Why Success Metrics Make or Break Patient Engagement

The first duty of a dental or oral surgery practice is to offer excellent health care. Once that’s covered, you also want to ensure you’re engaging your patients in a meaningful way; but it can be hard to understand what success looks like.

This is where understanding success metrics come in.

In this blog, we’ll take you through what we see in the field: the metrics where practices are seeing success and how you can identify relevant ones for patient engagement at your dental or oral surgery practice.

Patient Engagement and Why It Matters

Patient engagement in dental and oral surgery practices refers to fostering a collaborative relationship between patients and dental professionals. This approach encourages patients to take an informed and proactive role in decision-making, understanding their dental conditions, and adhering to treatment plans. Effective patient engagement can significantly improve oral health outcomes, enhance patient satisfaction, and lead to better management of chronic dental conditions.

In the context of dental care, patient engagement can encompass things like education and communication, and technology can make it a lot easier. By providing patients with comprehensive information about their dental health and treatment options, dental professionals empower them to make informed decisions. Through open and clear communication, patients feel more comfortable discussing their concerns and preferences, leading to personalized care plans. Plus, leveraging technology — such as digital records, appointment reminders, and educational resources — ensures patients stay informed and motivated to participate in their care, leading to a better overall experience of your practice

What is a Success Metric?

A success metric is a quantifiable measurement that can tell you if your patient engagement strategy is working. Success metrics, often referred to as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), are used by businesses in many sectors to measure success.

Right now, you might be thinking, isn’t the most important success metric the good health of the patients that a dental or oral surgery practice serves?

Of course it is! But since patient engagement is an important part of that picture, understanding if your strategy is working is so important.

Often, with KPIs or success metrics, teams will set goals using the acronym SMART:

• Specific: Know exactly what you want to achieve. Do you want higher confirmation rates, for example? Then measuring survey response rates aren’t going to tell you anything.

• Measurable: Be able to attach a number. If you want patient feedback and advocacy in the form of new social reviews, how many?

• Achievable: Set a challenge, but don’t make it unreasonable. It’s possible that setting patient engagement strategies is new for the practice you run or work for — so this may involve some trial and error!

• Relevant: Similar to having a specific goal in mind, it should also be meaningful for what you want to achieve. This allows you to focus on what you want to achieve.

• Time-bound: Set a specific time frame in which your team can achieve this specific, measurable, and relevant goal.

Success Metrics for Patient Engagement

So, let’s get specific! Here are some examples of success metrics for dental and oral surgery practices.

Recall rates and recall successes serve as pivotal indicators that patients are invested in their oral health by regularly attending recall appointments. This metric also reflects the practice’s ability to educate patients about the importance of oral health and demonstrates patient satisfaction, leading them to return for follow-up care.

Appointment confirmation rates are another crucial metric. High confirmation rates suggest that patients are committed and engaged, showing their emotional investment and trust in the practice. A high rate also implies effective communication strategies, with practices sending the right amount of reminders and appointment information, which often correlates with a lower no-show rate due to efficient appointment reminder cadences.

New social reviews provide valuable insights into patient satisfaction. Most patients who leave reviews tend to leave positive feedback, and a high number of social reviews shows that patients are happy and feel positive enough about their experience to share it publicly. These reviews can significantly influence prospective patients’ trust and choice of practice. According to Spiegel Research Centre, businesses with an average review rating of 4.2 to 4.5 stars on platforms like Google are the most trusted.

Lastly, survey response rates are essential for gathering accurate patient feedback. A higher response rate means more reliable data, allowing practices to strategize effectively based on patient experiences. It indicates that patients are passionate enough about their experience to provide constructive feedback, helping practices improve their services.

By closely monitoring these success metrics — recall rates, appointment confirmation rates, new social reviews, and survey response rates— dental and oral surgery practices can effectively assess and enhance their patient engagement strategies.

How Intiveo Supports with Success Metrics

Intiveo recently went live with two important pieces of content regarding success metrics, as well as industry benchmarks for patient engagement. 

Dental Patient Engagement in 2024: A Benchmark Report incorporates data from over 1,700 practices, between June 2023 and June 2024, to take a close look at the very metrics discussed in this blog. Using concrete benchmarks, this report offers an unprecedented look into patient engagement in the field for dental and oral surgery practices.

Patient Metrics Matter: Industry Benchmarks You Should Know is an on-demand webinar hosted by Intiveo’s VP of Customer Experience, Ryan Dalton, who offers insights into success metrics and industry benchmarks for patient engagement. 

Intiveo has created a number of resources, in addition to our blog, to support dental and oral surgery practices as they engage their patients, including guides, self-assessment calculators, template packages, and more. You can also tune into our podcast, The Patient Experience Blueprint.

Subscribe at the top right to get these resources directly to your inbox! 

Curious to learn more about how Intiveo can elevate your practice? Book some time with our team.