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One Metric that Spurs Growth in your Dental Practice
In my experience as a multi-practice dental practice owner, there was always one metric we chased, lived by, constantly focused on and many times simply baffled us. But let me back up. This month we’re looking at measuring success in your dental practice. There are a myriad KPIs or Key Performance Indicators that dental practices monitor: Daily Gross Production; how many patients got booked vs. your monthly goal; number of new patients; and even EBITDA for the entrepreneurial-minded dentist looking to grow his or her dental practice. And so many more metrics it makes your head swim.
Why Patient Retention Rate Matters in your Dental Practice
Metrics drive success, period. You can’t improve what you don’t measure. We all know that by now. However, there is one key metric that dentists and specifically dental practice owners must master for a successful dental practice to thrive. That one metric is Patient Retention. PR is the most vital metric in your practice. And I’m going to tell you why and how to use it.
Cost-Effectiveness
Retaining existing patients is significantly more cost-effective than acquiring new ones. The expense of marketing campaigns and advertising to attract new patients can be substantial. In contrast, keeping your current patients satisfied and loyal requires comparatively less investment.
Revenue Stability
Regular patients provide a steady stream of revenue through routine check-ups, treatments, and other dental services. High retention rates ensure a more predictable and stable income, essential for your practice’s financial health. We’ll get into how offer a better patient experience below.
Patient Lifetime Value (PLV)
Patients who stay with your practice over the long term have a higher lifetime value. They are likely to spend more on dental services over time, especially as they develop trust in your practice and are more open to accepting higher-value treatments and services. And giving them an outstanding patient experience from the moment they pick up the phone to call you for the first time begins that invaluable relationship they are looking for.
Referrals
Satisfied, long-term patients are your best advocates. They are more likely to refer friends and family to your practice, helping you grow your patient base organically without the need for expensive marketing efforts. You can also offer your long-term patients incentives for their referrals. This is typically called a referral program and can be a lucrative part of your marketing strategy.
Feedback and Improvement
Long-term patients provide valuable feedback that can be used to enhance services and the overall patient experience. Positive word-of-mouth from happy patients boosts your practice’s reputation and attracts new patients. But you also must provide easy avenues for leaving feedback. Things like an anonymous feedback box or anonymized feedback form on your website work great. Having a robust reviews system is also key to improvement.
Reviews systems provide a proper way for patients to find you and review you on social networks as well as search engines like Google. You can also generate a QR code specifically for your business that you can place on your website and around your office to make it easy for patients to review you. You can gain powerful feedback and insights from a reviews system.
How to Measure and Improve Patient Retention Rate
Figuring out how to measure patient retention used to be a much more time-consuming process. But there are many tools and trackers available online now to help the dental entrepreneur really dig into the data and find what they’re looking for. Companies like Carestack, Jarvis and Dentrix all have software that allows you to track and measure KPIs and arrange and filter them according to your needs.
Calculate Patient Retention (PR) Rate
To track patient retention, you need to know how many patients return for follow-up appointments or ongoing treatments over a specific period. By regularly calculating this metric, you can monitor trends and identify areas needing improvement in the patient journey. The formula to calculate retention rate is:
Strategies for Patient Retention
Enhance Patient Experience
Delivering exceptional patient care is paramount. This includes minimizing wait times, providing a comfortable and welcoming environment, and ensuring that all staff members offer professional and compassionate service. But enhancing the patient experience goes beyond the superficial. Questions to ponder for your practice may include:
- Do you offer a comprehensive Ortho program?
- Do you have an in-house lab for quicker turnaround times
- Do you offer competitive rates? Do you know what competitive rates for your area are?
- Do you offer enhanced services like Cosmetic Dentistry?
- Does your marketing program include a comprehensive reviews and feedback system?
- Is your team happy and fulfilled? Happy and satisfied teams give back tenfold to their customers.
- These are all important questions to address when enhancing the patient experience.
Follow-Up Strategies
Implement effective follow-up strategies to keep your patients engaged. This could include appointment reminders via text or email, personalized follow-up calls to check on patients after treatments, and periodic check-ins to ensure they are satisfied with their care. Staying in touch is key to retention.
Loyalty Programs
Consider offering loyalty programs or incentives to encourage regular check-ups and treatments. This can include discounts on services, special promotions for long-term patients, or a points-based reward system where patients can earn points for each visit that can be redeemed for services or products. You can also offer gift bags to new patients with trial size products you recommend and offer in your practice.
Feedback Mechanisms
Regularly solicit feedback from your patients and act on it. Use surveys, comment cards, and direct communication to understand their needs and identify areas for improvement. Showing patients that their feedback is valued and acted upon can significantly enhance their loyalty. It shows them that they are heard and seen and that their input is invaluable to the success of the practice. There are many company out there that create a and support reviews channels for your patients, as well as listings, social media, messaging and referrals. We think one of the best is Birdeye. But there are several very good services to choose from in this space.
Measure What Matters Most
Focusing on patient retention is the key to building a successful dental practice. It ensures cost-effectiveness, revenue stability, higher patient lifetime value, increased referrals, and valuable feedback. By measuring and improving your patient retention rate through exceptional patient care, effective follow-up strategies, loyalty programs, and feedback mechanisms, you can create a loyal patient base that will sustain and grow your practice for years to come.
And Who is Sustaining you, the Dental Entrepreneur?
One of those ways you can sustain a growth mindset while maintaining health and balance during business growth cycles, is by being a part of a mastermind. A mastermind is a group of peers that come together on a regular basis to work out their biggest challenges, share resources and lean on each other to get through the rough patches and celebrate the wins. It is the single most effective tool that an entrepreneur has in his or her entrepreneurial toolkit.
It’s one of the best ways I know to remain steadfast in your goals, bust through your obstacles, find resources and community to keep you strong. I know from first hand experience, the success that you can achieve through being a part of a mastermind.
Join the Movement
Our mastermind is hosted by myself, our Director of Business and Financial Education, Eric Nuss and our CEO, Josh Gwinn. We get together regularly with dentists dedicated to growth in their dental practices, to discuss the biggest obstacles to that growth that dentists facing in real time; tell stories of inspiration; and share resources while busting through their major challenges to success. It’s a wonderful community and we want you to be a part of our movement. Click the button to register for the next one and we’ll see you there!