Key Takeaways
- Monthly KPI reviews help oral surgery owners spot billing, scheduling, and referral problems early.
- Production, collections, and receivables show how well a practice turns care into revenue.
- Overhead, case acceptance, and procedure mix round out the picture of practice health.
Tracking dental practice KPIs every month shows oral surgery owners how money, patients, and staff time move through the practice. The most useful numbers cover production, collections, overhead, case acceptance, referrals, and procedure mix. Consultants who work onsite with OMFS (oral and maxillofacial surgery) front desk and billing teams use these measures to pinpoint where revenue slips away and why.
1. Product and Collections
Production measures the value of treatment a practice delivers; collections show the money coming in. Watching both is one of the simplest dental practice performance metrics to track. Some gap is normal after insurance adjustments, although a widening gap usually points to billing problems.
2. Net Collection Rate
Net collection rate narrows the focus to money owed after those adjustments. Most owners aim for the net collection rate dental practices consider healthy, often 95% or higher.
3. Accounts Receivable and AR Days
Accounts receivable is the money still owed to the practice, and AR days show how long it takes to collect. Because oral surgery bills both medical and dental plans, claims often settle slowly. When the AR days dental teams report jump from 30 to 45, denials or missing authorizations are often the cause.
4. Overhead Percentage
This compares total operating costs with collections. Payroll usually makes up the largest share, and hiring stays competitive, as the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects dental assistant jobs to grow 6% from 2024 to 2034. A rising percentage can signal overtime, waste, or collections that are falling behind.
5. Case Acceptance Rate
Case acceptance shows how many patients agree to the treatment a surgeon recommends during a consultation. This rate carries extra weight for elective procedures such as dental implants, where cost often drives the decision. Patients who leave without saying yes often need a clearer conversation about payment options.
6. Treatment Plan Conversion Rate
Treatment plan conversion picks up where case acceptance leaves off, tracking how many accepted plans actually reach the surgery schedule. A patient may agree to a bone graft and implant, for example, and then never book the procedure. Regular follow-up calls on unscheduled plans can recover much of that lost production.
7. New Patient Volume
New patient numbers reveal whether the practice is growing, stagnating, or slipping. Comparing each month with the same month last year gives the fairest view; for example, wisdom teeth cases often spike while students are home for summer.
8. Referral Source Performance
Most patients arrive through referrals from general dentists and orthodontists, so tracking each source shows which relationships are strong and which are fading. When an office that once sent eight patients a month suddenly sends two, a quick call could repair the connection.
9. Revenue per Patient
Revenue per patient divides monthly collections by the number of patients treated. This figure shows whether growth comes from more patients or from more complete care for each one. If new patient numbers rise while revenue per patient falls, the schedule may be filling with lower fee procedures.
10. Provider and Procedure Mix
Provider and procedure mix breaks production down by surgeon and treatment type. As one of the most revealing oral surgery practice metrics, it might show that one surgeon handles nearly every implant case while another mostly performs extractions. That insight can guide scheduling, referral outreach, and future hiring.
Frequently Asked Questions About Dental Practice KPIs
How Often Should an Oral Surgery Practice Review Its KPIs?
Monthly reviews surface most issues in time to fix them without overwhelming the team. A few numbers, such as daily collections, also deserve a weekly look.
Which KPI Should a New Practice Owner Track First?
Net collection rate makes a strong starting point. Most other financial problems eventually show up in that number.
Can Practice Management Software Track These KPIs Automatically?
Most practice management systems can generate these reports. However, the results are only as accurate as the data staff enter.
Leverage Dental Practice KPIs With Practice Metrix: Turn Monthly Numbers Into Lasting Growth
To learn more about dental practice KPIs, contact Practice Metrix. Call us at 610-922-8890 or complete our online form today for a consultation. We have offices in Plymouth Meeting, PA, and serve clients nationwide.