You’ve Found the Leaks. Now What?
- Cale Queen
- Nov 9
- 5 min read
From Information to Impact
Data analytics showed us where the leaks are — and which ones are costing us the most money. They tell us what needs fixing, but not how to fix it. Everyone on your team wants to do their best, your challenge isn’t effort or intent, it’s process. Without a clear, sustainable way to act, the problem remains.
That’s where Business Intelligence (BI) makes the difference. BI is more than data analytics, it gives your team a structure to turn insight. With that insight the ability to take meaningful action that becomes sustainable results.
Data Analysis vs. Business Intelligence
Like most clinics you already have data. In fact you're are swimming in it. You can run reports, export dashboards, and view metrics in all your electronic systems, but they don't link. Its like a jigsaw puzzle without any reference.
Data analysis and business intelligence (BI) are not the same thing.
Data analysis describes what happened — it’s retrospective. By the time you get the data its too late to react. The denial happened, the missed appointment went unfilled. Its a good start, but its not enough to make sustainable change by itself. I
BI connects data to the decisions, behaviors, and workflows that change what happens next. You know your denial rate is above average, the dashboard tells you so. But it doesn't answer why. Business Intelligence ties data to proven processes to better decisions. It can help us ask better questions, to get insights and get better data.
All those reports are doing their job. They provide data but they don't give you insight.
How to Make Sustainable Improvements Now
Improvement: What It Really Takes
Sustainable improvement doesn’t start with dashboards. It starts with clarity. Once the root cause is identified. Sustainable change depends on how we act on it. Real change requires us to define a clear target, remove waste, and make success easy for the staff to see.
At TriStar BI, we help clinics identify the meaningful improvements that drive big outcomes: refining workflows, reducing variation, and reinforcing the right habits across the team. Each improvement cycle builds momentum, focused, achievable progress that creates visible wins and lasting confidence.
Example: Improve Eligibility Verification Accuracy to 98% in 30 Days
Eligibility errors are among the most preventable sources of denials — often responsible for thousands in lost revenue each month. With BI, we can:
Map the process and pinpoint where verification breaks down, revealing variation that drives denials.
Standardize and streamline the workflow so each step is consistent and waste-free, reducing rework and delays.
Test improvements in short, focused cycles and adjust based on real-world feedback, keeping changes practical and achievable.
Make success visible and simple to follow, so staff clearly see what good performance looks like and stay motivated to sustain it.
Result: Most clinics can raise their eligibility accuracy above 98% within 30 days — a data-backed, achievable win that frees up cash flow and staff time for bigger goals.
When improvements are planned, supported, and measured, accountability becomes the next step.
Building Empowered Accountability
Accountability: What It Really Requires
We can’t hold teams accountable effectively if they’re under-resourced or working within broken processes. Accountability without empowerment leads to frustration, not progress.
Effective accountability starts with empowerment — giving your people the tools, structure, and clarity they need to succeed. Accountability is impossible when staff don’t have the tools, authority, or processes to achieve it. At TriStar BI, we use the Six Dimensions of Accountability to help clinics sustain improvements and prevent regression. This framework shifts accountability from “who’s at fault?” to “what’s missing in support or structure?”
The Six Dimensions of Accountability
Dimension | What It Means | How BI Supports It |
1. Personal Motivation | Does the person want to do it? | Connect improvement to purpose: fewer headaches, smoother days, better patient and team experience. |
2. Personal Ability | Do they have the skills or tools to do it? | Use BI to identify where training, resources, or workflows fall short — and fix those gaps. |
3. Social Motivation | Do peers and leaders reinforce the right behaviors? | Make progress visible, share wins openly, and build a culture where improvement is recognized. |
4. Social Ability | Do others make it easier or harder to perform? | Use dashboards to reveal where handoffs fail or communication breaks down between roles. |
5. Structural Motivation | Are incentives aligned with improvement? | Align measures and recognition with quality, not just volume or speed. |
6. Structural Ability | Does the environment make success easy? | Simplify systems, automate reminders, and remove friction from the daily work. |
When you look at your operations through these six lenses, accountability becomes a way to support your team, not pressure them. That’s how improvement becomes sustainable.
Example: Sustaining Eligibility Verification Accuracy at 98% and Beyond
Once the improved eligibility workflow is in place, accountability ensures sustainable results. We use the same BI tools with the Six Dimensions framework to keep performance on track and catch issues early. With BI, we can:
Reinforce motivation by making verification accuracy visible on a simple dashboard and tie success to meaningful outcomes.
Ensure ability by confirming every staff member has the right training, payer access, and quick-reference guides to complete eligibility checks correctly.
Strengthen social motivation through recognition and feedback — sharing accuracy wins in huddles and showing before/after impacts on denials.
Support social ability by clarifying handoffs between front desk, billing, and clinical staff so accountability is shared and clear, not placed on one person.
Align structural motivation by including accuracy and denial reduction in performance conversations and goals — not just visit volume.
Maintain structural ability through automated alerts, reminders, and BI dashboards that highlight missed or incomplete verifications before claims go out.
Result: Accountability becomes empowerment. Staff don’t just follow a process, they own it. Performance becomes consistent, improvement sticks, and leaders can see in real time where support or reinforcement is needed. When accountability supports improvement you create sustainable results.
The TriStar Business Method
At TriStar Business Intelligence (BI), we help small clinics turn accurate data into sustainable improvement by blending proven performance-improvement and accountability frameworks. Our approach transforms data from something you review into something you act on.
From Insight to Implementation
When Business Intelligence becomes part of how your clinic operates, results follow naturally:
Cleaner claims and faster payments
Fewer denials and write-offs
Stronger staff engagement and accountability
Better visibility into where effort creates return
The data already showed you where the problems are. Now it’s time to use it to build improvements that last.
Ready to See What Sustainable Improvement Looks Like?
The data already showed you where the problems are. Now it’s time to turn those insights into lasting improvements — improvements that strengthen your revenue, your processes, and your team.
Or choose our Lunch & Learn option:👉 Schedule a free “Lunch & Learn” with TriStar BI
We’ll bring lunch from Panera or a similar restaurant to your clinic and meet with you, your business manager, and billing manager. This is a no-obligation, educational session for your leadership team to explore:
How Business Intelligence (BI) turns existing data into action
How proven improvement frameworks create structure for long-term results
Why empowerment and accountability are the key to achieving your strategic go
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