We talk about client attendance rate a lot here at The Practice Lab. We’ve covered:
But what is a “good” client attendance rate and what should you aim for?
The answer depends on a number of factors.
Appointment Volume
A 50% attendance rate means vastly different things based on how many appointments you’ve had. For example, 50% of 4 sessions is 2, and it’s not really enough sessions to judge your attendance rate on. However, 50% of 20 sessions is 10, which equates to higher lost revenue and can indicate a more serious pattern.
Time of Year
Appointment volume and client attendance generally differ based on the time of year. Most private practices experience a significant dip over the December and January period. While managing client attendance rates is still essential during these periods, it’s not exactly representative of your average client attendance rate over a normal period.
Your Practice Patterns
Depending on the unique aspects of your practice, it may follow a different attendance and volume trend. Having an understanding of this is important when measuring and managing your client attendance rate.
Type of Appointments
Some practices experience a lower (or inconsistent) attendance rate if they see a high percentage of bulk billing or EAP clients. The attendance rate goal has to be specific to your practice and the type of appointments you see most often.
There are many other factors that could interfere with a fair analysis of client attendance rates in private practice, but what is the rule of thumb?
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Generally speaking, you should aim for a monthly client attendance of 85% or higher. 85% is a realistic and sustainable goal for many private practice businesses. Of course, the higher the attendance rate, the better, but most private practices can be financially stable with a 15% DNA rate.
A lot of private practice owners (in psychology) generally sit around 75%-80%. If your practice attendance rate is in this range, you have room to improve but there is no need to panic.
If your average overall client attendance rate tends to be lower than 75% however, it is time to take action and make some changes in your practice.
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