Successfully managing a dental practice means watching the numbers. This may seem like a dreadful task, especially if you aren’t a numbers person. But, let’s be honest, you can’t just look at practice indicators when things aren’t going right. Numbers don’t mean anything until you compare them. You should be assessing practice numbers regularly. So, if you wait until there is a problem on your hands, you’re going to find a difficult time trying to figure out what went wrong and what to do to fix it. Today on the blog, Bryant Consultants is sharing seven practice indicators you should be watching.
Why track numbers?
Tracking the numbers tells you how you’re doing. Otherwise, it’s like navigating a ship without a compass, which spells total disaster! Practice numbers also help you identify when something is out of line. These reports will show trends (good and bad) so that you know what needs to change going forward. It also helps you make decisions about your practice, employee salaries, expansion, equipment purchases, and more. It’s difficult to make these decisions when you don’t really know where your money is going.
Practice Indicators
- Doctor’s Production (daily, per hour)
- Hygiene’s Production (daily, per hour)
- Case Acceptance Numbers (patients of record and new patients)
- Number of New Patients
- Accounts Receivables
- Collections Percentage
- Overhead
How often should you look at practice indicators?
You should be pulling your practice indicators monthly or when you need to make a significant decision, like making staff changes, purchasing equipment, expansions, or other dental practice transitions, such as bringing on an associate, buying another practice, or selling your existing one. Plus, knowing where you’ve been will help you stay on track to reach your goals.
How to pull the numbers
If you’re using legit office management software in your practice, then use this software to generate your numbers. You should be able to import the results to Excel for formatting and forecasting. If you need to, request more details to get to the bottom of an issue.
What to share
Sharing key elements from your practice indicators with your team is enlightening, and it helps hold them accountable for their responsibilities. Team members often think that the owner dentist gets 90% of the practice’s collected fees. But, we know this isn’t the case most of the time! While you might not want, nor need to share all of the details about the numbers with your team, they deserve to know where the practice is headed, and how they contribute to reaching practice goals. Be sure to check out our previous blog, 10 steps to introducing practice numbers to your team, if you need some help with this.
Dental Practice Coach
Inspecting your indicators can be one of the most liberating things that you can do when running a dental practice. But, numbers don’t mean anything if you aren’t comparing them. It’s also essential to share this information with your team, which gives them a sense of responsibility and contributes to practice growth.
This conversation may look different for every practice. If you need some ideas on how to share numbers with your team, contact Bryant Consultant for tips.
Want to learn more? Call (877) 768-4799 and ask about our one-hour complimentary consulting service. Are you on social media? We are too! Please follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
