At this point, you have gone through the process of computing your batting average. Now, it is time to begin the analysis of that number to determine exactly where problem areas might lie. You can perform this analysis over any period of time you choose. Again, issue the standard note on time periods. If you examine results for a short period of time, you are more susceptible to seeing unusual fluctuations that may be confined to that short term period only. For example, you may have lost an entire group of new patients because the power in the neighborhood went out and you needed to reschedule those patients in the next month. That month’s results would certainly not be a true reflection of the performance of the practice over a longer term.
Let’s say that you compute your batting average for a particular quarter and come to a result of .667. Further, we’ll assume that this breaks down into a numerator of 60 new contracts signed and a denominator of 90 gross consultations. The question that we now have to answer is what happened to those 30 patients that did not sign.
Issue
Patients who did not sign were not in need of treatment at the time of their appointment. Some of the patients, in your estimation, may never need treatment. Some are simply too young and need to let some time pass to allow further development. Some patients need treatment with another professional before treatment can commence. Common example: before an orthodontist can begin treatment, a patient may need a dental cleaning. That patient will be referred out to a dentist (or back to their own dentist) to complete that process before starting treatment.
Solutions
Of course, if a patient will never need treatment in your estimation, there’s not much you can do here. Just wish them the best and ask them to refer others to your practice. For those other groups of patients, make sure that they are added to a recall list and then make sure that your business staff follows up on that recall list on at least a monthly basis, if not more frequently. I am regularly surprised by the number of practices that do make those calls to follow up on these patients. They’ve already visited and are interested in your services. The time just wasn’t right. Now, it may be. Don’t lose the investment you made in bringing in these patients through sheer negligence. It’s easier to have a good recall list if you have a good reporting system. It’s even easier if you simply have a system that e-mails the list to you and your business staff to let them know that this follow up communication needs to take place.
One other note: if you regularly see substantial numbers of patients who do not need treatment or who need to be put on some type of recall status, you may be marketing to the wrong group of people. Review your marketing campaign, review our post on the best target market for you (or talk to us about it) and try to have your efforts focus more closely on those potential patients that might turn into contracts.
Of the patients that did not have treatment issues, we need to find out why the remainder did not sign a contract. This process can be a bit more challenging – this may not be the most enjoyable call to make and the patient may not be willing to talk about it. But with a friendly, comforting call and a few simple questions about the reasons for not signing with the practice, you can learn a lot to help you improve your results. Here are some of the issues that may become manifest after those calls.
Issue
The patient did not like something about the practice. Examples include not connecting with a staff member, being turned off by the office or not enjoying the commute.
Solutions
Here, you are looking for a theme throughout the patients you contact. If 1 of the 30 patients in our example doesn’t like Pat at the front desk, that’s probably not a big deal. Sometimes people don’t get along. If 6 of the 30 patients have a problem with Pat, you may want to reconsider Pat’s role or participation in the new patient process. Whatever you decide to do, you’re going to need to talk with Pat to get that problem solved.
If the office itself is a problem, try to find out what the problem was specifically. Did the patient find it dirty? Did the patient not like the neighborhood? Did the patient think the office looked old and run down? Obviously, some problems are easier to solve than others. Moving your office location is expensive and challenging. Giving the office a facelift is less expensive, but still has a cost. Cleaning up the office is not terribly difficult.
For patients experiencing problems with the commute, this can be viewed as a problem and possibly an opportunity. If a number of patients are coming from across town to your office, you may again be looking at a marketing problem and need to localize your advertising a bit better. If a lot of patients are seeing your ads and making the trek across town to see you, there’s something compelling about your message and you should take a closer look at developing a location there. We’ve touched on new locations in an earlier podcast and will expound much more significantly on adding to your practice in the coming weeks.
Issue
The patient was not impressed with the consultation process.
Solutions
We’re going to go into more detail on this in a separate post in this series because this topic deserves its own post. Obviously, this is a patient’s first in-person experience in the practice and your big chance to impress them. If that experience is a 2 ½ hour, tedious discussion of the technical aspects of treatment, that person is going to expect more of the same through at least the next couple of years of treatment. Nobody wants that.
Issue
The patient is turned off by the cost of treatment. You see this a lot. Everything is going well until the end of the process when it is time to talk finances. Then, you get something along the lines of “Ummm, I’m going to need to check with my spouse before signing anything.”
Solutions
Far be it from me to suggest how you charge your patients, but let’s look at the facts. You’ve spent money, time and effort to bring this patient in and take them through the consultation process. You’ve spent time and money to bring the patient right to the brink of signing so a large portion of the cost related to this patient has already been expended. You’ve read our post about the fixed cost nature of your practice. If price is the issue, why not go into full on sales mode?
Why not say something along the lines of “If you sign up today, I’ll reduce the monthly payment to x for you. How would that work?” Or “What will it take to get you to sign up today?” Once that patient leaves, your chances of getting them signed drop dramatically and remember that the total fee you get will stay exactly the same. Worried that they’ll tell their friends who want the lower monthly payment too? Not a problem. That’s simply more patients for you to treat.
Keep in mind that the choice here is not to collect your regular monthly payment or a reduced monthly payment. Your choice is between the reduced payment and 0. The better scenario would seem to be the one that actually gets you a patient and income. Otherwise, they’re headed elsewhere to get treatment.
Want to discuss further? Want some assistance with the analysis of new patient activity? Contact us.
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