Understanding Patient Churn: Are You Retaining or Losing Patients?

What is "patient churn"?

Understanding patient churn is vital to gauge your practice's health. Churn refers to the percentage of patient who do not return to your practice for hygiene treatments on a regular basis. It's a measure of attrition or loss. In the simplest terms, churn can be looked at as an inverse of retention.

To illustrate this, assume that no new patients are added to your practice but you are able to retain rate of 90% of existing patients to come back for a regular hygiene visit. Your churn rate would be 10%.

 

Is Your Practice Growing or Declining?

• Growing: If the number of new patients outpaces the churn rate, your practice is expanding.
• Declining: Conversely, if the churn rate surpasses new patient acquisition, your practice may be facing a decline.

Churn Visualizations in TeamCare

If you are logged into TeamCare, click here to view your churn rate.

• Green Curve: Represents new patient acquisition
• Red Curve: Represents patient churn

Example 1: "Growing"

Example 2: Declining

Using Churn Rate to Analyze Practice Health

The impact of churn isn't just limited to a decrease in patient count. It also brings along a reduction in revenue, brand reputation, and overall growth potential. When patients leave, it's often the result of an unmet expectation, unsatisfactory experience, or a lapse in the patient-practice relationship.

How TeamCare Helps Combat Churn:

1. Root Cause Analysis: TeamCare offers tools to dive deep into feedback and analytics. This allows practices to understand the reasons for patient departure and strategize on improvements.
   
   

2. Enhanced Communication: With TeamCare, you can employ automated reminders, personalized messages, and follow-ups. This ensures patients are always in the loop, decreasing chances of a missed appointment or a fallout due to miscommunication.
   
   

3. Targeted Reactivation: As discussed in the previous article, TeamCare’s reactivation feature targets patients who might have missed their appointments or deferred their treatments, ensuring they're brought back into the care cycle.
   
   

4. Patient Engagement: TeamCare provides resources to stay connected with your patients beyond the dental chair. From newsletters to educational content, ensuring your patients are educated and engaged can significantly reduce churn.
   
   

5. Staff Training and Feedback: Regular training sessions can be organized using insights from TeamCare. With its leaderboard and performance metrics, practices can easily identify and address areas where staff might need additional support or training.

Tips to Reduce Churn:

1. Personalized Care: Always strive to provide individualized treatments and advice. A personal touch can differentiate your practice from others.
   
   
2. Regular Follow-ups: Post-treatment calls or messages can help in clarifying doubts and ensuring the patient is comfortable.
   
   
3. Value Additions: Offer value-added services or loyalty programs. This not only attracts new patients but also retains the existing ones.
   
   
4. Stay Updated: Ensure your practice is updated with the latest technology and treatments. A modern practice is often more appealing to patients.

Takeaways

Understanding and acting upon patient churn is crucial for any practice aiming for long-term success. TeamCare, with its suite of tools, analytics, and features, provides practices with the arsenal needed to combat churn and ensure sustained growth. Always remember, while acquiring new patients is essential, retaining the existing ones is equally, if not more, vital for a thriving dental practice.