Most practice owners know missed calls are a problem. Very few know what the problem costs, because a patient who never got through doesn’t show up on any report.
You don’t need industry averages for this. Your own numbers are better, and you can get them in about ten minutes.
What you’ll need
- Your phone system’s call log for one normal week. Look for calls marked missed, unanswered, abandoned, or sent to voicemail.
- A rough sense of who calls. What share of your calls are from new patients? If you’re not sure, ask your front desk. They usually know.
- What a new patient is worth to your practice in their first year. Your practice management software or accountant can help.
The worksheet
New patients lost per month0
Revenue lost per month$0
Revenue lost per year$0
The starting numbers are only an example. Replace every one with your own.
How to read your number
Whatever the calculator shows, it’s probably low. It only counts new patients who called once and gave up. It doesn’t count:
- Existing patients who couldn’t reschedule and became no-shows instead.
- Marketing you already paid for. Every ad, postcard, and Google listing that made the phone ring, only for the call to land in voicemail.
- Referrals that never happened from the new patients who never came in.
Pull last week’s call log and circle every missed call that came in during lunch or after closing. Those are the calls an AI front desk would have answered. That one circle count tells you most of what you need to know.
What to do with the number
Compare it to what it would cost to cover those calls. Another front desk hire costs a full salary and still goes home at five. An AI front desk covers lunch, evenings, and weekends, answers questions, and books or captures appointments, inside the phone and scheduling tools you already use.
If you want help reading your call log, that’s exactly what a workflow assessment is for. We go through where calls and patients slip through in your office and show you what it’s costing you.