Practice Growth Calculator
Determine how many new patients you need per month to hit your revenue growth target, accounting for attrition and acquisition costs.
About this calculator
New Patients per Month Needed combines two separate demands into one number -- replacement patients needed to offset Annual Attrition Rate, and additional patients needed to hit Target Growth Rate -- then divides the twelve-month total and rounds up, so it answers a compound question rather than a single-driver one. Current New Patients per Month and Patient Acquisition Cost do not affect this figure at all: the first only measures how many new patients the practice is currently attracting (used for the separate Net Patient Growth output), and the second only converts the additional-patients figure into a marketing budget after the patient count has already been determined.
Active Patient Count and Annual Attrition Rate together set the replacement-patient floor -- more existing patients at a given churn rate means proportionally more patients lost and needing replacement each year -- while Target Growth Rate and New Patient First Year Value set the growth-patient requirement on top of that floor. Because attrition typically produces the larger of the two components for a mature practice with thousands of active patients, small changes to the Annual Attrition Rate tend to move the headline monthly target more than an equivalent percentage change to the growth target.
Medical Disclaimer
This calculator is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before making decisions about your health. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking it because of results from this tool.
Inputs
Results
New Patients / Month Needed
29
How to Use This Calculator
- Enter Current Annual Collections and your Target Growth Rate (%).
- Input New Patient First Year Value and Current New Patients per Month.
- Set the Annual Attrition Rate (%) to account for patient loss.
- Enter Patient Acquisition Cost to calculate marketing ROI.
- Review New Patients per Month Needed, Revenue Growth Target, and Growth Patients Needed per Year.
How the result changes with Annual Attrition Rate
| Annual Attrition Rate | New Patients / Month Needed |
|---|---|
| 7.5 | 19 |
| 11 | 24 |
| 23 | 39 |
| 38 | 57 |
What each input means
- Current Annual Collections ($)
- Current annual practice collections.
- Target Growth Rate
- Desired annual revenue growth percentage.
- New Patient 1st Year Value ($)
- Average revenue a new patient generates in their first year (exam, cleaning, treatment).
- Current New Patients / Month
- How many new patients you currently attract per month.
- Annual Attrition Rate
- Percentage of active patients lost per year (move, switch, lapse). Typical: 10-20%.
- Active Patient Count
- Number of patients seen within the last 18-24 months.
- Patient Acquisition Cost ($)
- Average marketing cost to acquire one new patient. Typical: $150-$350.
What each result means
- New Patients / Month Needed
- Total new patients per month to hit growth target (includes replacement for attrition).
- Revenue Growth Target
- Dollar amount of revenue growth needed.
- Target Annual Collections
- Target total annual collections.
- Growth Patients Needed / Year
- Additional new patients needed beyond replacement for growth.
- Replacement Patients / Year
- New patients needed just to replace annual attrition.
- Total New Patients / Year
- Total new patients needed annually (replacement + growth).
- Annual Patient Loss
- Patients lost annually due to attrition.
- Monthly Marketing Budget
- Monthly marketing spend needed for growth patients.
- Annual Marketing Budget
- Total annual marketing budget for all new patient acquisition.
- Marketing ROI
- Return on marketing investment for growth patients.
How this is calculated
Worked example, using the default values
- Identify Input Parameters7 parametersCurrent Annual Collections ($) = 900000, Target Growth Rate = 15, New Patient 1st Year Value ($) = 1200, Current New Patients / Month = 20, Annual Attrition Rate = 15, Patient Acquisition Cost ($) = 250, Active Patient Count = 1500 = 7 input(s) provided
- Calculate New Patients / Month NeededNew Patients / Month Needed = ceil(totalNewPatientsNeeded / 12)29 = 29
- Calculate Revenue Growth TargetRevenue Growth Target = currentAnnualCollections * (targetGrowthPct / 100)135000 = $135,000
- Calculate Target Annual CollectionsTarget Annual Collections = currentAnnualCollections + revenueGrowthTarget1035000 = $1,035,000
Engine last updated . Checked against 1 independently-derived test — how we verify calculators. Built by Paul Gunder, a software engineer, not a licensed financial, medical, or legal professional.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why doesn't raising Current New Patients per Month reduce the New Patients per Month Needed figure?
Current New Patients per Month measures how many new patients the practice is already attracting, which the calculator reports separately as Net Patient Growth, but New Patients per Month Needed is calculated purely from the replacement-plus-growth math (attrition rate times active patients, plus revenue growth target divided by new-patient value). It does not subtract current performance from the target, so the two figures answer different questions rather than one feeding the other.
Does Patient Acquisition Cost change how many new patients are needed?
No -- Patient Acquisition Cost is only used after the required patient count has already been calculated, to convert that count into a Monthly Marketing Budget and Annual Marketing Budget figure. New Patients per Month Needed itself is determined entirely by attrition replacement and revenue growth targets, independent of what it costs to acquire each patient.
Why does Annual Attrition Rate usually move the target more than Target Growth Rate?
Annual Attrition Rate applies directly to the full Active Patient Count, and for a practice with a large existing patient base that replacement requirement is often the bigger of the two components feeding New Patients per Month Needed, compared with the growth-driven component derived from Target Growth Rate and New Patient First Year Value. A practice with few active patients or a very high growth target could see the balance shift the other way, but at typical default values attrition tends to dominate.
What is the difference between Replacement Patients per Year and Growth Patients Needed per Year?
Replacement Patients per Year is the number of new patients required just to offset those lost to Annual Attrition Rate and keep the active patient count flat, while Growth Patients Needed per Year is the additional patient count required on top of that replacement floor to hit the Revenue Growth Target. Total New Patients per Year adds the two together, and New Patients per Month Needed simply divides that combined total by twelve.
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