What it does
Four numbers from last month and it tells you the two break evens that matter: the collections that keep the lights on, and the collections that also pay you what you asked for. Both in dollars a month and in patient visits a day, which is the number your front desk can actually schedule to.
What you will need
- Fixed costs a month. Rent, team pay, loan payments, software, insurance. Everything that does not move when the schedule is empty.
- Variable cost percent. Supplies, lab and card fees as a share of collections. About 12 percent is normal.
- The pay you want. Salary plus the profit you want to take home.
- Collections per visit. Collections divided by visits. 250 to 450 in a general practice.
How to read it
- Lights on is the floor. Below it the practice is eating its reserves.
- With you paid is the real target. Schedule to this number, not the floor.
- Margin of safety is how far last month sat above the target. Under 5 percent, one slow week erases the month. Above 15 percent, the practice can absorb a bad one.
The lever most owners miss
Every $1,000 of fixed cost removed drops break even by about $1,140 of collections, because you no longer have to collect the variable cost on top of it. The second lever is collections per visit: a fee schedule at the 80th percentile moves break even further than any marketing budget.
Want the three numbers that matter most in your practice, from your own figures? That is what a Snapshot is. See the Path.