The Essential Analytics section in Practice by Numbers provides crucial insights into your practice's financial performance, patient retention, and operational efficiency. By tracking key metrics, you can make informed decisions to optimize practice operations and drive better outcomes for both patients and staff. Below is a comprehensive breakdown of each panel in the Essential Analytics section, including the formulas used for calculation and guidance on interpreting these metrics to inform practice decisions.
Production (Gross)
Description
This panel displays the total gross production for the current time range. Gross production refers to the total dollar amount generated from all services rendered within a given period, before any adjustments or collections.
Formula
Production (Gross) = Sum of service fees for all dental procedures within the time range
Example: If your office performed three services with fees of $100, $200, and $150, the gross production would be:
Production (Gross) = $100 + $200 + $150 = $450
How to Use It
Purpose: To track the overall revenue generated by your practice.
Decision-Making: Regularly monitoring this KPI allows you to assess your practice’s financial health and identify trends in production. This helps you make informed decisions about staffing, service offerings, or expanding business operations.
Production Adjusted
Description
This panel shows the total net production by subtracting adjustments (such as discounts, refunds, or write-offs) from the gross production.
Formula
Adjusted Production = Gross Production - Adjustments
Example: If your Gross Production is $50,000 and Adjustments are $5,000:
Adjusted Production = $50,000 - $5,000 = $45,000
How to Use It
Purpose: This metric helps you understand your net revenue after accounting for any adjustments.
Decision-Making: By tracking adjusted production, you can determine if adjustments are disproportionately impacting revenue. You can then take action, such as reviewing billing practices or tightening discounts.
Collections
Description
This panel shows the total amount of money collected by your practice over the specified time period, including payments from patients and insurance companies.
Formula
Total Collections = Sum of all payments received during the specified time range
How to Use It
Purpose: Ensures healthy cash flow by tracking collections.
Decision-Making: A consistent and high collection number indicates good billing and follow-up practices. If collections are lower than expected, assess your practice's payment collection process and look for areas where payments are being delayed.
New Patients Seen
Description
This panel displays the number of new patients who visited your practice during the specified time period.
Formula
New Patients = Number of patients whose first-ever visit occurred within the specified time range
How to Use It
Purpose: Measures how effective your practice is at attracting new patients.
Decision-Making: If this number is decreasing, review your marketing strategies, online presence, and referral programs to identify areas that need improvement to increase new patient acquisition.
Retention Percentage over 12 months
Description
This metric calculates the percentage of patients who were active 12 months ago and continue to be active today.
Formula
12 Month Retention % = (Currently Active Patients / Active Patients 12 Months Ago) * 100
Example: If you had 100 active patients 12 months ago, and 80 are still active today:
Retention = (80/100) * 100 = 80%
How to Use It
Purpose: Indicates how loyal and satisfied your patients are over the long term.
Decision-Making: A high retention rate means your practice is maintaining strong patient relationships. A low retention rate suggests that improvements in patient care or follow-up systems may be needed to keep patients engaged.
Active Patients (18M)
Description
This panel shows the number of unique patients who have visited your practice within the last 18 months.
Formula
Active Patients (18M) = Unique patients who have visited in the last 18 months
How to Use It
Purpose: Indicates the overall level of patient engagement over a longer period.
Decision-Making: If this number is decreasing, it may suggest that you need to re-engage lapsed patients or refine your patient retention strategies.
Patients Going Inactive
Description
This metric identifies patients who have not visited your practice in 17 months and are at risk of becoming inactive.
Formula
Patients Going Inactive = Patients whose last visit was 17 months ago
How to Use It
Purpose: Identifies at-risk patients who may need re-engagement to prevent them from becoming inactive.
Decision-Making: Proactively reaching out to these patients can help maintain long-term relationships and increase retention. Consider sending personalized reminders or offers to encourage them to return.
Treatment Plan Accepted %
Description
The percentage of treatment plan items that were accepted by patients, either completed or scheduled.
Formula
Treatment Plan Accepted % = (Accepted Treatment Plan Amount / Total Treatment Plan Amount) * 100
How to Use It
Purpose: Evaluates the success rate of your treatment plan presentations.
Decision-Making: A higher acceptance percentage indicates that your patients are likely to be satisfied with the proposed treatments. If low, consider revising your approach to presenting treatment plans or exploring patient financing options to ease cost concerns.
