6 KPIs Every Dental Office Manager Should Know

Chances are at some point in your office management career, your dentist will turn to you for numbers, metrics, or a report to assess how business is going.

If you’re lucky, you may already have reports or dashboards in place to quickly serve up just the right data. But too often that isn’t the case. Tracking and reporting on data can be incredibly time-consuming. You may find yourself struggling just to put your hands on the right information or you may be swimming in so many stats that you’re frozen by analysis paralysis.

If you’re somewhere on that spectrum, take heart. By understanding, tracking, and monitoring just a few Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), you can equip yourself with powerful tools… Opens in a new window to pattersondental website… to not only shine in your role but to measurably improve the business performance of your practice.

The Definition and Importance of KPIs

KPIs are statistics or measurements that represent critical factors in your practice’s viability and success. They’re important because they reveal your practice’s performance status when it comes to production, collection, and more. If you’re reviewing them regularly, KPIs also can help you identify performance problem areas so you can make immediate improvements for better long-term results.

6 KPIs to Keep Your Eye On

While there are numerous KPIs that you could track and follow, it can be overwhelming and even paralyzing to focus on too many. Here are six fundamental KPIs that provide a good starting place.

1. Practice production goal. Tracking your practice’s production is critically important to the vitality of your dental office. There are many variables that make up true production, such as net, gross, and individual provider production. It’s an absolute must to have an efficient reporting system for daily, weekly, and monthly real-time data.
2. Number of unscheduled active patients. These are patients who have completed a visit within the last 18 months but do not have a future scheduled appointment. Focusing on this KPI can help you support a full schedule and decrease patient attrition. Ideally, you want to keep this number as low as possible with a pre-appointed hygiene schedule and a high case acceptance rate.
3. New patients. An average practice loses five patients per month, making it all the more important to continually bring in new patients. Ideally, for a one-doctor practice, you want 20 new patients per month. For two doctors, a good goal is 30 new patients. And don’t be afraid to ask for referrals. Happy patients will absolutely send family, friends, and coworkers your way.
4. Hygiene production. Production from hygiene should be at least 30% of the total practice production. In addition, 85% of scheduled treatments come from diagnosis in the hygiene chair. One way to increase hygiene production is with preventative procedures such as fluoride treatments and sealants for children and adults. It’s good for business and also for your patients’ oral health.
5. Collections. While it may seem obvious, it’s critical to collect what’s collectible. Aim for 96-100% of net production. The collection of copayments at the time of service is ideal. Also consider providing third-party financing options, which not only help increase case acceptance but also lessen the financial burden on patients who benefit from smaller monthly payments.
6. Overhead. Your revenue and collections can be on track, but if your overhead balloons, it can mean trouble. Some experts say overhead costs should be less than 55-59% of total earnings. If that’s not the case, you may need to employ belt-tightening or revenue-increasing measures such as evaluating lab fees, implementing a cost-effective inventory plan, or renegotiating contracted insurance fees as part of an annual financial check-up

KPIs as a Path to the Next Level

Regularly monitoring KPIs can help you and your dentist keep a watchful eye on business performance to make necessary adjustments for immediate and long-term success. Learning about and starting with just a few KPIs can set you on a path to take your office and your role to the next level.

Meet the Author

Erin Smith, Marketing Manager with Patterson Dental is passionate about helping dental team members reach their personal, professional, and practice goals. With a deep background in software for professional services, she understands the real-life challenges that come with managing a business and team and delivering patient care. She enjoys building connections throughout the dental community and sharing her expertise on how to simplify and achieve more through the use of data and software.

Learn more… Opens in a new window to pattersondental website… about how Patterson’s Revolve Software Suite can help you track and report on KPIs, and do so much more.