NEW PATIENT PRODUCTION

New Patient Production as a Percentage of Production

This may seem to be an obvious statement, but unless you’re new patient flow is greater than your attrition rate (patients leaving the practice), your practice cannot grow. No Doctor knows his attrition rate (some patients may inform you or ask for their records but mostly they change dentists without letting you know. Patients also move away and some pass away.) 

30 new patients a month is a good goal for the typical practice.  A better way to evaluate just how many new patients your practice needs each month is to determine the revenue generated by your new patients.  Revenue from new patients should account for 25% of gross revenue each month, with a higher percentage for newer practices and a lower percentage for mature practices.   For example, if your monthly revenue is $60,000 then 25% of this is $15,000. If you average $1,000 per new patient, then you need to attract at least 15 new patients a month. If you average $500 per new patient, then you would need at least 30.

Generally patients attracted to your office by external marketing will spend around $500 initially while new patient referred into your practice will be about a $1,000 average. The new patient that responds to an ad doesn’t know you and is checking you out. A referral will have a level of trust and confidence in you before they even step into your office and thus are more receptive to treatment acceptance. 

We suggest that you use Practice Hawk Software. This a simple online program designed to accurately monitor your marketing of new patients and track the treatment plan acceptance rate in your office.  Inputting your data should take less than five minutes a day. Practice Hawk will calculate the return on investment for each of your marketing campaigns to help you determine which marketing efforts are most effective for your practice.

For more information on this program and how it will benefit you, visit www.practicehawkpro.com

<10% Time to do something different, Doctor.  Either you do not see the need to advertise or you are getting poor results.  We make the assumption that everyone who uses Practice Diagnostx wishes to improve their business.  Chances are that you have tried many marketing campaigns with questionable results (your return on investment is very difficult to track without a program like Practice Hawk).  It’s time to hire a marketing professional, introduce an in-office referral system and internal marketing, or improve your treatment plan presentation protocol.  For a complete approach to improving the flow of new patients into your practice, read the guide below. 

10 to 20%: Warning, warning.  This can be improved.  Keep an eye on this month by month and look for improvement.  New patients are your absolute best chance for treatment acceptance.  That is why your internal marketing is so important to your success.  If your patients are not enjoying a great experience coming to your office, why should they come back or refer new patients to you?  Do not leave it to chance--assure they have a great visit.  Based on your numbers, you should hire a marketing professional (click here for referrals) or work to improve your internal marketing approach. For a complete review of improving your new patient traffic,  read the guide below

 20 to 40%:  Good solid number, Doctor.  This is a healthy percentage and congrats to you.  Based on your stats, you may wish to review our summary on improving your new patient flow.  You may pick a few ideas that can increase your new patients.

>40%:  This is either indicative of a newer practice or one that does not put much emphasis on patient recall. While this is an effective short term approach to generating cash flow, you are not creating a solid patient base that will help you to withstand an economic downturn. This is just an observation and maybe this is your business model--if not, let’s spend some time working on recall and how it can be improved in your practice.  The best way to improve your recall system is with a strong internal marketing program.  Click here (Internal Marketing further down the page) to bolster your recall program.

Guide to Increasing New Patient Flow into Your Practice

You can scrutinize every aspect of your dental practice trying to determine what you need to change in order to improve and grow your practice.  Ultimately it all boils down to two facets just like every other business:  marketing and sales. Getting patients into your office and providing their dental treatment to establish optimal dental health. 

Marketing can be divided into two broad categories--external marketing and internal marketing. Think of external marketing as advertising or paying others to promote your practice by print, by mail, by Internet, by radio or by television.  Internal marketing can be construed as customer service or how your patients are treated by you and your staff. 

My advice is that you outsource your external marketing to a professional marketer. They will promote your practice in a manner that has been effective for Fortune 500 companies for years.  External marketing is much more complex than it appears.  Rely on a marketing expert just as your patients rely on you as an expert in dentistry. For assistance in finding a marketing professional that specializes in dental advertising, please contact our office at (602)-702-1218 or send an email to Mike@murraywarm.com

New patients generated by patient referrals or advertising campaigns are critical to the growth of your business. I know of practices that do not accept new patients!  This is because the Doctor is so busy he cannot grow his practice any further without expanding his operation. (It hasn’t occurred to the Doctor that they do not necessarily need a bigger space. Instead, they can simply extend the office hours and hire an associate.)

We suggest that you also read the section on INTERNAL MARKETING by clicking here.