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Ear, Nose & Throat Consultants: The Numbers Don’t Lie

With four locations throughout the greater Detroit area, Ear, Nose & Throat Consultants and its audiology clinic, Quality Hearing Aid Center, produce a lot of data—eighteen pages to be exact. That’s how long the tracking report is that the practice’s Chief Operating Officer, Steve Piotrowski, receives each month from Consult YHN’s Analytics team. But as Steve explains, this report isn’t just a bunch of numbers on a piece of paper (or 18 pieces of paper)—it’s his roadmap. With the help of several Consult YHN professionals, Steve uses the data to not only assess the fiscal health of the business but identify any necessary changes to ensure it continues to thrive month-after-month, year-after-year. And it’s worked: in the first five months of 2019, Ear, Nose & Throat Consultants has helped over 100 more patients than it did during the same time period last year.

“If you’re interested in managing and growing your business but don’t track your data, shame on you. You’re running around in the dark.”
Steve Piotrowski, COO

Q&A with Steve Piotrowski, COO

1What do you do with your monthly tracking report? How do you use the data?
I use the tracking reports to manage trends, monitor staff and location performance, as well as our overall financial performance, and to prepare for physician practice meeting presentations. It also serves to define areas of improvement and what Bill Connerton [National Vice President of Sales] will focus on in our staff trainings. For example, if we find that Third Party sales are increasing, we can manage our schedule accordingly to bring in more private pay patients. We even measure the frequency of our ENT physicians referring patients to the audiology staff.
2Explain how our Consult Analytics team is able to produce these reports for you?
We provided Consult YHN access to our different software along with a tracking template we used prior to becoming a member. We populated and enhanced that original tracking template to identify new iterations that better articulated the information and we’ve worked together to continually fine tune it.
3Did you have any reservations initially about giving us access to your software?
Not at all. There’s a longstanding trust between us. We wanted Consult YHN to have complete access to all of the same information we have so that we can constantly evaluate our findings. The numbers don’t lie.
4How have you seen Consult YHN use its tracking to help your practice?
People need to understand Consult’s ability to proactively address the analytical side of your business. They’ve been able to uncover trends in the data and present them each month in an “executive summary.” We’ve also recently instituted a post-close phone call with Bill Connerton in which we discuss the report’s key findings and identify training needs. We’ve been paying close attention to our staff’s close rates as well as what product levels they sell so we can address these findings in our weekly and quarterly staff tele-trainings.
5In your own words, why is tracking so important?
You cannot successfully operate a business by guessing—you must have a case for everything you do. Tracking and very visible reporting are the only way you can do that with confidence. If you’re interested in managing and growing your business but don’t track your data, shame on you. You’re running around in the dark.
6What would you tell a practice that isn’t currently tracking its data?
Why would anyone be in business and not have formalized tracking? You don’t have to be an MBA graduate—that’s what Consult is there for. They can teach you how to read the data, explain what it means, and show you how to use it to affect change.
3713 logo QualityHearingAidCenter and SinusSnoring&AllergyCenterDetroit 4C

Location: Greater Detroit (Novi, Livonia, Southfield, St. Clair Shores)
Number of offices: 4
Years in business: 48+ years
Number of employees: 70
Years as a Consult YHN Associate: 3 years
www.EntForYou.com