Dentists- Did your dental hygienist’s production (really) show an 8.8% increase for 2023?
Determining if and how the fee increases from provincial fee guides happened in your practice will tell if your practice realized the increases and will also tell you if you are positioned to realize the 2024 increase (+4%).
Making this determination is a simple matter of doing the math. There are many variables such as the number of hours worked year over year but there is one number which answers our question that will factor in all the variables. HYGIENE PRODUCTION PER HOUR is what you need to determine.
The first step is to determine your hygiene production numbers from August to December 2022. Why start in August? Before that we still had fallow time to deal with and that time factor may have changed from operatory to operatory as fallow times ranged from five to fifteen minutes. So, for consistency, August to December 2022 is your best starting date.
How to Determine you Dental Hygienist's Production
Below you will see how to calculate your dental hygienists’ average billing per hour (including exams, x-rays, and all hygiene services) and once you have determined this calculation, you have a base number to continue with your analysis.
For example:
If your hygienist spent 630 hours of patient care (actual chairside hours) in those 5 months and produced $170,100 then
Dental Hygienist Average
$270 per hour/per patient
August – December 2022
See the following examples to determine the average billing for 2023 and 2024.
Calculated Average for 2023
2022 per hour/per patient + fee guide increase
$270 + 8.8% ODA Fee Schedule Increase = $294
The average calculation defines how production should have organically moved from $270 (2022) to $294 (2023) due to an 8.8% fee schedule increase.
This is not a party trick! This is simple math.
In our current year, 2024, the ODA Fee Guide increased by 4%
$294 (2023) + 4% = $306 (2023)
To quantify this into actual dollars, if your dental hygienist patient care (not hours in-office) time was 1400 hours for 2023, the production should be $411, 600 for 2023, and for 2024 that production goal should be $428,400.
2023 Dental Hygienist
1400 hours x $294 = $411,600
2024 Dental Hygienist
$1400 hours x $ 306 = $428,400
Did you realize a fee guide increase for 2023?
In the above example, if your production was $380,000 or less for 2023, you did not realize a fee guide increase for 2023. And, based on our experience with our clients, if you didn’t achieve this increase you’re not alone! Most didn’t!
This may be simple math, but for far too many dentists it’s also very costly economics. If you don’t realize this simple, organic growth, at the end of 2024 you will have left $150,000 of your most profitable dollars on the table.
So, will you realize a fee schedule increase for 2024?
Chat with us and we will show you how we can get you on track to a better 2024.