1 Dec 2015
Bryan Williams
Job Title
Image: © Ezheviks/Fotolia.
Your practice management system (PMS) is most effective when used as an information provider rather than just a transaction processor. This means handling all of the information you need to manage your practice, not just focusing on client accounting.
Many practice principals understand the efficiencies and advantages resulting from this approach and are driving software companies to provide the necessary functionality. This approach will define the future direction of PMS development.
Cloud computing is leading the charge, even though concerns over security and reliability are still to be completely addressed. But, it’s highly probable they will be in the near future.
Many practices, especially larger ones, will still use their own servers as part of a cloud-based network to ensure fail-safe processing availability. Research by the Enterprise Strategy Group indicates 69% of users that already use cloud online file sharing are “extremely interested” in running their own servers, compared with just 11% of users that don’t use cloud online file sharing.
That withstanding, it will soon be the norm in veterinary practices for a service provider to be responsible for 24/7 availability of information processing, not your practice.
As all business processes of your practice become more and more dependent on technology, it’s not practical that one software developer is capable of being “all things to all people”.
There is a significant growth in specialised applications such as online appointments and pet portals, which access and create data held in your PMS databases. To avoid duplication of effort and to reduce the number of errors, your PMS must be able to make data available to other software and receive back any changes.
Similarly, information needed to order tests from lab equipment, other digital devices and outside labs should be automatically transferred by your PMS. When results are available, they need to be seamlessly recorded in the appropriate patient and client records, including the bill.
Your PMS will become the “hub” for all information needed by your practice, regardless of the software or device that processes it.
Most managers realise that measuring performance of their practices solely with gross revenue-based statistics, this is like driving only using your rear-view mirror.
There is increasing awareness that performance is dictated by activities that drive the business and they are not necessarily financial.
We’re obviously talking about key performance indicators (KPIs). The “driver” KPIs are those that measure the activities that can help change performance. Other KPIs are important, but they show the effect of “driver” activities and, in their own right, do not help identify specific problem areas.
Examples of KPIs that measure effect are average client transaction and gross revenue this year compared to last. They tell you the result of activities, but very little of what to do to change them. Drivers include: percentage of surgery cases without anaesthesia charges; number of patients without reminders; and client retention rates. They can lead you to the inefficient processes and help you focus on changes to correct the problems.
Your PMS may already be collecting the data needed to calculate the KPIs and their trends. If so, it’s simply a matter of extending the software to provide the analysis needed.
Surveys consistently find clients wish to be informed of the best way for them to ensure their animals have a good quality of life.
Do clients believe they can trust you with the care of their animals? As patients cannot tell a client how well they think you’re performing, it’s left to the perception clients themselves have of your practice. And that distils down into how you’re communicating, what you’re communicating and who is doing it.
All staff that come into contact with clients must be trained and have the skills to do their part. The objective is to create a situation where messages to clients are consistent, regardless of who is delivering them. There’s no substitute for friendly, helpful and knowledgeable staff, but your PMS will make their job much easier.
Your PMS will automatically display information that’s appropriate for the client’s animals based on rules you’ve pre-defined. It will help your staff provide consistent and meaningful information to clients – that explains your value, as well as reinforcing their trust in your patient care.
This type of functionality will continue to evolve in your PMS and your business success will be measured by how well you make use of it.
A recent US study showed 70% of clients used Google to research problems that affect their pets.
They want to know what’s going on, so why not encourage them to consider you as their “educator of choice”? Be proactive in using your PMS to help avoid any misinformation they could get from Dr Google.
Most systems already provide informative client handouts based on problems and recommended treatments. You can be much more proactive by sending clients information advising the actions you recommend for promoting the patient’s well-being – that are appropriate to the patient’s breed, age, weight, predisposition, and so on.
Here’s an example of how you can use your PMS to make that happen. Build a whole series of informative messages in an education campaign for various topics. Each of the messages would then be automatically sent to selected clients on a pre-defined schedule.
And you choose the method of delivery – Twitter, email or SMS. It’s this attention to patients’ health needs that will bond clients to your practice.
Most comprehensive PMS vendors are already building tools to help you deliver these services and they will no doubt continue to do so.
A significant percentage of veterinary clients consider personal communication devices (mobile phones, tablets, and so on) essential to their daily life. So it’s natural they wish to be able to carry out those tasks that don’t need human interaction by using their devices, as they do for internet searches and online shopping. Looking up a patient’s health information and booking an appointment are obviously suitable tasks.
Your staff has similar needs. They want to access such information as patient and client records, performance statistics and work schedules, regardless of their own location.
Cloud computing has enabled the “access anywhere” capability. As long as there’s an internet connection and your practice’s PMS is capable, both your client’s and your staff’s needs can be satisfied.
However, uncontrolled access should not be allowed. Security and privacy protection of data is absolutely essential. Your PMS must provide tools for you to make sure access is restricted to those who are authorised to use the information.
There’s a continual demand for patient information to be exchanged with such parties as referral practices, other veterinarians and pet insurers. Also, details of product orders and goods received involve transferring information to and from your PMS databases. All of these are typically done by creating transactions.
The problem is there is no common data exchange format that is generally accepted by all of the entities involved.
The good news is that there are efforts to establish standard formats to provide the capability of making transfers in a consistent manner. The VetXML Consortium is a group of companies involved in veterinary business and has an interest in establishing a common data exchange format.
Its aim is “to improve the sharing of data through the development of an industry standard data format, to maximise the service provided by the veterinary profession”. VetXML is widely used in pet insurance claim processing and is likely to gain increasing acceptance in other areas.
However, there are other activities that require more immediate response than the transaction-based sharing of data. As we’ve already discussed, clients are demanding the online ability to view patient information, book appointments, refill prescriptions and send messages on their personal communication devices. These typically involve using a third-party application and allowing it to directly access your PMS database. The app will retrieve the data it needs (such as your diary with available appointment slots) and then send any changes (the appointment slot selected) back to your PMS for it to update its information.
To make that happen, there’s an integration of your PMS software with that of the app. That’s more technically challenging than processing transactions, but essential in meeting client needs.
