THE TIP SHEET, #2: The Power of Data: Elevate Performance, Transform Patient Care

In the competitive OMS space, data analytics isn’t just a tool—it’s the key to unlocking your OMS practice’s full potential. By understanding data trends and patterns, OMS practices can make informed decisions about treatment plans, resource allocation and staffing, streamline operations, and, most importantly, improve patient outcomes. The bottom line? Implementing data-driven strategies can have a significant impact on the growth and success of your practice.

What Can the Data Tell Me?

The first step is understanding what kind of data is available. For OMS practices, important areas for analysis include:

• Treatment Outcomes: Tracking outcomes of surgical procedures, recovery times, and post-operative complications allows practices to evaluate the effectiveness of treatments.
• Financial Metrics: Revenue, patient billing, insurance claims, and operational costs are crucial data points for managing the financial health of the practice.
• Operational Data: Scheduling patterns, appointment no-shows, and staff productivity metrics help in identifying areas where operational efficiency can be improved.

What Do I Do With Data?

Once data is collected, the next step is analysis. Here are a few ways OMS practices can use data analytics to enhance performance:

• Improving Patient Outcomes: By analyzing patterns in treatment outcomes data, OMS practices can make more informed clinical decisions. For example, if data shows that a certain type of dental implant consistently requires replacement while another type has a high success rate, the doctor can choose to focus on using the more reliable implant, leading to fewer complications and better patient experiences.
• Optimizing Scheduling: Data analytics can reveal peak times for patient appointments, allowing practices to optimize scheduling and practice efficiency. By identifying trends in appointment no-shows or delays, practices can implement strategies like automated reminders or flexible scheduling to reduce inefficiencies.
• Enhancing Financial Performance: Analyzing financial data can help practices identify areas where costs can be reduced or revenue can be increased. For example, tracking the efficiency of insurance claim submissions and payments can highlight delays or denials that must be addressed to ensure a steady cash flow.
• Boosting Operational Efficiency: Practices can streamline operations by monitoring staff productivity and workflow patterns. Data can identify bottlenecks in the patient journey, from check-in to discharge, and suggest ways to improve the process, such as reassigning tasks or implementing new technologies.

Real-World Examples

Let’s say an OMS practice notices a high number of cancellations for certain procedures. By analyzing the data, they discover that when patients pre-pay, cancellations drop dramatically. Based on this insight, the practice can change its payment policy, reducing cancellations and improving efficiency.

In another scenario, data analytics could help an OMS practice compare recovery times for different surgical techniques. If the data tells you that one technique consistently leads to faster recovery and fewer complications, the practice could adopt that technique as standard, leading to better patient experiences and optimized resource use. A good example of this kind of data in action is Allied OMS founder Dr. Scheideman’s approach to wisdom tooth extraction. The data told him that using a specific incision technique often eliminated the need for stitches, streamlined the procedure, allowed the wound to heal naturally, and improved patient comfort during recovery.

The Bottom Line: We’re Big Data Fans 

Direct experience tells us that practices that leverage data analytics are better positioned to deliver high-quality care and achieve long-term success.