Tip #302 - The Demand Production Dashboard

By some estimates, less than 5% of civil cases actually go to trial. This means that more than 95% of civil cases settle (or are otherwise resolved) before trial.

The usual order of things, is that the plaintiff prepares and submits a demand to the defendant (or the defendant’s insurance carrier) who subsequently makes an offer to settle (the negotiation process). The stage at which the negotiation starts varies from case-to-case, depending on the specific facts and circumstances surrounding that particular case.

It is important for the firm to know how long it is taking to settle the cases in that firm. Furthermore, most firms do not submit a demand until the client has completed treatment or “Maximum Medical Improvement” (MMI) has been reached. Some firms will also wait until MMI is reached, in order to request the client’s medical records (or at least get final updates of all pertinent medical records at that time).

The Demand Production Dashboard, one of the standard performance dashboards in SmartAdvocate, will display data regarding how your firm has performed, with respect to demands made, and the time it takes on average in relation to MMI and Records Requested and Received.

The Demand Production Dashboard will display the following (for the date range selected):

The staff that made the demand
The number of demands by each staff for the period selected
The average time (in months) from the time the case opened to the demand made
The average time (in months) from MMI reached to the demand made
The average time (in months) from all medical records received (ARR) to demand made

Please note that you (your firm’s SmartAdvocate Administrator) will need to define what status(es) to designate for MMI (Maximum Medical Improvement) and ARR (All Records Received). Both are set in System Parameters.

To designate the statuses for MMI and ARR, go to: Admin > System Parameters, then filter in the Group Description for Dashboard – Demand Production. Edit the values for “List of statuses indicating maximum medical improvement (Treatment done)” and “List of statuses indicating that All Medical Records were Received” and enter the desired statuses for each.

In the examples shown below, we are using “Treatment Completed (MMI)” as the status to indicate MMI has been reached and “Pre-Lit 03.5 – PI All Medical Records Received” as the status to indicate all medical records have been received.

There are three main components that drive the Demand Production Dashboard:

The Demand Itself
Demands are entered on the Negotiation/Settlement Page. You will enter:

Who you are negotiating with (typically the defendant’s insurance company via the insurance adjuster)
For which client/plaintiff
The staff doing the negotiation (i.e., making the demand – typically the attorney)
The amount of the demand
The date the demand is made

MMI Status as defined above
This is a main status that is changed, as appropriate, to indicate MMI has been reached.

ARR Status as defined above
This is a main status that is changed, as appropriate, when all medical records have been received.

SmartAdvocate will track when a demand is made (i.e., entered on the Negotiation/Settlement Page), when a matter is placed in the MMI Status, and when a matter is placed in the ARR status and use the foregoing information in the calculations to populate the Demand Production Dashboard.