET of new patients from previous marketing efforts. If you have been averaging 20 new patients every month, then your break even on the marketing spend is 30 patients.  Only at the 31st patient are you starting to see an ROI.

Every business needs to spend money to make money – and that includes Optometry. It is critical to invest in advertising dollars to ensure that your business is healthy and continues to grow.  It isn’t enough, however, just to blindly invest dollars.  It is critical that you also take time to evaluate the impact of the marketing efforts so you can pivot as necessary.

CHRISTINA FERRARI

is the co-founder and managing partner of Simple Innovative Management Ideas (SIMI) Inc. and expert Practice Management contributor for Optik magazine. She can be reached at info@simiinc.com

Share:
Rate:

0 / 5. 0

Following Hunches

Finance|Wealth, Human Resources, Managing Others, Practice Metrics & Benchmarks, Resources

|

0
(0)

One of the more fascinating parts of having a Data Analytics system and tracking metrics are the trends that we see both within an office and sometimes across many offices.  Our job, as we analyze these trends and data, is to try to determine WHY we are seeing a certain trend in the numbers we analyze.  Our experience in the office or in the industry in general, will lead us to make certain hypotheses about what we are seeing.

The next step is to either prove or disprove our theory.  To do that, we may need to track some activities manually.   While we always prefer to collect and use digital data, sometimes the answers we are seeking aren’t captured in the software.

For instance, we recently detected a declining capture rate in one of the office’s we work with.  The trend was specific to the associate and not the owner, who continued to see a steady or improving capture rate.  We speculated about what could cause this trend that had persisted over two quarters.  Were the dispensers not paying as much attention?  Were the patients seeing the associate different from the patients that see the owner? Were some of the solutions offered to the patients more effective than others?

When we spoke to the owner and associate, it wasn’t a trend they had been aware of prior to our conversation.  They began the same process of speculating about what could be causing it.  It certainly lead to a productive conversation about how the associate was finding it difficult to find someone to hand off to – a problem that the owner wasn’t experiencing.  Otherwise, they couldn’t pin point what the exact cause might be.

We decided to go through the exercise of tracking for a month to see what the root cause was.  We made a simple chart with the following headings:

  • Px Name
  • Glasses Solutions offered by Doc
  • Solutions purchased
  • Reasons for NOT purchasing
  • Who doc handed off to

We then tasked the associate with making sure the chart was filled out every day.  Part of the process was seeking out the Optical Manager to determine who purchased, who didn’t and why.

This exercise was productive for two reasons; one, it gave the associate an opportunity to connect on a regular basis with the optical manager.  It also lead to some insights into what resulted in a higher capture rate.

After tracking this information, we came up with two action items.

The first was to assign a dispenser to each doctor every day.  This way, there was no question when the associate came out who should be stepping up to catch the patient.

The second was the need to do an inventory analysis.  While the patients who were seeing the owner were finding frames that suited them, the associate’s patients seemed less likely to find their perfect pair.

We are now going to dig a little deeper and analyze what the objections and how we can close the gaps.

Tracking data can show us trends we may not even be aware of. While we may have hunches as to why the trend is occurring, it is a worthwhile exercise to put your hunches to the test. Not only will you have a better idea of how to close the gap but you don’t know what other benefits you may also discover.

KELLY HRYCUSKO

is the co-founder and managing partner of Simple Innovative Management Ideas (SIMI) Inc. and expert Practice Management contributor for Optik magazine. She can be reached at info@simiinc.com.

Share:
Rate:

0 / 5. 0

Setting Deadlines

Human Resources

|

0
(0)

Just as we have advised our clients, Kelly and I have set out goals for this year. The goals are big – huge even – and we need a solid plan in place if we are going to achieve them.

What is the biggest challenge to attaining our goals? Our work! We have clients and projects that need our attention every day, often extending our work hours well past a normal 40-hour work week.  It is exactly the same dilemma that faces the optometrists we work with. How do we spend time ON our business to achieve our goals when we are so busy working FOR our business!

I watched this TED talk called Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator given by Tim Urban and he identified the problem perfectly. Our work has deadlines naturally built in. We will promise a client to have a project completed by a certain date. That date will go into our calendar and we will work towards getting it done. A Deadline produces a Deliverable, each and every time.

But as Tim so eloquently points out, it is not the work that has a deadline that is an issue. That work gets done. It is the work that DOESN’T have a deadline that continues to haunt us, worries us and keeps us from feeling accomplished and at peace.

So how do we change that and make working ON our business as much of a priority as working IN our business? The answer is to create a deadline for our goals.

Let’s use the example of implementing a Staff Incentive program, something many of our clients seek our help in setting up.

Motivating staff is an example of a priority that may be important, but is easy to lose sight of as you get caught up in your day to day. A staff incentive has been shown to increase revenues as well as act as an effective staff retention strategy. But when you’re busy and there’s something else that needs your attention right now, a priority without a deadline can get pushed aside.

In order to create a deadline, we choose a date by which we want to have a certain project completed by. What works for Kelly and I, is putting these deadlines in our calendar, with reminders leading up to it. As the deadline gets closer, we start giving energy to the project to make sure we accomplish it.

In the same way, we have our clients set a deadline for when they would like to implement their Staff Incentive program. We outline what needs to happen in order for us to implement; choose the type of incentive, set up monthly goals and targets, decide on the rules, decide who will champion the program, set up a tracking system and then share the results from the tracking system with the team on a consistent basis.

