Case acceptanceIf you are tracking your case acceptance rate—and since it is one of your primary indicators of progress, you really should be—how are you going about it? The math, of course, is simple: the number of cases presented versus the number of cases accepted. But as we all know, not all cases are created equal. In most practices, you can categorize cases into three “ranges”

  • The first is everyday, routine dentistry that is typically insurance-supported. Case acceptance is quite high—practically automatic— because for most patients the majority of costs are covered.
  • Next is the $2000 to $5000 range, which often includes some insurance coverage, but also a fairly significant patient portion as well. Acceptance of these cases often requires the patient to juggle their finances, prioritize spending, maybe save a bit or use a credit card.
  • The third level of acceptance is cases over $5000, which will almost certainly exhaust any insurance benefits and require the patient to seriously think about how they are going to finance this cost. It’s likely to be a long-term financial commitment for the patient, which is why it takes special effort to create enough value for patients to accept dentistry at that level.

When you look at it this way, it is easy to see how lumping all cases together can give you a misleading result when you look at your case acceptance figures, with high acceptance on lower value cases masking a lower-than-optimal success rate on the higher value ones. That’s why I suggest setting a value threshold—a dollar figure at which acceptance becomes a challenge in your practice—and tracking acceptance only for the cases that meet or exceed that threshold. This will give you a much clearer picture of where you stand and should give you inspiration on where your next area of focus needs to be. Is it treatment planning? Is it creating value? Is it team support? You have to find the barriers that are holding you back, before you can be really successful at getting patients to see past their barriers. (Dr. Frank Spear has a great new video lesson on the subject of overcoming anxiety when presenting major cases. It’s a great place to start for inspiration on breaking past your barriers.)

Tracking acceptance using this threshold method gives you another great way of measuring improvement: seeing how often you have to increase that threshold as you start to get routine acceptance at higher and higher levels. And remember, it’s not about chasing higher dollar values; it’s about becoming more comfortable with your value as a clinician and your ability to deliver better and better care. If you stay in that mindset of continual professional growth, with a pure focus on always doing what’s best for the patient, the economic success will come along for the ride. 


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