From rising operational costs and equipment expenses to the time and labor-intensive process of chasing down payments, running a dental organization is now more costly than ever. On average, operating a two-dentist practice with six chairs can put a $700,000 hole in your pocket each year—that’s after the estimated $1 million in total start-up costs.1 Even with a well-oiled revenue cycle, dental practices still face countless barriers to payment, most notably shifting reimbursement structures and patient collection challenges, that inevitably lead to denied claims and delayed payments.
Measuring Financial Success: Key Metrics & Considerations
From 2013 to 2022, the cost of running a dental practice increased by 7.7%, but average practice revenue increased by only 2.2%—despite a 4.5% increase in working hours for general dentists.2 As operational expenses stay in overdrive, many are opting to cut back on staff earnings as a stop-gap solution. The most sustainable strategy, however, is to aim your efforts at increasing revenue per patient to offset the growing costs of running a practice while maintaining staff satisfaction, retention, and top-quality patient care.
However, most in-house billing departments are understaffed and overstretched. They generally lack the time, resources, and technological capabilities to efficiently track these figures in real-time, specifically:
- Revenue per patient
- Overhead costs
- Profit margins
Without an in-depth review of day-to-day revenue cycle performance, your team will struggle to make fully informed business decisions. Understanding and actively managing these metrics is key to empowering operational efficiency and maintaining a healthy bottom line year-round.
Leverage Data Analytics to Your Bottom-Line Advantage
Far and away, the most impactful strategy to improve your financial gains is to pinpoint where revenue is falling through the cracks—having a general idea simply isn’t enough. If your denial rate is through the roof, putting an extra set of eyes on claims before they go out the door won’t fix the problem. In many cases, the root cause lies in the first stage of the revenue cycle, when your staff collects benefits information before the date of service.
Even so, there are countless other reasons why your office consistently submits unclean claims. Any attempts to resolve the issue will fall short if you don’t know exactly when, where, and why your billing processes get off track. To save time and money and ensure successful remediation efforts, practices are implementing real-time data analytics solutions to catch errors before they spiral out of control and create major leaks in the revenue cycle. With a data-driven approach, practices can quickly identify areas for improvement and channel their efforts into highly effective solutions that significantly improve revenue collection, staff satisfaction, and overall business success.
Take the Next Step to Maximize Financial Performance
Building a profitable revenue cycle shouldn’t be a challenge. With a dental RCM analytics partner like Accurio, practices can easily achieve a 98% collections rate with an average 30-day accounts receivable (AR) follow-up timeline. Accurio stands apart in the dental and DSO revenue cycle management (RCM) space with purely data-driven dental billing, coding, and AR solutions to help practice staff keep the focus entirely on patient care. Our solutions are highly customizable and flexible, seamlessly integrating into your office’s unique workflow to ease the burden of creating, submitting, and processing claims. With Accurio, your practice can have total peace of mind, knowing that our trusted experts are working day in and day out to maximize your revenue while you focus on caring for your patients.
Sources
- Section 1. Facility Design and Construction: Capacity and Cost Estimates. (n.d.). Dental Clinic Manual. Retrieved January 10, 2024 from https://www.dentalclinicmanual.com/2-facilities/sec1-01.php
- Crozier, S. (2023, August 8). HPI survey shows general dentist income declines due to rising expenses. ADA News. https://adanews.ada.org/ada-news/2023/august/hpi-survey-shows-general-dentist-income-declines-due-to-rising-expenses/
