'Spreadsheet Junkies' Optional: The Simple Things You Need to Track and Why

When I wrote about the value of keeping score in your professional life by tracking your performance, I said that doing so was more important—and easier—than many dentists realize.

Some dentists I know are "spreadsheet junkies" who like to collect and analyze every bit of data that pertains to the performance of the practice, and that's fine. Although, if that's not you, rest assured that you can get a lot of valuable information just by keeping tabs on a few key results. You don't have to track everything; just select one area at time that you want to improve, such as case acceptance, and monitor your progress with that.

You also don't need to track every kind of case. Chances are you have an area of focus—full-mouth rehabs, implants or CEREC quadrants— that is particularly meaningful to you in terms of professional satisfaction and has an economic value that is substantial enough to be worth tracking. These are the cases you want to measure because this is where improvement will have the greatest significance.

With that in mind, here is an example of what you could be tracking for those selected cases:

• Divide the total dollar value presented each month by the total number of cases presented. This will give you your average case value for those significant cases.


• Divide the total number of cases presented by the total number accepted to get your "batting average" when it comes to getting patients to say yes.


• Divide the total value presented by the total value accepted to get a read on your case acceptance ratio from an economic perspective.

Remember that these are just numbers, and they are only useful if you act on what they mean. So share the results with your team at your monthly meetings. Go through these special cases and collect intelligence to put the numbers in context.

• What went right with those cases that were accepted?


• What are some of the reasons others weren't accepted? Are they considering it for the future?


• Was it declined for financial reasons?


• Was it more a matter of the patient not fully appreciating the value of what could be done?


• What, if anything, can we do differently next time with those patients?

Tracking is most useful when it is used to help plan future strategies. Knowledge is power. In this case, knowledge is the power to put today's results in the right context so you can do even better tomorrow.