At some point in a business or marketing course, you have probably heard the term “key performance indicators” (KPIs).
KPIs are essential metrics that help people in any kind of business assess the success and overall fiscal health of their venture. For you as a doctor of chiropractic, these indicators can not only guide financial decision-making and indicate areas of weakness, but they can also help drive the growth of your chiropractic business.
Let’s take a look at some KPIs you can monitor in your practice:
Patient retention rate
This metric measures the percentage of patients who continue to seek care at your practice after their initial visit or initial care plan. High retention rates often indicate patient satisfaction and that your treatments are effectiveness. Most importantly, retention is a key factor in building a long-term profitable practice.
New patient acquisition rate
This KPI tracks the number of new patients acquired over a specific period, such as a month or fiscal quarter. An increasing patient acquisition rate can be a sign of effective marketing, community outreach efforts and patient referrals.
Appointment completion rate
Monitoring how many scheduled appointments are kept by patients is crucial. A high no-show rate can negatively impact revenue and patient outcomes, as well as signal that your patient communication tactics may need some refining.
Revenue and profitability
Maintaining a close eye on your practice’s revenue and profitability is critical to your financial well-being. You should track and evaluate both gross and net income, and ensure expenses are well-managed to maintain healthy profit margins. This process can also help you key on new pricing strategies to maintain the revenue streams you need to cover rising overhead.
Average revenue per patient visit
This stat calculates the average revenue generated from each patient visit, and helps assess the effectiveness of your pricing strategy and treatment plans. This number also plays a key role in understanding your practice’s profitability.
Patient feedback and satisfaction scores
Collect feedback from patients through surveys or reviews. High satisfaction scores can lead to positive word-of-mouth referrals and long-term success. Patients also feel more engaged in your practice when they see you implementing some of their ideas.
Treatment plan adherence
Monitor how well patients follow through with recommended treatment plans. Improved adherence can lead to fewer dropouts, better patient outcomes and increased revenue.
Referral rate
Measure how many new patients come to your practice through referrals from existing patients, other health care providers and community influencers. A high referral rate signifies both trust and satisfaction among your patient base and the community at large.
Insurance claim rejection rate
If you accept insurance, track the percentage of claims rejected or denied. High rejection rates can impact cash flow due to slowing down reimbursement, and require additional administrative work.
Wait time and appointment scheduling efficiency
Analyze the time patients spend waiting for their appointments and the efficiency of your scheduling process. Shorter wait times and streamlined scheduling can enhance the patient experience. Also, time every event in your practice. How long does it take to perform an exam, an adjustment, a therapy, etc. This can help you better define your schedule so the practice is more likely to stay on-time.
Online presence and marketing metrics
Monitor website traffic, social media engagement and the effectiveness of online marketing campaigns. A strong online presence can attract new patients and improve your practice’s reputation in the area.
Doctor and clinic capacity
Assess the number of patients each doctor on your team can see per day or week. This helps in optimizing staffing levels and resources. It also allows you to effectively create a scheduling system that matches the clinic’s capacity.
Accounts receivable aging
Track the aging of outstanding patient balances to ensure timely payment collection. When an account becomes older than 120 days, the likelihood of collecting the full balance begins to drop dramatically, causing you more losses and write-offs.
Patient demographics
Analyze patient demographics to identify trends and key in on your target market more effectively.
Competitor benchmarking
Compare your practice’s performance metrics to those of competitors in your area to identify areas for improvement. This is not easy to do, but a periodic phone call to another clinic to “shop” their pricing can be an important way to compare.
Patient follow-up and post-treatment care
Monitor how well your practice follows up with patients after treatment, which can improve patient outcomes and satisfaction. Evaluate your strategies in this area often, and be certain your procedures are effective.
Final thoughts on KPIs for DCs
While these are only a few of the metrics DCs could and should be using, regular analysis of KPIs can provide valuable insights into the strengths and weaknesses in your chiropractic practice. Long-term trend analysis can also begin to give you a statistical picture of your practice that can lead you to success by strategy rather than luck.
Tailor your strategies and operations based on these metrics to ensure long-term growth and patient satisfaction.
MICHAEL PERUSICH, DC, LMn, DICCP, FICC, is a solutions-focused advisor with more than 25 years of success across the health care and consulting industries. His broad areas of expertise include coaching, training, content development and motivational speaking. Perusich is the CEO for Kats Consultants LLC. where he and his team offer a unique platform of business knowledge and tools for today’s chiropractic entrepreneur. He can be reached at Kats Consultants, 407-308-5590 or katsconsultants.com.
