The New Patients Seen KPI identifies patients who qualify as both:
A new patient to the practice
andA patient who has a qualifying transaction within the selected reporting range
To be included in the KPI total, the patient must satisfy both conditions within the same reporting period.
Required Conditions for a Patient to Be Counted
A patient is counted in the New Patients Seen KPI only when:
1. The First Visit Date Falls Within the Reporting Range
The patient’s recorded First Visit Date must exist within the selected date range.
Example: If the reporting range is:
January 1 – January 31
Then the patient’s First Visit Date must also fall between January 1 and January 31.
2. The Patient Has a Qualifying Transaction Within the Same Reporting Range
The patient must also have a qualifying transaction within that exact same reporting period.
Examples of qualifying transactions may include:
Completed procedures
Production activity
Financial activity tied to the patient visit
If no qualifying transaction exists within the reporting range, the patient is not included in the KPI total even if their First Visit Date falls within the range.
Why This Logic Exists
The KPI is designed to identify patients who were not only newly added to the practice but who also generated qualifying activity during the reporting period.
Because of this:
The First Visit Date alone is not enough
A qualifying transaction alone is not enough
Both must align within the selected reporting window
This logic helps ensure the KPI reflects patients who were actively seen and financially associated with the reporting period.
How Different Date Ranges Affect the KPI
The most important point to understand is that the KPI recalculates entirely based on the selected reporting range.
This means:
Monthly KPI tiles evaluate one month at a time
Quarter-to-Date (QTD) KPI tiles evaluate the entire quarter as one continuous range
Because larger reporting ranges contain more dates, they allow more opportunities for both required conditions to be satisfied.
Why Monthly and QTD Totals May Not Match
Example Scenario
Activity | Date |
First Visit Date | January 30 |
First Qualifying Transaction | February 2 |
Monthly KPI Evaluation
January KPI
Reporting Range:
January 1 – January 31
Evaluation:
First Visit Date is in January ✅
The qualifying transaction is not in January ❌
Result:
Patient is NOT counted
The patient fails the calculation because the qualifying transaction occurred outside the January reporting range.
February KPI
Reporting Range:
February 1 – February 28
Evaluation:
The qualifying transaction is in February ✅
First Visit Date is not in February ❌
Result:
Patient is NOT counted
The patient again fails the calculation because the First Visit Date occurred outside the February reporting range.
Quarter-to-Date (QTD) Evaluation
QTD Reporting Range
Example:
January 1 – March 31
Evaluation:
First Visit Date falls within the quarter ✅
Qualifying transaction also falls within the quarter ✅
Result:
Patient IS counted
Because the QTD range spans multiple months, both required conditions now exist within the same reporting window.
Why the QTD KPI Can Be Higher Than the Sum of Monthly KPIs
This occurs because some patients only qualify when evaluated across a larger reporting range.
In the example above:
KPI Tile | Counted? |
January | No |
February | No |
QTD | Yes |
The patient does not meet the requirements in any individual month, but does meet them when the entire quarter is evaluated together.
As a result:
Monthly KPI totals may appear lower
QTD KPI totals may appear higher than the combined monthly totals
Why This Is Most Common Near Month Boundaries
This behavior most commonly occurs when:
A patient’s first visit happens near the end of one month
andTheir qualifying transaction is posted in the following month
Examples include:
End-of-month appointments
Transactions posted after claim processing
Delayed ledger posting
Financial activity finalized after the visit date
When this happens:
The patient may fail the monthly calculation
But still qualify in Quarter-to-Date reporting
Important Reporting Behavior
The KPI does not permanently “store” a monthly patient count and then add those counts together for QTD reporting.
Instead:
Each KPI tile independently recalculates the data using its own date range
Monthly tiles calculate only within their month
QTD tiles calculate across the entire quarter
Because the calculations are performed separately using different reporting windows, totals may differ.
Key Takeaways
A patient is counted only when both:
The First Visit Date
AND a qualifying transaction
occur within the selected reporting range
Monthly KPI tiles evaluate each month independently
QTD KPI tiles evaluate the entire quarter as one reporting range
Patients whose first visit and qualifying transaction occur in different months may:
Not qualify in monthly reporting
Still qualify in Quarter-to-Date reporting
This is why QTD totals can sometimes be higher than the sum of individual monthly KPI totals