Involving staff is critical to collecting and acting on key performance indicators. Here’s how.

In this three-part series, Mick Kling, O.D., looks at key performance indicators from several vantage points. In part one, Dr. Kling addressed tracking and dashboarding to view trends based on historical data at his two San Diego locations, InVision Optometry and Vision Boutique. In part two, he tackled collecting real-time data. In this final installment, Dr. Kling shares the importance of the team’s efforts in making all this happen.

The People Factor

A lot of practices try to track how well they’re doing on an ongoing basis. The problem for most is finding the time…and the people…to make it happen. For Dr. Kling, “The key thing that has really helped us with this data tracking is assigning key team members to help populate the data.”

There’s a benefit that goes beyond just getting the job done. “When you give key employees the responsibility of data entry,” explains Dr. Kling, “they tend to own the numbers a little more.”

Populating Data

That’s why he counts on his leadership team in each department. “For example, the opticians are responsible for populating the optical data, technicians are responsible for the contact lens data, the finance team puts in all the revenue numbers, and the call center puts in all the exam information,” he says.

The alternative, making one individual responsible for it all, is just too big a job for one person. Doing it his way, explains Dr. Kling, “actually creates some accountability.”

Follow-Up

Dr. Kling starts his weekly meeting with a look at the dashboard. “That tells us what’s going on with the practice. Up or down? How are things going?”

What if something stands out as needing work? “If it’s going well, we really don’t even have any further discussion about it,” says Dr. Kling. “If there’s an item that we need to address, however, we talk about it, decide what we need to do, if anything, and then we take some action from there.”

A Priority

Staff shortage remains an issue for many practices, so a big question is how to get it done.

Dr. Kling’s answer? “Make a decision that this is just as important, if not more so, than other things in your office. Then prioritize it and share duties with multiple staff members.

“We all have the same amount of time in a day,” concludes Dr. Kling. “It’s less about ‘I don’t have time,’ and it’s more about how I’m choosing to spend my time. This needs to be a priority!”