18 Jun 2018
Peter Edmondson concludes his Australian Veterinary Association conference report series with a session on data management.
Peter Edmondson
Job Title
Data can be carried on a tablet device to go through with the farmer. Image: Goodluz / Adobe Stock
A few years ago, practitioner Matt Makin completed his Master of Business Administration. His degree project was on improving practice data management.
Dr Makin talked about how we need to use relevant data for making good business decisions. All too often data is stored in a lot of different locations, so trying to pool this together becomes complicated. When you manually transfer data into the likes of Excel spreadsheets an error can occur, so using automated systems makes sense – people make mistakes. He pointed out some problems with data transfer or incorrect formulae in Excel that skewed his old practice data when relying on spreadsheets.
Without doubt, in the future the ability to make good profit in practice will become more challenging as competition and price pressure increases. Practices need accurate data to make sound decisions without spending hours transferring data or trawling through different reports.
Dr Makin explained how his practice of 22 vets uses a business intelligent program, such as Microsoft Power BI or Tableau. At the practice 80% is dairy and the rest small animal. You can customise reports and the dashboard to what you want, but, of course, one of the key questions you will need to ask at the outset is what do you need for good business decisions?
His vets like a one-screen summary you can “drill down on“. Reports can include the following range of data and more:
This data can be used at different levels. The practice owners will have their key report, which will focus very much on practice performance and profit, showing the key positive and negative changes.
Each employee can access a report with his or her key performance indicators. This is popular with younger vets as they can see how they are getting on. One common concern for younger vets is they often don‘t know how they are doing, and this certainly helps. They can see their data and compare this to others in the business where everyone else‘s data is anonymous. This helps to show potential and maximise vet turnover.
Staff log on every month to see how they are getting on. You can also add nice things, such as how much holiday allowance has been used, number of sick days, CPD dates, and so on. You choose what you want to put in, and once you have set it up, it automatically updates every month without any manual transfer of data.
A breakdown of data for each farm client is available in which they can be benchmarked to others, and show their spending (herd health and fire brigade) and medicine purchases. The data can be carried on a tablet device to go through with each farmer twice a year. This helps to support client spend and demonstrate value for money. Of course, if problems show up, such as increased spending on antibiotics or a sector of fee income, steps can be taken to address this. Farm clients like this and it helps demonstrate value from the practice.
Finally, a dashboard exists for each sector of the business, which could be, for example, farm, small animal or equine clients. Vets have found this to be an invaluable tool in supporting their business and increasing profit.
This has helped their practice avoid paralysis by analysis. They have worked out what are the key questions they need answered and tailored their reports accordingly. It helps to engage the whole practice team, as everyone can look at certain data that relates to their role. This means sensible business decisions are made based on accurate data, which helps to drive growth and ensure they stay ahead of the game. Maximising profitability allows higher remuneration of vets, which is always welcomed.
