Orthotown April 2018 - 53

by Charlene White
Charlene White is an internationally renowned orthodontic
practice management consultant. She received a bachelor's
degree in dental hygiene from Old Dominion University in 1975
and launched her company, Progressive Concepts, in 1983. White's
lectures, consultations, workshops, articles, training products
and software module have benefited thousands of orthodontic
practices. Contact: 757-456-0555

To be successful in the current highly
competitive, ever-changing dental profession, it is essential for orthodontists to
routinely evaluate and measure their key
performance indicators. A key performance
indicator (KPI) is a measurable value that
demonstrates how effectively a company
is achieving targeted business objectives.
Organizations use KPIs to evaluate their
success at reaching target goals. A set of
quantifi able measures can be created to
compare performance in terms of meeting
their strategic and operational goals. The
best way to accomplish this is to have a
good understanding of the most important
KPIs to track in the orthodontic practice
that will help gain better results.
A well-orchestrated KPI program leads
to staff retention and healthy morale for the
doctor and the team. If each person on the
team has an excellent understanding of their
role and how it integrates
with the practice's KPI
goals, the results will be a
win-win for the employee
and the practice.

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Recommended KPIs to track in
the orthodontic practice
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Patient days (7- to 8-hour days) per
doctor per year. 165 patient days is
the average per doctor.
Net collections and net production
compared with the previous year each
month and year-to-date.

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Year-to-date net production should be
ahead of collections, which indicates
practice growth. Compare net
collections with the previous year. If
net production is down, less will be
collected the next year.
Total number of new patient exams
seen compared with the previous year.
A 5 percent increase is good, and a
10-plus percent increase is excellent.
Total number of full and partial
starts seen compared with the
previous year. A 5 percent increase is
good, and a 10-plus percent increase
is excellent.
Net production per start.
$4,000-$5,000 is average (total net
production divided by the number of
starts).
Net production per day per doctor
should ideally be $9,000 or higher.
If your net production per start is
$4,500 and you start two patients per
day, that equals $9,000 of production
per day. Many doctors are producing
$6,000 per day, which equates to
about 1.5 starts per day. Multiply 165
patient days by $6,000 per day to get
$990,000 in production. If you have
$9,000 of production per day, you
have $1,485,000 in production.
Review the total accounts receivable
due to the practice for patients and
insurance. In a growing practice, the
accounts receivable total is increasing.

orthotown.com \\ APRIL 2018

53
http://www.orthotown.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Orthotown April 2018
