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.
2020: Growth in Conversion Rates, Aligner Starts Helped Reduce COVID’s Impact
The Gaidge year-end report for 2020 indicates declines across most key performance indicators for client practices in the subset described above. Performance was not as low as some may have expected in comparison with 2019, however, as shown below:
● Compared with 2019, the 2020 Conversion rate rose by 6 points to 70.9% in single-doctor practices and by 3.3 points to 73.5% in multi-doctor practices. Possibly due to COVID-19 protocols, fewer people are seeking multiple opinions and more are saying “yes” following exams.
● The increase in Conversion helped mitigate the double-digit decline in exams vs. 2019 (-13.2% in single-doctor practices and -8.2% in multi-doctor practices).
● As a result, Starts were down by just 4.6% for single-doctor practices and 3.5% for multi-doctor practices.
● Aligner Starts showed solid growth over 2019 (up 8.6% in single-doctor practices and 4.7% in multi-doctor practices).
● The Net Production decrease was in the mid-single digits (-4.4% for single-doctor practices and -3.8% for multi-doctor practices).
● Net Collection went down slightly (-5% for single doctor practices and -3.4% for multi-doctor practices). The impact to Collections is expected to be felt into 2021.
● Showing little change were average contract fees (up 1.9% in single-doctor practices and down -1.1% in multi-doctor practices) and initial payments (up 2.7% in single-doctor practice and .1% in multi-doctor practices).
● New Patient Calls finished down by double digits (-10.9 for single-doctor practices and -11.0 for multi-doctor practices, as did Exams (-13.4% in single-doctor practices and
-8.2% in multi-doctor practices).
Click here to view the Gaidge 2020 Summary chart.
2020 Q4 Highlights and Insights from Gaidge
Double-digit growth in production over the 4th quarter of 2019 helped drive many practices to a stronger-than-expected conclusion to the year, building on the strength of Q3 2020. 2020 Q4 highlights include:
● Net Production increased by 12.6% in single-doctor practices and 15.3% in multi-doctor practices, as compared with Q4 2019.
● Total Patient Starts grew solidly, up 11.1% in single-doctor practices and 13.5% in multi-doctor practices. This growth was led by Aligner Starts, up 31.2% in single-doctor practices and 28.5% in multi-doctor practices as compared with Q4 2019.
● New Patient Calls increased by mid-single digits over Q4 2019 (3.4% in single-doctor practices and 6.7% in multi-doctor practices).
● Q4 Exams also showed an increase in the high single digits (6.1% in single-doctor practices and 10.1% in multi-doctor practices). This trend was heavily driven by growth in Adult Exams, however (up 17.6% in multi-doctor practices and 23.1% in multi-doctor practices).
Some industry observers have speculated that the upsurge in adults seeking treatment may have been driven by work-at-home protocols, with many employees spending a great deal of time looking at themselves during Zoom meetings.
