Choose chiropractic software with business intelligence to drive practice success

Where is your practice in regards to leveraging your data assets?

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE (BI) plays a crucial role in enabling organizations to leverage their data assets and gain a competitive advantage in today’s data-driven business environment.
To achieve this, specialized software tools are used to facilitate data integration and to provide predictive analytics by extracting insights from large and complex datasets. More succinctly, you get graphs, reports and alerts to guide your decision-making. It sounds simple, but how do you get there? 

Chiropractic and business intelligence: Bring them together

At first glance, business intelligence and chiropractic don’t go hand in hand. They seem to be two distinct worlds without interaction and complementarity.  

Business intelligence (BI), machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) are the playground of software developers, engineers and data scientists. It is a Cartesian universe. On the other hand, chiropractors are more human-centered and focused on patient health. But as business owners, they want to improve their cash flow, retain their patients and maximize their benefits.  

This takes time and requires complex analysis specifically when non-structured data get drawn from different sources. Engineers and data scientists precisely have the role of structuring data and automating long, complicated processes for the final users.

With this in mind, you need to focus on finding the right software product tailored to your needs. Good software will provide you BI tools with relevant dashboards and key performance indicators (KPIs), presenting data in a visual and interactive format to help you get a clear view of your business. The recipe is simple: Let BI tools guide your decisions. The learning curve is smooth.

Learning and understanding

BI tools turn raw data into useful information that can be used to improve business operations and decision-making. It can be used to identify trends, spot opportunities and optimize business processes. It can also help organizations better understand their customers, competitors and markets, and make data-driven decisions that drive business success.

Many tools and techniques can be used for business intelligence. Some common ones include: 

1. Data Mining: This involves using algorithms and statistical techniques to
   analyze large datasets to identify patterns and trends. 
2. Dashboards and Visualization Tools: These tools allow users to view data in
   real time and create interactive charts, graphs and maps to help them
   understand and analyze data. 
3. Reporting Tools: These tools allow users to create reports and summaries of
   data, often in the form of tables, charts and graphs. 
4. Online Analytical Processing (OLAP): This type of database technology
   allows users to analyze data from multiple dimensions and perspectives. 
5. Data Warehouses: These centralized data stores allow organizations
   to store and manage large amounts of data from multiple sources. 
6. Business Intelligence Platforms: These are comprehensive software systems
   that integrate and streamline all of the above tools and techniques into a
   single platform. 

The use of these techniques and tools must, however, rest on your software supplier’s in-depth knowledge of the ecosystem in which you evolve. Otherwise, you will not get useful and relevant analysis. In addition, a strong data structure is needed so as not to hit a wall. Finally, your software supplier must be willing to innovate and improve its tools. To do this, they need to listen to you and have a flexible, scalable development platform. 

There are three important questions to ask: 

• Is your current software focused on certain aspects of your business? It should not be. You must look for a 360-degree solution. 
• Is your software patient-centered? It should be. The majority of the data relates to patients. 
• Does your software provider use a proprietary platform? This is a good asset because it offers more flexibility, scalability and customization.  

More concrete data

Universities are now forming experts in data science. Several professions are already reaping the benefits of business intelligence.  

In the medical field: 

• Surgeon surgery: Surgeons use BI to decide on the chances of success of a
  surgical procedure and decide whether or not to operate. 
• At the medical diagnostic level: Data analysts investigate scan images and
  blood test results in order to determine whether or not invasive tests should
  be performed. 
• Medical research projects aimed at discovering a biomarker of fibrosis with
  data from tissue scans performed with the aid of Raman microscopy.

In the customer relationship management (CRM) fields, marketers use BI to understand market dynamics and industry trends; evaluate campaign performance, optimize strategies and allocate resources more effectively; perform customer segmentation; perform market competitor analysis; perform social media monitoring; target specific segments; and perform customer journey mapping.

Chiropractors could certainly benefit from these tools to bring the profession to a
higher level: 

• Forecast the revenue/visit trend for the next month based on data from the
  last three months; indicate the reason for growth or decline, and offer actions
  to be taken or maintained. 
• Determine the ICD-10 codes, CPT codes and modifiers to bill according to the SOAP notes. 
• Do patient journey mapping: BI can provide insights into the patient journey by
  tracking patient interactions and touchpoints across various channels. This
  helps you understand the patient experience, identify pain points, and optimize
  marketing efforts at each stage of the patient journey. 
• Track referrals. 
• Review compliance and documentation: BI can assist chiropractors in monitoring compliance with regulatory requirements and documenting patient care accurately. Analyzing data related to compliance, documentation and coding practices can help identify areas where improvements or additional training
  may be needed to ensure adherence to legal and professional standards. 
• Analyze KPIs and metrics related to the practice. This may include patient volume, revenue generation, appointment scheduling efficiency, patient retention
  rates and more. By monitoring these metrics, chiropractors can identify
  areas for improvement, optimize operations and make data-driven decisions
  to enhance practice performance. 
• Track patient satisfaction and outcomes: BI can assist in tracking patient satisfaction levels, treatment outcomes and patient feedback. 
• Improve financial management: BI can provide insights into the financial aspects of a chiropractic practice, including revenue trends, expenses, billing patterns, insurance reimbursements and cash flow. By monitoring and analyzing financial data, chiropractors can identify opportunities for cost savings, optimize billing processes and improve financial performance. 

Use your available tools

Chiropractic could certainly benefit from these tools to bring the profession to the forefront, but it remains that the results from the use of these tools and techniques must be well understood and put into perspective.

NADINE BRUNET is the vice president of Platinum System. With more than 23
years of experience, she has helped thousands of chiropractors and has an expert knowledge of the ecosystem. She is dedicated in the development of PLATINUM2.0, the next-generation cutting-edge 360-degree technology EHR/practice management cloud-based software for release in Q4 2023.