How the Top 10% Dominate Dental Care: Patient Retention and Practice Growth

What the top 10% are doing 

The average patient retention rate is 57%, meaning the average practice is losing half of their patients. And that’s not just a number – it’s lost revenue and missed opportunities to treat patients. Top organizations understand how important a combination of technology, marketing, and continuous outreach is to grow their practices and keep patients coming back. 

1. Be smarter with your marketing budget: Your online presence makes an enormous difference when attracting new patients. In fact, 77% of patients expect their dental practice to have a website, and a whopping 95% of patients use online reviews when choosing a healthcare provider. You don’t need an enormous marketing budget to make your practice stand out, either. Regularly updating your blog, using social media to share information about your staff and services, and keeping your website up to date go a long way in helping you retain current patients and grow your practice.  

The key to really getting your name out there, though? Referrals. Word of mouth makes an enormous difference when attracting new patients and encouraging existing patients to recommend your practice. Put a referral process in place that encourages patients to share their positive experiences with friends and family. 

2. Create the experience your patients actually want. We'll be frank. Most patients don’t want to talk to you on the phone. In fact, one survey showed that 95% of respondents have – or would – book an appointment online if offered2. Don’t set your practice up for failure by insisting on only using old-school scheduling practices. By implementing online scheduling, automated patient reminders, and online forms, you’ll create a more seamless experience for your patients and save staff hours spent on tiresome manual tasks. 

3. Ensure your practice has the bandwidth to accept new patients. You’ve put all the previous tips into place, only to have a new patient try to make an online appointment and find your next opening is two months out. Without a clear snapshot of your operational health, how can you best manage practice capacity and patient care? Your practice should be able to: 

• Track the total count of all scheduled appointments, offering insights into patient flow and accuracy. This helps with forecasting and resource allocation.
• Monitor the number of healthcare providers available, which is critical for balancing workloads and ensuring that patient care is not compromised.
• Review booked hours to assess how effectively appointment slots are being filled and utilized, which is essential for maximizing practice revenue and patient satisfaction.

These metrics can also be used to make strategic decisions, such as hiring additional staff, extending office hours, or adjusting scheduling policies to improve operational flow.

4. Think beyond hygiene appointments: You may not be in a position to schedule new-patient hygiene appointments within the next few months. But that doesn’t mean you can’t continue to grow your practice through other avenues like Invisalign or implant consultations.  

5. Consistently follow up with patients: Your team should be proactive about scheduling follow-up visits, so patients don’t slip through the cracks. If you can’t schedule a patient’s next appointment while they’re in the chair, there should be a reminder system in place to follow up with patients on scheduling their next visit. Don’t just stop there. You should also be sending out post-visit requests for online reviews.

View the full 2024 Henry Schein One Industry Report for more insights into the dental industry.