Running Your Business Without Financial Metrics Is Like Driving a Car Without Any Gauges
Understanding the basics of financial metrics will help you maximize your business’s performance and avoid the pitfalls that come from driving blind. Balance sheets, billing, income statements—for most practice leaders, this is the least engaging aspect of running a business, but if you want to keep your revenue healthy, you’ve got to net—and analyze—all that business data. Fuel is equipped with cutting-edge tools and resources to make sure you’re hitting your targets now and well into the future.
The difference between a low performing audiologist and an average performing audiologist is $100k a year in annual cash flow.
Source: ASHA
Metrics Should Drive Every Business Decision
If growth is important to you, it is crucial to be able to identify where it’s possible and that all starts with your financial metrics. There’s an old adage in the data world that ‘you can’t manage what you don’t measure.’ From accounts receivable to average revenue per patient, net collections ratios and beyond, if you’re measuring it, you’re in a better growth position when it comes to investments or any other business decision you make.
Here are some key financial metrics we can track to help practices of all specialties:
- Operating margin to gauge profitability from operations
- Days cash on hand to measure liquidity
- Debt to capitalization to measure financial leverage
Metrics Allow You to Proactively Course Correct
Nobody wants to be in a situation where you don’t have options, especially when it comes to finances. Knee-jerk reactions when it’s often too late are a quick way to bring you out of the black and into the red.
Take medical supplies and equipment—if you’re not tracking purchase data over time and looking for ways to reduce expenses, you may find yourself in a terrible position to negotiate better supply terms at a time when your cash flow is most compromised. Fuel can help you stay on track with your goals in real-time.
Illuminate Opportunities with Benchmarks
Every practice has the opportunity to improve somewhere. Let’s say you’ve mastered your metrics already, either on your own or with an outside hire. If so, you’re probably benchmarking targeted goals. However, benchmarks are a fluid, complex arena of data. With today’s software and analytical capabilities, you can benchmark from a more informed position than ever before, factoring in everything from hyper-local parameters to national averages, all of which will give you an edge over your competition.
“Fuel has been collecting benchmarks from hundreds of practices for over ten years, so we know where high performing audiology departments and practices rank in all aspects of finance and operations. The true value of this service is when we can uncover an opportunity for improvement for your team and then implement a specific strategy to move the needle in a positive direction.”
Bryan GrantDirector of Finance
Fuel’s financial analysts monitor your numbers in the background and deliver opportunity reports, so you can focus on your patients.
How Is Your Practice Leveraging Financial Metrics?
At Fuel, we understand the dynamic needs of your practice’s financial goals. Our depth of industry knowledge combined with our custom benchmarking tools set us up to completely recalibrate the way you think about how revenue growth and operations intersect. From there, we build a performance strategy suited to keep your finances healthy for the long term.
Contact Fuel today to learn how to make your financial metrics data work for you, not against you in your business growth strategy.