MyVitals is your benchmarking & management reporting system that tracks the difference between your current & potential income and your performance over time – but did you know that it can also provide you important data for you to prepare for your 2022 Financial Year budget?
Numbers and Business performance – now you’re talking my language! Some may think that ‘Benchmarking’ is a dirty word – but for those of us who know how to harness its power – it can be your best secret weapon. MyVitals is the most effective starting place to review the previous year, follow any trends, hunt down any missed opportunities and to listen to the stories your data is telling you so that you can strive for improvement in the new FY – and achieve true sustainability!
How?
So yes, this is thinly veiled shameless plug, but we’re lucky in our industry to have access to these tools – most industries may be looking on us with the ‘green-eyed-monster’ over their shoulder to be able to follow trends and see how they fit in the Industry on such a transparent scale. Although it definitely doesn’t give you everything you need to make lasting change – combined with a few other key measures, MyVitals will have you understanding how you’re performing and where the opportunities are that you will want to harness in your next Financial year – particularly as we ready for AN-ACC.
Let’s take a look.
Where do I start?
So where should we start in MyVitals? The Dashboard is a great place to begin because here we have a snapshot of everything that influences your revenue each month. Looking at the dashboard you can ask yourself these questions:
- Is my Occupancy where I want it to be?
- Am I utilising the Support or Respite Ratios incentives?
- Is my funding trending up or down?
And finally;
- Where do I sit compared to the industry – against the benchmark?
What can benchmarking tell me?
So, you sit down at your desk with your cuppa and you excitedly look for how you compare to the average ACFI benchmark…there you are, slightly above the benchmark. ‘Not bad’ you think. But before you pop the champagne, let’s deconstruct what an average is and what it is not.
Firstly – a benchmark is an average… an average is not a sign of good performance, nor the worst… just average. Just because you’re the best singer in the room, doesn’t mean you should pursue that pop star career just yet. Start by taking a look around the room. If you look around that room and you’re surrounded by Beyonce, Kanye West and Frank Sinatra – then yeah, sure…pop straight down to the recording studio, run – don’t walk.
If, however, you notice that there are some great singers and some not so great singers (I’m looking at you Dad) – then being average in that room probably means there’s still room for improvement (which is a great thing to know!)
If an average really is just the middle of where all your peers, the good performers and the poor performers, are sitting. What you want to ask is: are people claiming higher than you and if so, are you really receiving all your entitlements?
But my facility is different!
This is usually where I hear “But my facility is different to others…my residents are more high care or more low care than most”. You are right – this is a valid point for exploration! So – Let’s go take a look at average length of stay.
It would make sense that if your residents really are lower care needs, that your average length of stay would be much longer than the benchmark. If it is then you can expect your average ACFI to be more in line with the top 25% rather than the top 10%.
* ACFI Average Statistics as of January 2021
Then how do I know if I can improve?
Now you’re left wondering…my team tell me that we’re claiming all our entitlements. How can I work out if there is any room for improvement? Well, let’s head over to the ACFI page where you can compare your facility’s claiming profiles. Perhaps you are above average for ADLs and below for BEHs – is there are good reason behind this? Or is it that your team need some development around BEH identification and clinical reasoning? Either way, it gives you a great basis for some robust conversations with your team.
Asking these questions of your data, and looking into what story MyVitals benchmarking is telling you, means you can see if there is room for improvement; and identifying these areas can put you on the right pathway to sustainability!
When popping the final touches on your budget over the next few weeks, you’d be mad not to take a little peek at MyVitals or have one of our Advisors run you through your MyVitals Insights.
Want more?
For more tips on how to get the most out of our free benchmarking and performance software MyVitals, or to talk about how we can help you navigate planning for your next budget – give us a call and your Advisor would be more than happy to run a strategy session with you.
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VICTORIA KELLY – MANAGING DIRECTOR Author |
