Have you ever observed what goes on in the pits during qualifying day in Formula One Motor Racing? When the driver pulls in from a slower than usual lap, the race engineers don’t just replace the engine or provide the driver with a brand new car. The engineers plug their computers into the car and analyse every aspect of the motor vehicle. They know how much fuel was burnt, what amount of power was produced at each point on the track, were the brakes on the front left less powerful than the right ones going into corners, whether the tyres were at the right temperature and pressure and so on. Every aspect of the race car can be monitored and then changed in order to do one thing. That one thing is to be the fastest. We can apply this analogy to our practices statistics.

Plugging into your practice stats can help you achieve amazing growth.

As busy health practitioners we and/or our staff may record our practice statistics as part of our daily procedures. But more often than not, we treat them no different to putting out the garbage or keeping the carpets clean. Just like a procedure.

However, our practice stats can be used in the same manner as plugging the computer into the formula one car to analyse performance. Our practice statistics can provide invaluable information that can help you identify your strengths and weaknesses. For example they can give you access to reasons why your retention is low, whether you need to work more on improving your communication skills to boost your patients commitment to care or provide opportunities for you to capitalize on better marketing.

Here is an all too familiar scenario. Sam is a wonderful and caring practitioner; however his practice seems to be stuck in a constant holding pattern. This problem is not only affecting Sam’s profit but it’s also increasing his overall stress levels. So what does he do? Sam begrudgingly continues to pump more money into advertising in the hope that attracting more new patients will break his practice out of its holding pattern, add more profit and reduce his stress.

If Sam knew the power of statistics he would of found that his weekly and monthly stats showed a low conversion percentage of new patients becoming practice members and undergoing a recommended plan of care or treatment. This low figure sets off alarm bells telling us that it’s highly possible that Sam’s initial visit and report of findings/recommended action plan (RAP) procedures are not effective. It didn’t matter how much money Sam threw into advertising, he was not maximizing his ROI because of poor procedures and/or communication. Remember that statistics are useless if all they do is sit in a folder on your shelf. Plug them into your practice and with proper analysis and they can help you achieve amazing growth and prosperity.