The Technology Helping Me Spur Staff to Greater Patient Service and Sales

By Kimberly K. Friedman, OD, FAAO

Your staff can do great things for your patients and practice with the right guidance. It becomes easier to provide that guidance when you can efficiently track your practice’s key metrics. Here is how I’m using dashboard management technology to help me create a better practice for patients while growing revenues.

KEEP YOUR PULSE ON THE PRACTICE’S DAILY PERFORMANCE

About three years ago I started using EDGEPro. I got started in a unique way, as I was asked to evaluate the software and test the platform. The technology was so impressive I continued to use it after the trial program was completed. It has made a tremendous difference in my ability to track metrics and apply that information to improve my practice.

Every morning I check on my practice’s key numbers. It takes just a few seconds. At a glance I can see our month-to-date or year-to-date income and the breakdown by source of revenue. Simple red and green up and down arrows make it easy to visualize in a second how we are doing in comparison to the same time frame last year.

MONTHLY DEEP DIVES INTO KEY METRICS

I don’t do a deep dive everyday because it is so easy to get the basic pulse on the practice with a quick look at the dashboard. Instead, I do a deeper dive monthly in which I break down numbers by doctor and by staff member. I can quickly identify any outliers and troubling trends.

For example, I noticed recently that one of our opticians has an anti-reflective coating sale rate of 65 percent when all the other opticians are in the 80 percent range. Knowing that data will allow me to open up a conversation with that optician to see if we can uncover her challenges in this area and find ways to improve that percentage.

GET STAFF INVOLVED IN METRICS-TRACKING

My opticians have log-in access and full privileges on EDGEPro. That might not work for every practice, but it works well for us. I hear them have friendly competitions with each other based on the data. Those friendly competitions result in better service for our patients and greater sales growth.

REAL DATA DELIVERING REAL SOLUTIONS

Real data creates the ability for real solutions. I don’t just guess where there is missed potential, I can identify it based on the real facts! The management of our optical has improved tremendously with higher close rates on lens add-ons and more consistent messaging across all the staff, thanks to the effectiveness tracking metrics via EDGEPro technology.

I discovered a doctor was under-coding office visits after the EDGEPro CPT breakout report showed me his billing practices were different from all of the other doctors in the practice. We were also able to reduce the percentage of patients who were using their own frames for new lenses once we were able to capture that data, and see what was happening.

TRACKING OUR PERFORMANCE DURING THE PANDEMIC

I must admit I have seen a few red down arrows in the last few months that I have never seen before! I am fortunate that we have a practice that has continually grown over 30 years, and this may be the first year that we don’t see that growth.

Having to close by state order for three months certainly makes it challenging – hard to hit a year’s worth of goals in only nine months of practice. That said, we are starting to see the numbers rebound. Our clinic ( exam-generated revenue) has recovered, but the optical numbers still have some catch up to do. EDGEPro helps me see where we might need to put some emphasis to rebound, and which areas seem to be coming back organically.

Thanks to such effective metrics-tracking technology, I have what I need to ensure a highly performing staff and a practice primed for a strong recovery.

Kimberly K. Friedman, OD, FAAO, is the owner of Moorestown Eye Associates in Moorestown, New Jersey.