Fall Newsletter

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AVImark Quarterly Newsletter Fall 2016

Table of Contents Featured Articles .................. 1 Finish Strong. And start stronger. Top Five Takeaways from the Veterinary Technology Summit ...... 4 Technology in Practice ....... 6 The Truth About Rewards Cards Client Spotlight .................... 7 Meet Bill Shore, DVM Training Corner .................. 8 Your End-of-Year Checklist Tech Support ....................... 9 Top five FAQ’s from Vet Summit

Finish Strong.

And start stronger. What do you want to accomplish in 2017? A steady increase in patients to help your practice grow? Improved compliance with your existing patients? Professional development and training for your staff, designed to help them boost efficiency? New diagnostics, wellness plans, or other services to add to your practice? All of the above? A strong 2017 actually begins during the fourth quarter of 2016, which is the best time to focus on strategic planning for the end of this year and the beginning of next year. From end-of-year reporting and tax planning to budgeting and goal-setting, we’ve compiled some tips and tricks to help 2017 be your best year yet.

Plan for Year-End The information you need for year-end preparation is right at your fingertips. Certain reports that give you a snapshot of your financials and inventory can help you prepare last-minute tax strategies and plan for the following year. At AVImark, we recommend running the following reports during the fourth quarter or the end of the year. You can run

these reports by going to Work With > Reports. Set the period to Year and verify that the start and end dates are correct. Then choose the report that you want to run. • Period Totals, for tax totals and tax-on amounts. • Transaction Summary, for a summary of total production for providers. • Inventory Report, for inventory on-hand count. This report cannot be backdated, so printing this report at the close of business on the last day of your fiscal year is the only way to get the most accurate information. For your convenience, AVImark will automatically prompt you to print this report the first working day of the year. However, if you need to manually run it, go to Work With > Inventory List > File > Print > Inventory Report. If you would like a space next to each item to enter a physical on-hand count, you can check the Fiscal Inventory Format option. There are also some reports to run at the first of the year. We recommend the Income by Treatment report, which provides a more detailed sales usage and expense report, along with the Purchase Order History. These two reports will allow you to see what you sold most during 2016, compared with your purchase orders for the year, to help with budgeting for 2017.

For most clinics, these reports give a good indication of how successful the practice was the prior year, what items may be left unresolved going into the New Year, and areas where improvements can be made for the coming year. If you have any questions regarding reports, please contact AVImark Support at 877-838-9273.

Plan for Taxes It’s always wise to review your current equipment and business practices to make sure you are taking full advantage of hardware and software advancements. The end of the year is a particularly good time to upgrade hardware and software because you can take advantage of Section 179 tax deductions to decrease tax payments and increase cash for other needs. Section 179 encourages small business owners to invest in equipment or technology by allowing them to deduct the asset’s value during the first year. When you acquire new equipment such as hardware or software, you may deduct the first $500,000 of the value during the first year of ownership. For example, let’s say you purchase $10,000 worth of new hardware or software during December. Your Section 179 deduction would be the full $10,000. If your combined federal and state tax bracket is 38 percent, your tax savings would be $3,800 and therefore your net equipment cost would be $6,200 because you keep the $3,800 that you would have otherwise paid in taxes. (Contact us for more details on ways to take advantage of Section 179.)

Plan for 2017 Fourth quarter of 2016 is the best time to identify goals and map out strategic plans for your practice. Would your practice benefit from training for your staff to help them improve their software efficiency? Are there certain features that you’d like to implement, such as workflow tools or wellness plans? You can plan and budget for these initiatives in 2016 to ensure they happen in 2017.

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Are there other workflow processes that could be improved? For example, are your staff members spending too much time on the phone booking appointments or handling appointment confirmation calls? Would automated reminders by text message or email solve this problem? Automated client communications services like Rapport allow clients to book or confirm appointments via their computer or mobile device, which saves significant time for front office staff and allows them to spend more time with clients and patients at check-in and check-out. The way you accept credit cards is another example. Is your current service affordable, or are you getting hit with surprise or hidden fees? Are you spending too much time with double data entry, accepting the credit card charge and then manually entering it into your software? Consider AVImark Payment Solutions, a credit card processing service that integrates with AVImark, which allows you to save time at checkout because you eliminate extra steps. The new year is right around the corner. With some strategic planning and proactive use of your software, you can make 2017 the best year yet.

