An unhelpful statistic

Stop tracking your acceptance rate

I've talked with a lot of practices regarding their case acceptance and how to improve it. One statistic seems to be very prevalent and many practices can't wait to show me theirs – acceptance rate (conversion rate).

This statistic is a percentage calculated by dividing the amount of dentistry accepted by the amount of dentistry presented. Some "gurus" say that this figure should be in the 70-80% range.

I say "bunkum".

The problem with tracking this statistic is that it puts pressure on you in two ways that are undesirable:

1. Under-diagnosis
   The less treatment you diagnose the better your figures will be. Want 100% acceptance rate? Just diagnose a scale and clean and nothing else for every patient.

2. Pressuring
   If you track this figure the tendency is to try to improve it by "leaning in" to your treatment discussions. I.e. pressure the patient. Ironically pressuring the patient actually lowers acceptance and loses patients from the practice.

So, my suggestion is that if you track acceptance rate to stop doing so immediately.

Instead, let every patient know about ideal dentistry and what it can do for them but do so in a way that is devoid from pressure or stress.

That is the best thing for your patients and for you.