Do You Already Have a Million-Dollar Practice?

What is a patient worth to you?

I realize this is a loaded question. As a dentist you are in a profession where you give personal care and attention to a number of people you have come to know well. The value of a patient is measured in much more than dollars, just as the value of great dentistry can't be measured by money either. However, your ability to deliver great clinical care depends largely on your business success.

 

It's the Mayo Clinic model: They don't put a value on patients but they know they must be economically responsible in order to provide their renowned high level of care. When it comes to being the best clinically, economic considerations are very real.

The myth of the ideal patient
So what is a patient worth to the practice in economic terms? The obvious answer is it depends on the patient. But is that really true? I have spoken before about the myth of the ideal patient. This is the idea that there are patients out there who value dentistry and their oral health highly and want to have the best care possible all the time. These people do exist but in most cases they already have a dentist and their treatment is already up-to-date. You can't base a realistic growth strategy on attracting those elusive patients who say yes to everything.

On the other hand it is more likely that you could be undervaluing the patients you already have.

Consider some basic numbers: If a patient simply returns for hygiene twice a year and you retain them for 20 years, that's $4,000 right there (based on a very conservative average of $100 per visit). Add to that an estimated $6,000 in restorative treatment over that time and you get $10,000 in value from every patient.

That means if we are talking about 1,000 patients retained over 20 years we are talking about $500,000 annually. Now, of course you not going to retain all 1,000 patients, but it is also true that you will have many patients doing much more than $6,000 over the course of 20 years (These are hypothetical numbers to give us some context.)

Everyday dentistry delivered steadfastly
Now if each of those people refers just one more patient within five years, your production doubles to 1 million. If they do it again in the next five years, you're up to 2 million. Remember this is growth that has nothing to do with large cases or value-added care; it's just simple everyday dentistry delivered steadfastly over several years.

Retention is never going to be 100 percent and your mileage may vary, but the point is there is immense value in being true to the essentials of patient-centered foundational dentistry. If you get this right, you'll find that the bigger stuff will flow in naturally.