Upcoming Events Industry Trade Shows Join us at the AVImark booth and see what’s new! CVC West December 8 – 11, 2016 San Diego, CA Booth 307 NAVC February 4 – 8, 2017 Orlando, FL Booth 2401 MVC February 23 – 26, 2017 Columbus, OH Booth 115 WVC March 6 – 8, 2017 Las Vegas, NV Booth 3335

Top Five Takeaways from the Veterinary Technology Summit Nearly 500 veterinarians, practice managers, and staff members who use a Henry Schein software platform attended the 2016 Veterinary Technology Summit in Nashville last month. Attendees enjoyed morning keynote sessions (including a panel of software power-users sharing real-life best practices), standingroom-only practice management sessions, hands-on software support, and daily happy-hour receptions that facilitated great networking. We took some time to chat with attendees one-on-one. Here are the top five things that attendees loved most about the event.

#5

Learning to tackle inventory.

After labor costs, inventory is the second largest expense for most practices, and managing it appropriately can be challenging. A variety of inventory sessions taught attendees how to keep costs down yet maintain adequate amounts of product on the shelf to generate revenue.

#4

Tools to track business outcomes.

Many attendees cited new tips, tricks, tools, and technologies that helped them identify areas of potential improvement, such as capturing missed charges and increasing practice efficiencies. Then they were able to meet directly with sponsors and industry experts to learn how to implement these tools. As one attendee said, it’s not just having access to information, but also learning how best to use that information to help our practices grow.

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#3

Eliminating missed charges.

Believe it or not, they are happening in every veterinary practice. Attendees learned ways to find services that practices should be charging for, as well as technology solutions designed to automatically capture, record, and invoice those charges.

#2

Networking with other practices.

Attendees loved having time to share information and best practices with other practitioners that were using the same software platform. Many are taking proven solutions already working in other practices back to their own for implementation.

#1

Finding ways to become more efficient.

Efficiency makes practices more profitable. When technology can do things faster and more accurately, it frees up staff to spend more time with clients and patients and less time on paperwork.

Bonus: The Summit gets bigger and better every year! Attendees say the Veterinary Technology Summit is different than every other industry event. It’s not just about CE credits (although credits are available for certain classes). Instead, it’s about learning to use technology to create a great veterinary business. As one attendee said, “I learn how to incorporate the technology and software to improve not only our staff’s lives but also the amount of time we are able to give our clients and patients.” Interested in attending the next Veterinary Technology Summit? Watch for more information on VetSummit.com!

Special Offers Year-End Savings

AVImark Hardware

The end of the year is a particularly good time to upgrade hardware and software because you can take advantage of our end-of-year Route 66 finance program for new purchases. This program includes 6 months of $0 payments, followed by 6 months of $99 payments, and then your remaining balance is spread over 36 months.

AVImark Hardware meets all of your technology needs. Our workstations and tablets are designed to work with your practice management software and built to withstand the harsh practice environment.

You can also take advantage of Section 179 tax deductions to decrease tax payments and increase cash for other needs. Section 179 encourages small business owners to invest in equipment or technology by allowing you to deduct up to $500,000 of the value of your purchase during the first year of ownership.

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Contact your AVImark representative for more details on ways to take advantage of Section 179 and Route 66. Call 1-855-838-7638 or email [email protected]

Save $100 on workstations and tablets.

To take advantage of this offer or to obtain a quote, contact us today at 855-838-7638 ext. 9331 or email [email protected].

Technology in Practice

The Truth About Rewards Cards Credit card processing fees can be difficult for practices to understand if they are not familiar with the process. For example, did you know: • Credit card service providers charge an interchange rate just to use their card? • Merchant service providers charge an additional swiping fee markup? • Additional fees are charged to fund credit card reward programs? It is important to understand how these rates and fees work so you can properly manage them. For instance, if your customers like to pay with reward cards, here are some things you need to know:

Reward cards may not be very rewarding for you. Many card issuers offer cards that pay points and cash back rewards to seduce consumers to apply for their cards. However, most veterinary businesses don’t know that any points or cash back rewards that are paid to the consumer are actually funded by vendors, not the major credit card companies. This means that you are not only paying the interchange rate and the per-swipe charges, but also 1% to 3% in additional fees to ensure points and cash back to those customers who pay for veterinary visits using a rewards card. This can equate to large fees if you have clients that use reward cards often.

Ask if rewards rates are included in the quote. When credit card service providers ask you for a statement so they can compare rates and save you money, they are counting on you not being educated on how the credit card processing system works with fees, rewards, and points. They will do a cost comparison that doesn’t figure in the rewards rate, so it appears they can save you a lot of money.

