ESTABLISH METRIC GOALS TO DECIDE WHETHER TO ACT ON DATA

THE CLASSIC business axiom goes something like, “That which we measure, improves.” My experience with many practitioners has led to my version of this axiom: “That which practitioners measure, does indeed get measured. Then, it frustrates the doctors, so they either ignore what they just measured and keep doing the same thing or stop measuring entirely.” Yes, it’s not as elegant as the original, but it is unfortunately a common experience.

FAILURE TO PULL THE TRIGGER

A client recently presented with this complaint:

“My recall system of sending postcards isn’t performing like it should,” the doctor said.

“Have you tried emailing and texting instead of postcards?” one of our consultants asked.

“No,” replied the doctor, “but I know I should.”

To see whether doing so would be more effective than sending postcards, the doctor decided to send one third of patients a recall postcard, email and a text message, respectively, for three months. The results: Emailing had a better response than postcards, and texting was slightly less effective vs. postcards. Based on these results, the consultant recommended the doctor use the preferred method — email — in moving forward.

The doctor’s response: “Well, I’m not sure. What if patients don’t want to get email from us?”

We weren’t sure how to deal with the doctor’s practice management denial. The data was clear that patients preferred, albeit slightly, email to snail mail. Yet, the doctor was (and still is) unwilling to change. Thus, that which was measured will certainly not improve, but it will give the doctor months of angst.

WHY THIS HAPPENS

Let’s say you survey patients to see whether they would like the availability of Saturday appointments. If 10% of patients say they prefer Saturday, will you change your schedule? The point: When measuring anything in your practice, you should have established related metrics that enable you to either act or not act on the data you receive. If not, in looking at this example, what is the point of surveying patients about the availability of Saturday appointments? Other than an academic exercise, what benefit is there to asking the question?

Similarly, not sure whether to offer AR lenses on all eyeglass lenses as a default “package”? You can certainly ask your patients, provided that before you ask, you again, set up metrics that will guide your decision on the information. An example of a metric: You might say, “If at least 60% of respondents favor AR as their default eyeglass lenses, we’ll make that change available by Nov. 1.” That way, should patients respond in the affirmative, you will already have a plan in place that will get you further away from analysis paralysis.

DEFINING SUCCESS

With this technique, before you measure, you will have defined success and have a plan to execute to make that success happen. An important tangential hazard: If 60% of patients want something, and then you do not offer it, these patients will now have some degree of disappointment. That which you measure should and can improve — if you carefully plan for it to do so! OM

DR. GERBER is the president of the Power Practice, a company specializing in making optometrists more profitable. Learn more at www.powerpractice.com , or call Dr. Gerber at (888) 356-4447.