{"id":8607,"date":"2019-04-01T14:05:19","date_gmt":"2019-04-01T19:05:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cainwatters.com\/digitalblogs\/?p=8607"},"modified":"2019-09-30T18:53:34","modified_gmt":"2019-09-30T23:53:34","slug":"the-problem-with-new-patients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cainwatters.com\/digitalblogs\/the-problem-with-new-patients\/","title":{"rendered":"The Secret Problem With New Patients"},"content":{"rendered":"

What do you think is the best way to increase production and revenue? If your first answer was to acquire new patients: you aren\u2019t alone. Most business owners think that scaling up their customer base is the top answer to the question of profitability.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery dentist wants to increase their production. So, their focus inevitably turns to look at new patients,\u201d explains Rob Bay, president and co-founder of Dental Intelligence<\/a>.<\/span> “Adding new patients is one growth strategy. \u00a0However, I see offices all the time that will have, say, 50, 100 or even 1,000 new patients and production isn\u2019t increasing. They\u2019re getting 50 and they\u2019re losing 50.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rob calls this a classic \u201cleaky bucket\u201d problem. Imagine you have a bucket full of holes being filled with water. No matter how much you add to the bucket, you will steadily lose water until you plug the holes. It\u2019s a great analogy for sustainable growth: if you don\u2019t convert new patients to long-term active patients, you simply cannot fill your bucket. And, you will never experience growth if you can\u2019t retain your current active patients.<\/p>\n

According to Rob, two-thirds of new patients never return to a dental practice after their first appointment. Also, there are expensive and tangible monetary costs associated with acquiring those new patients. Consider our recent Orthodontic Practice Comparison Report<\/a>,<\/span> which indicated that in 2018, the average cost per new patient was $108. In addition, there is increased time and effort spent with new patients and insurance issues, creating significant opportunity costs. If most of those never return anyway, are there other ways your staff could spend that time to increase profits for your practice?<\/p>\n

How Did Your Bucket Become Leaky?<\/h2>\n

Patient acquisition cost, conversion rates and attrition are other indicators that should be measured and tracked to paint a larger portrait of the leaky bucket problem. Without examining these indicators, it is hard to understand why new patients do not return or even why your existing patients become inactive.<\/p>\n

However, the number of new patients and the cost of acquiring them are not necessarily the only key performance indicators you should track. Dental Intel has developed a formula with four primary drivers that equate to profitability:<\/p>\n