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That is, until you get your first statement and realize that the savings just aren’t there. By then, you’re locked into years of contractual agreements.

Find ways to cut fees. For the best cost savings when processing transactions, debit cards are the way to go. They are the most secure and cost the least to process. These rates are low and there are no reward points or percentages figured in. It never hurts to encourage debit payments when you are looking at ways to cut the fees. Many competitors will let you believe they can give you hundreds and even thousands of dollars in savings by their calculated cost comparison, but that is normally because they fudge the numbers when it comes to reward card processing.

AVImark Payment Solutions provides a fair and accurate rate comparison so the rate you receive in your quote is the rate you can expect to pay. In addition, AVImark Payment Solutions integrates with your AVImark software – a big time-saver at checkout.

For more information, call our payments specialists at 855-838-7638, or email [email protected].

Meet Bill Shore, DVM Brentwood Animal Hospital 6-doctor practice with 2 locations St. Louis, MO

Why did you purchase AVImark software? We purchased AVImark back in 1994 and we thought it was a great value then. We still think it’s a great value today.

What do you like best about AVImark software? The ease of use of AVImark is probably one of the best features. It allows our staff to complete their tasks much more efficiently, much more quickly, and much more accurately.

How has AVImark grown with your practice over the years? AVImark has really been helpful to us in growing our practice, particularly when we went paperless. This was quite a challenge for our staff at the very beginning, yet AVImark allowed us to switch over much more

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easily than any of us ever anticipated. AVImark has also been great in growing with our practice, adding new features that allowed us to offer more services to our clients in an efficient manner, and also helping us watch our expenses. We use the inventory control feature quite a bit and that’s been extremely helpful for our practice.

Do you take advantage of all of AVImark’s integrations? AVImark’s integrations have been extremely helpful for us. We don’t have to search for things, as everything is in one location. We can easily bring up any report that was done previously, such as a blood test, lab report, or a radiograph, as well. We find AVImark to be trouble free ... and that’s all you can ask for in a software.

Training Corner

Your End-of-Year Checklist The end of the year is about numbers, reports … and a whole lot more. This is the time to revisit your business plan, reassess goals and strategies for the future, and start your action plan on how to achieve these goals. There are many ways to assess your practice performance, and you can start by asking questions that go beyond revenue and profits. For instance, if one of your 2016 goals was to become paperless, did you accomplish this goal? If so, what has been the financial impact? You can run the Income by Treatment and Period Totals reports to see top-line revenue. The Income by Treatment report can show revenue broken down by categories and services, or by products. If you’re seeing a significant revenue bump, why is that? Are you seeing more patients because you’re more efficient? Are you capturing more missed charges? Did you only partially accomplish this goal, or not at all? What was the reason? Lack of time? Lack of resources or training? Staff pushback? If you want to achieve certain goals that have not been met in 2016, it’s important to assess why these goals were not met and create a plan of action.

• Lack of time – Set specified times weekly (maybe during staff meetings) to implement and discuss next steps. • Lack of resources – Pick one paperless feature to implement and track the efficiencies. You should see time savings and free up resources to continue down this path. • Lack of training – Look into one of AVImark’s tiered training programs, which offers a customized training roadmap, an expert consultant to guide you through your training, and a customized online training program for ongoing education and training. Essentially, we’ll “hold your hand” and make sure you reach your training goals. • Staff pushback – Keep staff involved in weekly meetings. Remember, employees often fear change. Lay out the vision.

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Give them tasks that play on their strengths. You’ll get better buy in when you set them up for success. Solicit their feedback and be prepared to adjust your plan as needed. They are the ones in the weeds and can see pitfalls and roadblocks.

When setting new goals for 2017, it’s important to take a hard look at practice pain points. Ask yourself what you can do better, smarter, and more efficiently, while maintaining great patient care and giving your customers a great experience. This can be a lot to bite off because it all needs to be done while keeping staff morale high, increasing revenue, and keeping operational expenses in check. A staff meeting to get everyone’s input is a great way to start. Make sure your staff is involved in the process and everyone is on board to make 2017 more successful than ever.

For information on AVImark’s training program, call 855.838.7638 Option 3, sub-option 3, or email [email protected].

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Tech Support

Top Five FAQ’s from Vet Summit One of the most popular features of the Veterinary Technology Summit is the Support Lab, where attendees can sit down with our AVImark software experts and get hands-on help with all of their software questions or try some of the new tips, tricks, and features they learned during the sessions. Here are the most frequently-asked questions at this year’s event ... with answers to help you get the most out of your software investment.

