What I consistently find when analyzing hygiene departments is that one huge area of opportunity is undiagnosed and untreated perio in existing patients. Most practices are pretty good at getting new patients into some level of perio care but then there are no systems for keeping them in maintenance or identifying when they need to go back through active therapy.
When doing the analysis, I make very conservative projections for growth because I want them to be attainable. One of those projections is the amount of revenue that could be generated if just 10% of your existing patients were enrolled in even site-specific perio care. I have a formula to determine this and I’ll share that with you. But first, let’s do the ‘gap analyses’.
One exercise I do with clients and audiences is to ask the hygienists, “What percentage of the adult patients you see for prophies on a daily basis have 4mm bleeding pockets?”. What I usually hear is somewhere between 40 and 60%. I’ve asked this of hundreds of dental professionals and I always get the same answer. This is a huge indicator that something is not working with their perio program (assuming one exists).
So I challenge you to do the same. Ask the question. Then compare that number to your perio percentage. If 40% of patients have some active disease and your perio percentage is 12%-there’s your opportunity. If you’re already at 40-50% perio…Bravo!! Keep up the good work.
So I promised to show you how to create an additional $100k with just 10% of your patients.
Here you go:
2 hygiene practice with 1600 patients in recare
SRP fee = $200
Perio Maint fee = $90
10% = 160 patients X 2 quads site-specific SRP X $200/quad = $64,000
160 patients X 4 perio maint (every 3 mths) X $90/perio maint = $57,600
And there you have $121,600 in additional hygiene revenue by diagnosing disease that needs attention and delivering high-quality care. And we haven’t even accounted for your use of advanced diagnostic tests, local antibiotics, home care products or other adjuncts.
And I bet more than 10% need treatment so just double that and you’ve created one quarter of a million dollars!
I’d be happy to help you uncover your hygiene department’s profit potential. Email Gretchen@InspiredHygiene.com and she’ll get you started today!
Stay Inspired,
Rachel