Patient Acceptance %
Description
Tracks the percentage of patients who accepted at least one treatment plan item after it was presented.
Formula
Patient Acceptance % = (Number of Patients Who Accepted Treatment / Total Number of Patients Presented a Treatment Plan) * 100
How to Use It
Purpose: Measures how well treatment plans are communicated and adopted.
Decision-Making: If the acceptance rate is low, you may need to enhance patient education about treatment benefits, improve communication strategies, or consider offering flexible payment options.
Diagnosed %
Description
Shows the percentage of patients who received a diagnosis and had treatment plans created based on that diagnosis after an exam.
Formula
Diagnosed % = (Number of Patients Diagnosed / Total Number of Patients Examined) * 100
How to Use It
Purpose: Measures the effectiveness of exams in identifying treatment needs.
Decision-Making: A high percentage indicates that exams are being thorough and leading to necessary treatments. A low percentage suggests that your team may need additional training to recognize more treatment opportunities.
Same Day Treatment
Description
This panel measures the dollar amount of treatments completed on the same day the treatment plan was created.
Formula
Same Day Treatment = Sum of all treatments completed on the same day
How to Use It
Purpose: Indicates how well your practice converts treatment plans into immediate action.
Decision-Making: A high same-day treatment amount reflects operational efficiency and patient readiness for treatment. If low, consider strategies like offering discounts or incentives for same-day procedures to increase this metric.
Hyg Pre-Appointment %
Description
This panel tracks the percentage of patients who schedule a future appointment after completing a hygiene procedure.
Formula
Hyg Pre-Appointment % = (Patients who scheduled future appointments / Total hygiene patients) * 100
How to Use It
Purpose: Assesses how effective your hygiene department is at retaining patients for future visits.
Decision-Making: A higher percentage shows good patient follow-up post-hygiene care. A lower percentage indicates an opportunity for the hygiene team to be more proactive in securing future appointments.
Recall Current %
Description
The percentage of active patients who are current on their recall appointments (have attended their scheduled follow-up dental check-ups within the recommended time frame).
Formula
Recall Current % = (Patients Current on Recall / Total Active Patients) * 100
How to Use It
Purpose: Measures how well your practice is maintaining patient follow-ups.
Decision-Making: A higher recall rate indicates effective patient retention practices. If low, consider improving recall systems, such as using automated reminders or offering incentives for timely recalls.
Hygiene Patients Seen
Description
Tracks the number of unique patients who have received hygiene treatments within the specified time period.
Formula
Hygiene Patients Seen = Unique patients who received hygiene services in the time range
How to Use It
Purpose: Helps evaluate the volume of hygiene treatments provided.
Decision-Making: If this number is lower than expected, you may want to focus on attracting more hygiene patients or improving your hygiene scheduling practices to maximize productivity.
Hygiene Not Re-Appointed
Description
Identifies hygiene patients who received treatment but did not schedule a follow-up appointment before leaving.
Formula
Hygiene Not Re-Appointed = Total hygiene patients who did not schedule a future appointment
How to Use It
Purpose: Tracks missed opportunities for patient retention.
Decision-Making: A high number of patients not re-appointed suggests that your hygiene team may need to improve follow-up efforts, like directly scheduling appointments before patients leave.
Total AR Ratio
Description
Compares total accounts receivable to average monthly production, helping assess how effectively your practice manages its receivables.
Formula
Total AR Ratio = Total Accounts Receivables / Average Monthly Production over the Last 12 Months
How to Use It
Purpose: Indicates how well you are managing your practice’s credit and collections.
Decision-Making: A lower AR ratio indicates that you are efficiently managing collections. If the ratio is high, review your billing and collection processes to improve cash flow.
AR (Accounts Receivable) Current
Description
Shows the total outstanding balances due within the current 30-day period.
Formula
AR Current = Total amount due within 30 days
How to Use It
Purpose: Monitors short-term outstanding balances.
Decision-Making: A higher AR value indicates delays in payments. Track this closely to ensure timely collections and to prevent cash flow disruptions.
Total AR (Accounts Receivable)
Description
This panel displays the total outstanding balance for all accounts, including amounts due from both patients and insurance companies.
Formula
Total AR = Total amount due from patients + Total amount due from insurance companies
How to Use It
Purpose: Reflects the total unpaid revenue and helps in assessing the financial health of the practice.
