What KPIs to Track When You Use a Dental KPI Dashboard?

Dentistry happens at eye-level. While that’s where patient treatment happens, your overall practice and/or organizational success requires an entirely different perspective. Driving your practice or organization forward is simple when you use a dental dashboard to track important KPIs (Key Performance Indicators).

Data analysis is as much a technology requirement as it is a routine, daily mindset on how you approach running your practice or organization. Before you get lost in the weeds around technical jargon let’s focus on what KPIs can tell you about your “performance”.

De-mystifying the technical side of dental data analytics

You might remember the earlier days of dentistry when paper charts were “cool.” That’s where most if not all of your relevant data was accessed, stored, and organized.

Now, if you’re still committed to paper…no worries (for now). Available data is better than none at all.

But…

There’s a better and more efficient path to data analysis. And a dental dashboard can deliver the relevant data in realtime, and in easy-to-read, detailed reports.

Today’s digital dental environment often relies on a robust dental practice management software platform to :

• generate reports in real-time, and 
• track production, collections, and AR (Accounts Receivable).

It’s likely you’re flying at a higher altitude these days if you’re using dental practice management software to track your practice or organization’s metrics. This higher-level, analytical capacity is now a vital digital team member.

If you really desire to improve your dental practice performance…

A dental dashboard provides data access while helping eliminate (or significantly reduce) the complexities of dental practice management. Therein is the “magic” of organizing your data management into one, easily accessible place.

As you know, routine reports form a map of sorts. It’s useful to trace where you’ve been in previous weeks or months relative to where you’re planning to go.

Yet, pulling reports or deciphering them can become complicated. The more data tracking you connect with a central platform – such as a dental dashboard – the more likely you are to improve KPIs across your practice.

Data is one thing…data you can use (and improve upon) is the essence of using a centralized tracking platform.

What a dental dashboard tracks that’s essential to improving your practice performance

Dental hygiene production metrics

Scheduled hygiene is of course a vital performance measure. It typically equates to 25% to 30% of your practice production. And that translates to healthy and loyal patients.

Track this: Hygiene pre-appointment rates

• • Schedule your patient’s next visit before they depart their current hygiene appointment
  • Implement a system that prompts and tracks patient pre-appointments
  • Align your hygienists with your front-desk team to help assure pre-appointment conversations and effective verbiage

Case acceptance metrics

Case presentation requires strategy. And so does guiding the conversation to the scheduled agreement. Again, this speaks to your care standard as well as your profitability.

”…the top 10% of dental practices have 90% of patients saying yes to a component of the treatment plan presented.”

Track this: Case acceptance rates

• • Consistently inform (educate) your patients about the systemic value of treatment to their health
  • Clarify your patient’s understanding of the treatment during each presentation
  • Answer their in-the-moment questions and concerns
  • Evaluate your case presentation process – including your non-verbal communication

No-show and cancellation metrics

Why a patient cancels an appointment or chooses not to show up is personal to them. Even though the circumstances are practically out of your control there are ways you can minimize broken appointments.

For example, orthodontic patients were asked how they keep track of their appointments.

• 27.8% responded saying they relied on simply remembering they had an appointment
• Of those surveyed about why they missed their appointment, 40% said they merely forgot

Track this: Appointment no-show and cancellation rates

• • Create and deliver appointment reminders
  • Require patients to confirm their appointments via text, email, or phone
  • Automate your patient reminder system using available software
  • Educate and inform patients routinely about the value of treatment to their oral and general health and the cost-effectiveness of timely treatment follow-through
  • (If necessary) attach a small fee to broken appointments and inform them when confirming the appointment

Monthly new patient metrics

You’re accustomed to patient attrition. Again, patients leaving your practice could be beyond your control for the most part. 

A steady stream of new patients (e.g. monthly) and a patient retention strategy can offset the natural attrition you experience. 

Track this: New patients acquired each month

• • Evaluate your general marketing strategies and your referral process (e.g. word of mouth, website form/search, etc)
  • Audit your dental practice website for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and ease-of-use. See it through the eyes of your patients and site visitors – is it easy to navigate, is it benefit-focused, are there clear calls to action (e.g. “click here” to schedule, contact us, etc)?
  • Ask for reviews. And use your reviews (positive and negative) to tap into what patients need, want, and desire.

There’s no doubt that awareness of your KPIs will translate to action. And the best tool for tracking your KPIs and core practice, group, and /or organizational metrics is your dental dashboard.

Get on the solution-side of your metrics and KPIs

Understanding the metrics you should track and the essential KPIs is the first step. Implementing a solution that easily gathers that data on a daily basis is your vital next step.

Jarvis Analytics platform helps assure that you’re tracking the important metrics and staying on-track with your goals as your organization grows. 

Jarvis…

• Integrates seamlessly with your chosen practice management software (PMS)/platform. We work with major practice management systems like Dentrix, Open Dental, Denticon, Eaglesoft, and many others.
• Presents the metrics you want and need in an easy-to-view dental dashboard that reduces data complexity for growing dental practices, dental groups, and Dental Service Organizations (DSOs) or Dental Partnership Organizations (DPOs)

But don’t let our fancy words fool you, experience Jarvis in action. Request a demo today for more information about data tracking that leads to profitability.