Get a group of dentists together long enough and eventually someone will ask “ How Many new Patient’s Do You Get A Month?”. It’s a kin to taking a pulse in our profession, and we gauge how we are doing in comparison to others based on the number. New patient flow is the lifeblood of a practice. The challenge however is that the simply number of new patient phone calls is one of a host of factors that we need to understand in order to truly take the pulse of our practice.
How many new patients do you need is the primary question to answer. Of course the obvious answer is enough to keep the schedule full. If your schedule isn’t full one solution is to recruit more new patients, and there is more to think about.
- How many new patient phone calls do you get per month?
- How many of the new patients phone calls result in a scheduled appointment?
- Of the new patients appointed how many keep their scheduled time?
- What is the average new patient treatment plan?
- What percentage of new patients proceed with treatment?
- What percentage of new patients complete treatment?
- What percentage of new patients become a referral source?
Each of these points in the process can lead to success or challenges and it is the combination of them that will allow you to know the magic answer to how many new patients you need.
Many dentists think they need more new patients, and many do. However, there are also a lot of practices that could get by nicely with fewer new patients if they took steps to ensure that the patients they already have are actively engaged in their practices. The first area of opportunity is Hygiene. A properly managed (clinically & logistically) hygiene department can cure most ills in a dental practice. In conjunction with that is a patient notification system and easy to navigate website. From there, dentists should commit to managing their practices like a business in addition to a health-care facility.
Thanks,
Haden