Growth in revenue and patient visits was stronger in October 2023 compared to October 2022 than we saw in the months prior, and this has led to an uptick in the last-twelve-month growth. (Note that October 2023 had the same number of workdays as October 2022.) October 2023 revenue growth compared to October 2022 was 7.7% compared to 1.3% in September and 4.3% in August. Patient visit numbers actually grew 0.9% in October 2023 compared to October 2022; ten of the twelve previous months had shown a decline. New client, active patient and lapsing patient numbers continue to decline.
This month, VHMA introduced a new metric in its Insiders’ Insights dashboard. It is called the Bonding Rate and is defined as the percentage of patients who return within 18 months of their first visit. Bonding rates can, of course, be used over the lifetime of the pet and not just after the literal first visit. They can also be used for different time periods and are very often calculated using a twelve-month period. The time frame used should correlate with the cycle of medical recommendations made to clients and the practice’s expectations of how frequently they want to see clients. If the practice focuses on seeing every pet every six months, then a bonding rate based on a 6-8-month period might be best. If the cycle of recommendations covers a one-year period, then a bonding rate based on 12-14 months likely makes more sense. And if the recommendation cycle is longer, then 18 months will work well. Using a bonding rate timeframe that is much longer than the frequency the practice wants to see their patients gives a false sense as to how well the practice is doing in providing the medical care the pets need. As noted on the dashboard, the average 18-month bonding rate over the last year has fluctuated between 62.7% and 66.7%, depending on the month.
Client bonding is, of course, based on providing the services a pet owner wants in a way they want and at a price they consider to represent the value of what they received. The bonding rate is a great way for a practice to measure progress in retaining clients.
Identifying what the clients in a particular practice want is critical to increasing retention. This can be done by:
- Formal practice client surveys
- Informal conversations with clients
- Focus groups
- Review of complaints and fan letters sent to the practice
- Review of online reviews
There are a thousand different actions a practice can take to increase retention including:
- Improvement in every aspect of client service—returning phone calls faster, reducing wait time, scheduling appointments sooner
- Increasing and improving communication—using better words, making sure clients get all their questions answered, etc.
- Offering more convenient hours
- Adding mobile services and medication/food delivery
- Forward booking
- Scheduling clients with the same doctor team
- Offering more payment alternatives
- Dealing with unhappy clients in a better fashion
And on and on and on—none of the ideas above are new but all of these and others are the small building blocks necessary to improving the client experience, client retention, and increasing the bonding rate.
➤ Download Insiders' Insights - KPI, November 2023 Report
➤ VHMA Members can access the dashboard to drill down by region, species, and practice size filters, access the interactive KPI dashboard.
Karen E. Felsted, CPA, MS, DVM, CVPM, CVA of PantheraT Veterinary Management Consulting, www.PantheraT.com, provides data review and commentary.
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