The month-end report from the software is 40 pages. The owner looks at total production, total collections, and closes it. Those two numbers are fine, but they cannot tell you why a good month was good.
Twelve numbers can. Each one below has a formula and a worked example with figures you can check. Write your own definition next to each, because the formulas have choices in them, and a KPI that is calculated differently each month is not a KPI.
We do not print benchmark ranges for most of these. The figures that circulate rarely state the formula, the practice type or the year. Where we have a named public source we say so; otherwise compare yourself to your own last twelve months.
Production
1. Gross production. Fees for all completed procedures at office fee, before adjustments. Example: $180,000 in September.
2. Net production. Gross production minus contractual adjustments. $180,000 minus $27,000 PPO write-offs = $153,000. This is the number the practice can actually collect.
3. Production per scheduled hour. Net production divided by scheduled provider hours. $153,000 divided by 520 hours (two doctors and three hygienists) = $294 per hour. Split by provider; the production per hour page does the hygiene and doctor versions separately.
4. Hygiene share of production. Hygiene production divided by gross production. $46,000 divided by $180,000 = 25.6%. Watch it as a trend, not against a target.
Collections
5. Net collection rate. Collections divided by net production, over a trailing period long enough for claims to clear. $147,000 divided by $153,000 = 96.1%. The net collection rate page explains why one month is too short.
6. Accounts receivable over 90 days. AR older than 90 days divided by total AR. $14,000 divided by $98,000 = 14.3%. Split patient from insurance; they have different causes.
7. Days in AR. Total AR divided by average daily net production. $98,000 divided by ($153,000 divided by 21 working days = $7,286) = 13.5 days.
Schedule
8. No-show and late cancellation rate. Missed appointments divided by scheduled. 83 divided by 920 = 9.0%. Formula choices and a calculator on the no-show page.
9. Hygiene pre-booking rate. Hygiene patients who left with their next appointment booked, divided by hygiene patients seen. 310 divided by 400 = 77.5%.
10. Recall rate. Patients seen for recall in 12 months divided by active patients due. 1,560 divided by 2,400 = 65%. Definition matters more than the number; see the recall benchmark page.
Treatment
11. Case acceptance. Accepted divided by presented, by dollars and by patient. $19,000 divided by $48,000 = 39.6% by dollars; 15 of 25 = 60% by patient. Both, by provider. Formulas on the case acceptance page.
12. Unscheduled treatment. Dollars planned and not booked, and how many are under 30 days old. $38,420 across 61 patients, $9,100 of it under 30 days. This is the one KPI that is also a to-do list.
The one that is not on the list
Overhead percentage: total expenses divided by collections. It belongs on the owner’s monthly review, but it comes from the accounting software, not the practice software, and lags by a month. Track it; just do not confuse it with the twelve above, which are available the next morning.
How do you keep them honest?
- One written definition per KPI, dated, stored with the reports.
- Same day of the month, same trailing window.
- By provider for 3, 5, 8, 9 and 11. A practice average hides the coaching opportunity.
- Each number should open to its rows. If you cannot list the 83 no-shows, do not trust the 9%.
What Calibic adds
The KPI dashboards are LIVE. Calibic reads production, adjustments, payments, appointments, recall records and treatment plans from Open Dental, Dentrix and Eaglesoft (read-only, it never changes a record) and calculates the twelve above every morning, by provider, with the definition shown and every number opening to its source rows. Where a system does not hold the data, the Coverage page says so rather than estimating. Recovered revenue is counted only when the software shows it booked, completed and paid.
Next step: the practice health check asks for six of these numbers and shows where you stand against your own potential.