To grow your practice, you need to know how it’s performing today – I mean really know things like your hygiene pre-appointment rate, treatment acceptance rate, appointment no-show rate, and new patients per month. All the information you need should be readily available and current, so you can call it up, track it and then use to set targets and measure growth.
We’re talking about data, and your practice generates a lot of it. To successfully grow your business, you need to harness the power of that data which can provide key insights and help you make informed decisions about how to run your business. With the right tool, capturing data and translating it into meaningful information is easy to do. Without the right tool it’s like trying to pound a nail with a screwdriver.
The software tool we use with our clients is BlueIQ. There’s really nothing else like it on the market (and I am not being paid to say this.) BlueIQ is management software designed for practice owners to thrive as business owners. Whether you own a large practice with multiple sites and lots of employees, or you run a three-chair shop, this software gives you the ability to monitor and control every aspect of your business.
Here are the top five things I love about BlueIQ:
#1 Works with Existing Software
This is add-on software, so rather than replace your current systems, it draws information from what you already have and brings it together in a way that gives you a true picture of your business. It works with patient management systems such as Dentirix, Eaglesoft, Open Dental, along with other systems like QuickBooks Online, Google Analytics and Facebook, pulling out the numbers and configuring it to deliver the information you need. In essence, it unlocks the power of your data.
#2 Customizable Dashboard
You decide what you want to know about your business and then build a dashboard that provides those key metrics. The program allows you to create metrics with more than one data source and set up your dashboard for single or multiple locations. The real power of the dashboard is that it provides at-a-glance updates on the inner workings of your business. You can track trends, automate alerts, and choose what reports you want it to generate. You will never have to make an uninformed decision again.
#3 Better Team Engagement
By giving your team a way to gauge and measure their results, BlueIQ increases their productivity and makes it easier for them to set and achieve concrete goals. It makes the morning huddle count by giving your team up-to-date information to review. Now you can start the day with meaningful discussions about what worked yesterday, and what action items should be prioritized for today, all with an eye on moving closer toward clearly established goals.
#4 Tracking patients
Which patients are behind on their appointments? Which patients have become inactive? Which patients are at risk of becoming inactive? Now you have a quick and easy way to keep track and follow up with the goal of keeping your chairs filled. The software includes tools to confirm appointment by text and email. It also allows you to track your patient probability show rate. After all, the most cost-effective way to grow your practice isn’t through new patients, but through serving your existing patients.
#5 Tracking financials
It’s not enough to know whether revenue is up or down. With BlueIQ you can drill down and understand each of the factors that contributes to profitability. It provides insight into the health of your collections as well as overall trends such as the percentage of patients with balances and the age of those balances.
Now you can see why Engage Advisors uses this software with all of our clients. It can take a little time to get set up and started, which is something we help our clients do, but investing that time up front is well worth the effort. Do yourself a favor and checkout the software, and if you’d like to know more about how we use it to help our clients grow their practices, give us a call at Engage Advisors, we’d be happy to share a few stories.