The month looked busy. Every chair had a name in it most days. Then the production report came in lower than August, and nobody could say why. Production per hour is the figure that answers that question, because it separates a full-looking schedule from a productive one.
The formula in words
Production per scheduled hour equals gross production for the period, divided by the hours the provider was scheduled with patients in that period.
A second figure is worth having: production per available hour, which divides the same production by the hours the chair was open for booking, whether or not a patient sat in it. The gap between the two is the cost of open time.
Worked example: Dr. Ellery produced $92,400 in September over 132 scheduled hours. 92,400 divided by 132 is $700 per scheduled hour. Her chair was available 152 hours, so per available hour it is 92,400 divided by 152, which is $608. The 20 open hours cost about $14,000 at her scheduled rate.
The calculator
Where the numbers live
Production: the provider production report for the month. In Open Dental it is Reports, then Production and Income, by provider. Dentrix has the Practice Analysis report and the Day Sheet totals by provider. Eaglesoft’s production reports break out by provider as well.
Scheduled hours: add up appointment lengths for the provider from the schedule, not the provider’s working hours. In Open Dental, appointment rows carry a pattern that gives the length in 5 minute units; most offices just export the schedule and sum the durations. Dentrix’s appointment records store the length in units of the book’s time increment. Eaglesoft stores a start and end time on each appointment row.
Available hours: the hours the provider’s column was open in the book. Blocked time, lunch and admin blocks are excluded.
Reading the result
Use gross production, not collections, so write-offs and slow payers do not muddy the chair-side figure. Compare the same provider month over month before comparing providers, because a hygienist and a dentist placing implants will never share a number. If per scheduled hour is steady and per available hour falls, the problem is open time, and the fix lives at the front desk, not in the operatory. The production per hour KPI guide covers what moves it.
Calibic’s provider dashboard (LIVE) shows production per scheduled hour by provider by month, next to open hours and cancellations, read straight from your practice software. It never writes to it. See dashboards for owners, providers and hygiene, or run the collection rate calculator to see how much of that production turned into cash.