Toward an Orthodontic Practice You Can Discuss with Numbers: Building a Reproducible Clinical System Through KPIs
The "Real Issues" That Patient Numbers Alone Cannot Reveal
While the demand for orthodontic treatment is increasing year by year, in orthodontic dentistry, which centers on self-pay treatment,you cannot correctly grasp the situation within the clinic by simply tracking "patient numbers."What is important is to understand how those who wish to receive treatment
arrive at the clinic,
at what stage they proceed to examination,,
and at what rate they reach a contract
—in other words, to quantitatively grasp the "flow from consultation to contract."
Grasping this process as numbers is the starting point for setting KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) in self-pay orthodontics.
What are KPIs?
This term "KPI," which is not very familiar in dentistry, refers toindicators that make the goals of an organization or project "measurable."They show the progress toward final results (sales, profit, patient satisfaction, etc.) in numerical form and serve as criteria for judging "where the issues are now" and "which initiatives are producing results."
In an orthodontic clinic as well, the director is required not only to provide clinical care but also tograsp the management status of the entire clinicandclarify areas for improvement.KPIs are the "guideposts" that are useful for that purpose.
The most important KPIs to grasp first in self-pay orthodontics are the numbers related to the three steps of "Consultation → Examination → Contract."
Number of consultations
Number of examinations
Number of contracts
By simply recording these three items every month, where the clinic's issues lie will naturally emerge. For example,
Many consultations but few examinations → Issues with counseling design or explanation methods
Many examinations but low contract rate → Issues with pricing, proposal content, or decision-making support
Few consultations to begin with → Insufficient information dissemination or awareness-raising measures
In this way, each number points to the specific areas that need improvement.
These KPIs are like a "health checkup" for objectively understanding the state of your clinic. Rather than relying on intuition, by tracking monthly changes in these numbers, it becomes clearer exactly "where" you need to take action to make improvements.
Examples of KPI metrics in orthodontic treatment
Consultation → Examination → Contract
By setting metrics that allow you to see "at which phase patients are dropping off" rather than viewing this flow as a single block, improvement strategies become clear all at once.
Treating background data as part of your KPIs
To properly utilize KPIs, it is important not only to look at the numerical values but also to grasp the background data behind them. Especially in self-pay orthodontics,
regional characteristics and pricing have a significant impact on results, so organizing this "fixed information" as part of your KPIs will help you interpret the meaning of the numbers more accurately. For example,
competitor information such as the number of nearby orthodontic specialty clinics or GP clinics offering orthodontics, and the types of appliances they use serves as a benchmark when considering how to differentiate your clinic's pricing and messaging. Furthermore, your clinic's price structure and payment plans
help you understand which patient demographics are more likely to visit, and the ratio of patient acquisition channels (web, referrals, social media, advertising, etc.) is essential for analyzing cost-effectiveness and target demographics.
KPI numbers do not hold meaning on their own. By viewing them in conjunction with background data, the "reasons" behind the numbers become visible, leading to appropriate improvement measures.
Key points for KPI operation
What is important in KPI operation is not to "look at the numbers themselves," but to capture the "trends" that lie beyond them. Instead of getting caught up in the highs and lows of comparing individual numbers, continuously tracking how your clinic's numbers are trending will reveal hints for improvement.
Also, it is essential to consider KPIs in tandem with your goals. For example, you need to clarify actions that are directly linked to your objectives, as shown below. :
Example: Goal: "Increase the number of consultations" → "Increase the frequency of information dissemination," "Set up an online consultation window"
Furthermore, to make KPIs effective in the workplace, it is important to create a "culture of sharing." If only the clinic director or the office manager is aware of the numbers, no change will occur. The key is to share KPIs at monthly staff meetings and
discuss the analysis of causes, improvement measures, and the next steps to take as a team.
Making it function not just as a "place for reporting numbers," but as a place for dialogue to improve clinical practice is the key to successful KPI operation.
Toward a clinic that can look to the "next step" through numbers
If you design your KPIs correctly, you will be able to grasp as objective data "how patients come for consultations," "at what stage they proceed to examinations," and "what percentage end up signing a contract."
By capturing processes through numbers rather than intuition,you can clarify where the challenges lie in your clinic's workflow and move closer to becoming a practice that can anticipate the 'next steps' needed for improvement. Through data, you can
decipher what anxieties remain during the consultation (initial visit) stage, where hesitation arises when moving to examinations, and what barriers exist before signing a contract and translate that into responses that are attuned to the patient's level of understanding and feelings. This is the true role of KPIs in private-pay orthodontics.
The 'Visible System' Supported by b-align
b-align is Japan's first 'orthodontic-specialized PMS,' designed to view the clinical, administrative, and management processes of an orthodontic practice as a single flow, thereby enhancing the reproducibility of the entire clinic.
In upcoming feature updates, we are planning a 'Management KPI Function' that will allow you to track contract rates, operational status of each unit, contract conversion rates per staff member, and more. By enabling the entire team to share common metrics for 'where hesitation arises' and 'where there is room for improvement'—things that previously had to rely on intuition—b-align aims to be more than just a 'record-keeping' tool. It is designed to be a system that supports the quality of care and the sustainability of the clinic, and we will continue to evolve it to be even more user-friendly based on the feedback from orthodontic clinics.
▼ Case studies of clinics using b-align
Click here for details on 'b-align,' a cloud-based PMS designed exclusively for orthodontic clinics.