1. How do I reconcile reports? Many people question how to reconcile the Account Summary report with the Period Totals report and reconcile the Deposit Slip with the Period Totals report. Reconciling the Account Summary with Period Totals • The "Other" column total on the Account Summary Report includes both services AND Account Adjustments. • Therefore, if you add the "Items" total and the "Other" total on the Account Summary and then add to this the "Adjustments" amount on the Period Totals Report, this sum should equal the "Total Invoices" amount on Period Totals. • If you add the "Items" total, plus the "Other" total, plus the "Tax Paid" total, plus the "Late Fee" total on the Account Summary, this sum should equal the "Total Charges" amount on Period Totals. Reconciling the Deposit Slip with Period Totals • Simply put, the "Cash Payments..." amount on the Period Totals Report should equal the "Total Cash Deposits..." amount on the Deposit Slip. • The "Check Payments..." amount on the Period Totals report is a total of all regular Checks taken today PLUS any held Checks taken today to be deposited later.

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Each of these topics is described in detail, with images of the reports, in the AVImark Help Text. From the AVImark menu bar, simply click on Help | Topic Search. On the Index tab, type reconciling and the topics for each will appear. Double-click to view each one. For additional help reconciling reports, contact AVImark Customer Support.

2. How do I set up an Info Search? The Information Search feature in AVImark allows the user to create and save queries to find specific information in the program. To access the Information Search feature, you can go to Work with: Information Search or click on the Information Search speed bar button. New categories and searches can be created by using the F2 button, or right-click options. In the New Search Criteria window, a code and name must be entered for the search. The field in the bottom is for notes or explanations about the search. Once you click OK, the search is saved under the category that was selected. Saved searches from prior AVImark versions will be converted and saved under a category named Classic Searches. To find an existing search, click on the category to see the contained searches or use the find field to enter the code or the description of the search. For complete, step-by-step instructions, refer to our downloadable document.

3. How do I use the “More Stuff” feature (additional data fields)? AVImark allows you to add extra fields of information to those already existing in AVImark. For instance, you may want to add a field for client information called

“spouse work phone” in order to record the spouse’s phone number. AVImark allows you to define any number of additional data fields for clients, patients, treatments, SOAP records and Whiteboard. These additional data fields may be several different types and you may add as many fields as you wish.

Add a new category

To define additional data fields for clients/patients on the CID, open the Work With menu. Click System Tables to display the System Tables window. From the Table section, click Additional Data Fields to display the entries for this table.

Add new employees

From the Entries for Additional Data Fields section, select Client. Right-click, and from the shortcut menu, click Change to display the Change More Stuff Entry window. The Code and Description fields will be defined for you. For complete, step-by-step instructions, refer to our downloadable document.

4. How do I set up users and security? Whether or not you choose to use the AVImark security feature to control the activities of your staff, they will still need to be identified. Information should be recorded for each provider such as ID, name, license numbers (printed on the rabies certificate), and a staff sequence number which will determine the order doctors appear in the Doctors drop-down menu and on the Appointment Calendar. On the CID, open the (menu) Work with. Click Users and Security to display the Security Maintenance window. Add Categories and Employees Once the appropriate staff members have been added to the Hospital Administrators Category, you may add other categories and other employees as required.

• Click under the Category section of the Security Maintenance window. • Right-click New to display the New User Category window.

• Click the Category you wish to add the new user to. • Point in the User for section. Right-click, and from the shortcut menu, click New to display the New User window. • Enter the appropriate information for the employee and click OK. For complete, step-by-step instructions, refer to our downloadable document.

5. How do I scan from AVImark? To scan files into AVImark, scan the file from the scanner itself and save it to a shared location. From AVImark you can use the following steps to attach the scanned files to Medical History entries. • From the Client area, Patient area, or on a Medical History entry, right-click, and from the shortcut menu, click File Attachments to display the File Attachments window. • Within the File Attachment window, right-click, and from the shortcut menu, click New. • Use the browse option at the end of the Filename field to search for the file you would like to attach. We hope these answers are helpful. If you have additional questions, feel free to contact our AVImark support team via phone, email, or online chat.

Our Solutions. Your Success. 855-838-7638 | www.avimark.net Practice management software and hardware. Training and technical support. Online data backup. Credit card processing. Client communication tools. DragonflyPACS.