The next step is to put each of the above into the calendar to serve as a deadline. This will hold you accountable to getting each step done, and ultimately, to making your goal a priority.

CHRISTINA FERRARI

is the co-founder and managing partner of Simple Innovative Management Ideas (SIMI) Inc. and expert Practice Management contributor for Optik magazine. She can be reached at info@simiinc.com

Share:
Rate:

0 / 5. 0

New Year, New Goals

Finance|Wealth, Human Resources, Practice, Practice Metrics & Benchmarks, Resources

|

0
(0)

Whether or not you believe in making resolutions, the beginning of a new year offers a perfect opportunity to reflect on what went well in the past year and what you would like to see improve or change in the coming year.

Intentionally focusing on specific priorities for the new year helps you to create a defined path. This gives you clarity and purpose.

What are your purposeful goals for 2019? Do you want to start preparing for retirement? Do you want to increase your eyeglasses capture rate? Do you want to introduce a specialty branch to your clinic? Maybe you want to open your own clinic or a second clinic?

Once you have determined what you want to do in 2019 to consider it a successful and fulfilling year, flesh out a plan to achieve them. What needs to happen on a weekly or monthly basis for your goals to be realized? Make the plan as detailed as possible.

By way of example, let’s consider the goal of increasing your eyeglasses capture rate. The plan may look something like this:

  • Week 1: Set up a tracking system to follow your capture rate every day.
  • Week 2: Set up a weekly meeting to review the capture rate results with the whole team.
  • Week 3: Do a cost comparison of lens companies. Which company offers you the best value? Create a lens offering with these products.
  • Week 4: Set up a training session to ensure all team members are familiar with the product offerings and pricing.
  • Week 5: Invite your lens rep in for product training.
  • Week 6: set up a bonus system to acknowledge the team’s efforts as the capture rate increase – this will be tied to the tracking system from week 1 and the accountability meetings you set up in week 2.
  • Week 7: practice your handoff. What works well? What can be improved? Would it help to have a dispenser assigned to a doctor every day?
  • Week 8: Team training at the weekly meeting. Walk through the handoff. What could be improved? Share success stories – let’s repeat those! Any gaps that needs to be closed on pricing strategy?
  • Week 9: What are some of the common objections in the dispensary? How can we overcome them?
  • Week 10: At the weekly meeting, be sure to review results – where are we and where do we need to be to achieve bonus? What could we do/offer to improve our results? Are we offering a second pair option to every patient?

Whatever you envision for 2019, take the time to flush out a plan to help you achieve it. Don’t be afraid to only focus on one goal. As they say, Rome wasn’t built in a day. The more time and effort you put into your plan now, the more likely you are to achieve it. So whether you believe in resolutions or not, take advantage of a time of year that lends itself well to reflection and purposeful goal planning.

 

KELLY HRYCUSKO

is the co-founder and managing partner of Simple Innovative Management Ideas (SIMI) Inc. and expert Practice Management contributor for Optik magazine. She can be reached at info@simiinc.com.

Share:
Rate:

0 / 5. 0

Delegating Metrics to Staff

Finance|Wealth, Human Resources, Managing Others, Practice Metrics & Benchmarks, Resources

|

0
(0)

Most optometrists that we speak to agree strongly that Metrics are essential for managing their businesses well. However, they all have the same challenge when it comes to implementation—time.  Managing a practice in between patients is difficult, if not impossible.

While moving to an automated system to generate Key Performance Metrics can save hours of time each month, it is also crucial to have these metrics reviewed and a plan developed based on the results.

As we have written in past articles, it is essential that the practice owner be involved in this process. However, it can also be effective to bring in an office manager or other trusted employee to help with the management and implementation of goals.

One of the metrics that we follow in SIMI Analytics is the mix of patients. For instance, of all the patients seen, what percentage are children, adults and seniors for each owner and each associate? We also follow how many new patients are seen by each OD. As time goes on, the older the practice, the older the patient base. It is essential that ALL ODs have a growing practice, not only the newer associates.

These are relatively easy metrics for staff to have control over and track the types of patients seen and the appointment codes booked. Many software systems allow the practice to colour code specific appointment times. Using this, the staff can create a colour grid to help them achieve their goal of an ideal mix.

Once they have filled, for example, the new patient spot for one doctor that day, they may choose to schedule the next new patient with another doctor to spread out the new patients. Once the doctor has established what their “perfect day” looks like, the team can colour coordinate the schedule to make that the goal. Of course, there will be exceptions, and a filled schedule is preferred to gaps in the day. On a monthly basis, the staff can review the metrics for that month to see how closely they came to achieving the ideal on an average day.

Another metric that staff can have a lot of control over is diagnostic capture rate. While it is the doctor’s recommendation that often influences the patient’s decision to proceed with additional testing, the staff can ensure that someone is always available to conduct the testing. Again, the staff can see the accumulative results on a monthly basis. Whether tied to a bonus system or simply used for intrinsic motivational purposes, staff owning the results can have a large impact on the performance of a practice.

There are a number of metrics that can be tracked in the optical to encourage staff ownership of the results. Progressives sales, sunglass sales and second pairs are all metrics that should be tracked, and preferably by the staff. When individuals track results, there is more likely to be a desire to have an impact on them.

 

CHRISTINA FERRARI

is the co-founder and managing partner of Simple Innovative Management Ideas (SIMI) Inc. and expert Practice Management contributor for Optik magazine. She can be reached at info@simiinc.com

Share:
Rate:

0 / 5. 0