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"Is your practice running on empty?" | MGMA ArticleJanuary 2, 2007 —
As featured in the MGMA Connexion Buyer's Guide 2007
In the
age of information overload, it has become increasingly difficult to make
well-informed business decisions.
Practice managers are bombarded with detailed reports and excel
spreadsheets that are filled with so much financial data that it becomes difficult
to decipher what is critical information and what is not. It would be so much
easier if the critical elements needed to manage were at the decision maker’s
fingertips. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and this truly applies when reviewing financial information. For example, when you drive your car you rely on your dashboard to provide you with key indicators about your vehicle in one snapshot, and the same concept can be applied in practice administration. A digital dashboard is business management tool to provide a top level view of your financial metrics. A dashboard uses a visual, at-a-glance display of critical data pulled directly from your web-based practice management system or similar system. This snapshot fills a web page with your key benchmarks in the form of charts and graphs as an executive level summary with drill down capababilities (see Figure 1 below).
No more sifting through multiple reports, generating excel spreadsheets and cross referencing daily metrics such as days in A/R. Imagine a quick view of the daily benchmarks with real-time information in an easy to view format, critical for decision making.
According to a recent MGMA cost survey data, the cost of operating a group practice increased 7% in 2005. In this environment, being able to account for your revenue is critical, and dashboards are a proactive approach to help administrators respond by making accurate executive decisions.
Administrators are pulled in many different directions and often don’t have time to sort through detailed reports on a daily basis. But they do have time to see a quick snapshot of all vital practice information in a web page to determine what needs immediate attention and review. Administrators are knowledge workers in today’s economy, and imagine the power of their decisions when real-time data is used to steer their practice toward increasing revenues.
Digital dashboards allow administrators to focus on key information through a secure web based environment. The data they are reviewing is real-time, regardless of where they are, in the office or at home or anyplace that has internet access. Financial review has never been so easy, but what should you know about digital dashboards?
Easy to view Simple graphics that include color indicators, alerts, and summaries viewed as bar charts, pie charts, or trends, all in a web-based environment.
Drill-downs and export data A comprehensive drill-down capability allows detailed fact finding to pinpoint a problem. The dashboard should export data in a different variety like excel for data manipulation, pdf for a presentation, or in an e-mail.
Date Ranges Predefined date ranges add to the efficiency of looking at data. Dashboards that offer user defined dates or date range comparison of prior months or years allow quick view for identifying trends.
Track Practice and Physician Efficiency Being able to examine the impact that a particular physician brings to a practice is critical, and should allow alternating views of an entire practice down to the specific productivity of an individual physician to assist in the management of revenue.
Type of Dashboard Content Financial dashboard views should include charges, payments, denials, adjustments, comparisons, and report summaries, all with a click of the mouse.
Benefits of using a Dashboard
Rules to remember
| PDFsMGMA Connexion Article: Is your practice running on empty? Learn about the benefits of using globalcentara's digital dashboard to manage financial metrics more... Information Request |
(Figure 1)