Decision-Making: A higher AR balance could signal inefficiencies in your billing or collection processes. Focus on reducing outstanding balances to maintain a healthy cash flow.
Appointment Lost
Description
The total revenue lost due to failed or canceled appointments that were not rescheduled.
Formula
Failed or Canceled Revenue = Sum of lost revenue from failed and canceled appointments
How to Use It
Purpose: Tracks the financial impact of missed appointments.
Decision-Making: High failed or canceled revenue suggests that your practice may need to implement stricter appointment policies or improve reminder systems to reduce cancellations.
Failed or Canceled Rescheduled Revenue
Description
Shows the revenue recaptured from rescheduled failed or canceled appointments.
Formula
Rescheduled Revenue = Sum of revenue from rescheduled appointments that were initially canceled or failed
How to Use It
Purpose: Helps assess the success of your rescheduling efforts.
Decision-Making: A high rescheduled revenue indicates strong recovery practices. If low, consider improving follow-up efforts to rebook patients who miss or cancel appointments.
Failed Appointments %
Description
This metric shows the percentage of appointments that were marked as Failed and removed from the schedule, relative to the total number of scheduled appointments.
Formula
Failed Appointments % = (Number of Failed Appointments / Total Scheduled Appointments) * 100
How to Use It
Purpose: Helps to understand the reliability and success of scheduling practices within the dental office.
Decision-Making: High failed appointments indicate that a significant portion of your scheduled appointments is being missed or canceled. Investigate the reasons behind this trend and take proactive measures such as improving appointment reminders, increasing patient commitment, or enhancing your scheduling policies.
Improving Key Metrics with PbN Tools
To enhance your practice's financial performance, patient retention, and operational efficiency, Practice by Numbers (PbN) offers a range of tools that can help you improve key metrics, including production, collections, patient engagement, and more. Below are some actionable suggestions for utilizing PbN features to enhance your practice’s performance and inform data-driven decisions.
1. Production (Gross) & Production Adjusted
Custom Service Codes & Service Code Sets: Categorize treatments and track which ones generate the most revenue to optimize service offerings.
Revenue IQ: Track revenue trends and forecast future performance to make proactive adjustments to treatment planning and scheduling.
2. Collections
PbN Payments: Streamline payment collection with options for in-office, online payments, and payment plans.
Automated Reminders: Set up appointment and payment reminders to encourage timely collections and reduce late payments.
3. New Patients Seen & Patient Retention
Marketing IQ: Track marketing campaigns and analyze which ones lead to the highest new patient acquisition.
Patient Portal: Allow patients to book appointments, view treatment plans, and communicate with the office, boosting retention.
Follow-Up Campaigns (ARC): Automate follow-up campaigns to re-engage new patients and encourage repeat visits.
4. Treatment Plan Acceptance & Patient Acceptance %
Treatment Plan Tracking: Monitor which treatment plans are being accepted and refine presentations based on data.
Patient Education: Provide clear treatment plan explanations to increase understanding and acceptance.
Financing Options: Offer flexible payment plans to make treatment more affordable and increase acceptance.
5. 12 Month Retention & Active Patients (18M)
Huddle Page: Track patient appointments and follow-ups daily to ensure no patient is overlooked.
Recall System: Automatically track and remind patients who need follow-up appointments.
Patient Flow Dashboard: Monitor trends in patient visits to identify areas where retention can be improved.
6. Failed or Canceled Revenue & Appointments Lost
Automated Appointment Reminders: Use email, text, or phone reminders to reduce no-shows and cancellations.
Cancellation Policy Integration: Implement clear, communicated cancellation policies and automated penalties for missed appointments.
Same-Day Treatment Follow-Up: Reschedule canceled appointments quickly to recapture lost revenue.
7. Accounts Receivable (AR) Management
PbN Payments: Use PbN’s payment system to automate invoicing, send payment reminders, and offer payment plans.
AR Aging Report: Regularly review and follow up on overdue accounts to reduce AR balances.
Invoicing Automation: Set up automated billing immediately after treatment to ensure quick payments and reduce delays.
8. Failed Appointments % & Failed Appointment Recovery
Rescheduling Tool: Easily reschedule missed or failed appointments to minimize lost revenue.
Text-to-Schedule: Enable patients to reschedule appointments via text for better recovery rates.
Appointment Scheduling Optimization: Adjust scheduling based on patient trends to minimize the occurrence of failed appointments.