As part of a collaboration with business analytics provider, Gaidge, after each calendar quarter and full calendar year the AAO receives and shares with members key metrics compiled from a subset of Gaidge client practices. This subset includes:
● More than 300 single-doctor practices under $1 million in quarterly productivity; and
● More than 200 multiple-doctor practices with up to 10 locations.
The purpose of the collaboration is to aid members with assessment of practice health, short-term and long-term goal-setting and other key practice processes.
2021 Report Shows Substantial, Multi-Metric Growth Over 2020
The 2021 Gaidge full-year report suggests a strong recovery from the pandemic for the specialty, including double digit growth across all Key Performance Indicator categories, vs. 2020 figures:
▪ Production (single doctor practices up 22.5%, multi-doctor practices up 24.9%)
▪ Collection (single doctor practices up 13.2%, multi-doctor practices up 19.6%)
▪ New Patient Calls (single doctor practices up 20.6%, multi-doctor practices up 28.0%)
▪ Exams (single doctor practices up 24.6%, multi-doctor practices up 29.1%, with adult exams up 33.5% in single-doctor practices and 36.9% in multi-doctor practices)
▪ Starts (single doctor practices up 19.3%, multi-doctor practices up 21.9%). Aligner starts increased 31.4% in single-doctor practices and 37.3% in multi-doctor practices.
During 2021, industry observers speculated that the large number of adults seeking treatment may have been driven by the “Zoom effect” as many employees working remotely spend a great deal of time looking at themselves during Zoom meetings.
The adult “Zoom effect” likely had a major impact on the growth of starts across most of 2021. According to Gaidge, on average adult starts grew ~20% over traditional levels during 2021, with the result being an extra 36 starts per practice.
Multi-Doctor Practices Showed Growth vs. Pre-Pandemic Metrics
Gaidge notes that while in 2021 single-doctor practices fell slightly short of 2019 across the same KPIs listed above, despite the continuing impact of the pandemic during 2021multi-doctor practices showed some growth over 2019:
▪ Production (multi-doctor practices up 5.5%)
▪ Collection (multi-doctor practices up 2.0%)
▪ New Patient Calls (multi-doctor practices up 5.3%)
▪ Exams (multi-doctor practices up 4.7%, with adult exams up 14.2%)
▪ Starts (multi-doctor practices up 7.0%)
2021 Q4 Showed Growth vs. Q4 2020, but Less Than Previous 2021 Quarters
The 4th quarter of 2021 showed adult exams leveling off with other KPIs also increasing at a modest pace, as compared with the 4th quarter of 2020:
▪ Production (single doctor practices up 2.9%, multi-doctor practices up 4.4%)
▪ Collection (single doctor practices up 7.6%, multi-doctor practices up 11.5%)
▪ New Patient Calls (single doctor practices up 1.2%, multi-doctor practices up 2.5%)
▪ Exams (single doctor practices up 2.8%, multi-doctor practices up 2.2%, with adult exams up 3.4% in single-doctor practices and 3.2% in multi-doctor practices)
▪ Starts (single doctor practices down -.1%, multi-doctor practices up .7%). Aligner starts were less positive for the quarter than for the full year 2021 with single doctor practices down -.2% from Q4 2020 and multi-doctor practices up 8.8%.
Outlook for 2022
Unknowns include the potential emergence of new COVID variants, supply chain issues and overall economic uncertainties. Practice owners are advised to keep a close watch on how inflation is impacting their practices and whether fee increases may be needed.
The labor shortage impacting many industries, including the orthodontic specialty, is expected to continue. The AAO’s new Orthodontic Staff Shortage Task Force has begun work on developing solutions and resources for recruitment. Watch for more information on this topic in coming months in the Practice Management Bulletin and the eBulletin.
● Click here to view the Gaidge 2021 full-year chart
