You Can’t Manage What You Don’t Measure – Top 7 KPIs for Dental Practices
You are a thriving practice; you cross all the T’s and dot the I’s. You have a full patient schedule, excellent treatment acceptance rates, and you’re hitting all your goals.
If you said yes, is it because you “feel” you’re thriving or because you know you are? If you don’t know for sure, let’s talk about KPIs.
So what are KPI’s?
Key performance indicators (KPIs) are measurable values that assess business growth, profitability, and other factors. If you manage a practice to its true potential, it is because you understand that numbers make the decisions and hands push the buttons.
For a solid starting point, let’s review the top 7 KPIs I would ask any practice manager to start measuring.
Top 7 KPIs You Should Be Measuring
1) Production
How valuable is your hour, and how can it improve? If you don’t focus on making a living, who will focus on it for you? If the practice doesn’t grow, how can you?
At a minimum, your hourly performance must keep up with inflation to stay the same.
2) Production by Providers
Do you have hourly goals for your providers, and do you know what each provider produces?
Production by provider measures revenue generated per hour of clinical work. It reflects the productivity and efficiency of your dental team.
3) Collections
How successful is the business team? Do you collect 100% of production? How quickly do you collect for your services? Does this indicate a concern if you are not collecting every cent on day 1?
Don’t shy away from asking for payment at the time of service.
4) Accounts Receivable
Is your practice leaving money on the table? Even the most productive practices won’t flourish without a steady cash flow.
How you manage your AR determines your profitability, yet many practices fail to compare their outstanding AR to their production.
5) Active Patients
Do you know your actual active patient count and goal? Many practices define active patients as patients seen in your office within the last 18 months.
Reviewing your active patient base will tell you how many patients have future appointments in your practice.
Though attracting new patients is vital to growing your dental practice, pre-appointing your existing patients to improve patient retention will ensure a higher return on investment.
6) Cases Presented vs. Accepted
Your doctor’s schedule is full, so you must have excellent treatment acceptance, but do you?
Measuring the percentage of treatment plans presented and accepted helps evaluate your clinical treatment presentations and patient communication. Once you start tracking this, you may be surprised at what has been left on the table and the opportunities that are being missed out on.
7) New Patients per Month
The number of new patients is critical in any practice. It shows whether your office prioritizes gaining new patients.
Knowing the source of new patients is vital, as it will help identify which marketing efforts are most effective.
The Importance of Measuring KPIs
As you can see, KPIs are benchmarks for measuring progress towards your goals. The possibilities are endless with what you can track in your practice, making you that much more valuable to your doctor. Over time, you will get more comfortable tracking larger KPIs, but tracking those discussed here will give you an excellent start on measuring your practice journey.
You need to know your KPIs to lead your practice correctly. So, where do you stand?
Few managers or dentists can tell you about these numbers at any specific moment. So, if you want to manage what you measure, start with these 7 KPIs.
About the Author
Nikki Babcock, CDA, CDBP, FAADOM
Nikki has served in the dental field since 2006, when she started as a Dental Assistant out of high school. She is the Practice Manager at Rockford Downtown Dental, Dr. Chad Conlin, FAGD.
Nikki is a lifetime AADOM member. She received her AADOM Fellowship designation in 2023 and is currently on track to be inducted into AADOM’s 2024 call of Masters.
Outside of the office, Nikki enjoys spending time with her husband and two children.
