Clinics
The five numbers a clinic actually needs
Not twenty. Five, each with a target, reviewed weekly.
The short answer
Rebooking rate, practitioner utilisation, cancellation rate, new patients per practitioner and average revenue per appointment. Between them they describe demand, capacity, leakage and value. Almost everything else is detail underneath one of these.
1. Rebooking rate — target 85%+
(appointments with the next visit booked ÷ completed appointments) × 100
The clearest signal of whether care is continuing. It is also the fastest to move, because it is a process rather than a marketing spend. The full formula and common mistakes.
2. Practitioner utilisation — target 75–85%
(billable clinical hours ÷ available clinical hours) × 100
Your capacity picture and your hiring signal. Below 60% is a demand problem; sustained above 90% is a capacity problem arriving before the revenue dip. Why 100% is the wrong target.
3. Cancellation and no-show rate — target under 10%
(cancellations + no-shows ÷ scheduled appointments) × 100
Direction down. This one is worth watching by day of week and by practitioner, because the pattern usually points at a cause: a reminder that goes out too late, or a slot nobody wants.
4. New patients per practitioner per week
new patients ÷ practitioners (FTE) ÷ weeks in period
Your top of funnel, normalised so it stays comparable as you hire. A common target is three or more per practitioner per week, though it varies by discipline and by how established the practice is.
5. Average revenue per appointment
total revenue ÷ completed appointments
The number that quietly decides whether being busy is worth it. If appointments rise and this falls, you are working harder for the same money, and that is worth knowing before the quarter ends.
Reviewing them
Weekly, on one board, each with a target and a direction, each broken down by practitioner. That is a ten-minute conversation rather than a reporting project, and it is enough to run a clinic on.
See it on your own numbers.
Thirty days, no card. Start with your figures or a template for your trade.