Unless you’ve been working under a rock, you’ve probably heard the term “big data” used to refer to the variety of reports and metrics generated by the programs businesses use every day. Thanks to the applications you utilize to streamline your business and take care of scheduling, inventory, payroll and accounting, you can take a closer look at your practice than ever before. How can reporting give you a glimpse at your practice’s health and success?
The Metrics and Reports You Need to Know for Practice Success
- Production: What are your practice’s daily, weekly, monthly and annual production amounts? Production is an excellent way to see the big picture of how your practice is doing.
- Collections: What percentage of services performed are actually collected? Your practice should be collecting as much as possible (at least 95-98% or above). If collections are lagging behind, you should update your policies.
- Profit: What is your revenue after you subtract operating expenses?
- Overhead: In a dental practice, overhead can quickly rise if you aren’t careful. Your overhead should be 59% or less of your total income.
- New Patients: How many patients are you bringing in every month? Every year? A growing, healthy practice should have a 10-15% increase in patients every year. When looking at the new patient numbers, you should also examine the returning patient numbers to ensure you don’t lose sight of retaining who you already have.
- Fee-for-service and Insurance Production: What is the ratio between the two options? Would the practice benefit financially from shifting in either direction? Alterations should be made with your patient demographic in mind.
- Case Acceptance: How are patients responding when treatment plans are presented? At least 90% of the treatment plans you create should be accepted for optimal success.
- Doctor Production and Hygiene Production: In the most successful practices, dentists are responsible for generating 75% of production, and the hygiene department should be responsible for the remaining 25%.
- Cancellation and No-Shows: It is vital that your practice keeps these numbers as low as possible. Ideally, this rate would be 1% or less. If not, you will have gaps in the schedule and lost revenue as a result.
Improve Your Practice with Help from APEX
Whether you need a refresher on proper coding procedures or need to overhaul your billing procedures, our experts can help. Contact our team today by calling (410) 710-6005. We look forward to working with you to make your practice a more profitable place.