Dental Practice CPR: 3 Numbers That Reveal Your Revenue Health

A full schedule and strong production numbers can hide a quiet problem: the money your practice earns is not the same as the money it collects. The gap between the two is where revenue slips away, one unworked claim and one incorrect write-off at a time.

In my chapter of The Dental Exit Blueprint, I use a simple framework to check a practice's revenue health. I call it CPR, because like any vital sign, these three numbers tell you quickly whether something needs attention.

• C: Net Collection rate
• P: Percentage of AR over 90 days
• R: Receivable days

You can pull all three from your practice management system's standard reports in a few minutes each month.

C: Net collection rate

Your net collection rate shows how much of the revenue you are entitled to actually reaches your bank account.

Formula: Net collections ÷ (Gross production − Contractual adjustments) × 100

Here is an example with round numbers. A practice produces $100,000 in a month and writes off $30,000 in contractual PPO adjustments. That leaves $70,000 the practice is entitled to collect. If the practice collects $66,500, its net collection rate is 95 percent.

My goal for practices is a net collection rate of at least 95 percent. When the number drops below that, common causes include:

• Denied claims that nobody reworks or appeals
• Patient balances that are never collected
• Write-offs that should not have happened, such as applying a new PPO fee schedule before the contract takes effect

P: Percentage over 90 days

This number shows how much of your accounts receivable has been waiting longer than 90 days.

Formula: AR older than 90 days ÷ Total AR × 100

Age matters because the older a claim gets, the harder it is to collect. Claims pass timely filing and appeal windows, patients move, and details get lost. A rising percentage over 90 days usually means claims are not being followed up consistently, or denials are sitting untouched.

Rather than chasing a single benchmark, watch your own trend. If this percentage climbs two months in a row, look at the oldest claims first and ask why each one is still open.

R: Receivable days

Receivable days, sometimes called days in AR, estimates how long it takes your practice to turn production into cash.

Formula: Total AR ÷ Average daily net production

For example, a practice with $84,000 in total AR and $70,000 in net production over a 30-day month produces about $2,333 per day. Divide $84,000 by $2,333 and you get roughly 36 receivable days.

Lower is better, because it means money moves into your account faster. Whatever formula your reports use, keep it consistent from month to month so the trend stays meaningful.

How to track your CPR each month

1. Run the same reports on the same day each month.
2. Record your net collection rate, percentage over 90 days, and receivable days.
3. Compare each number with the last three to six months.
4. When any number moves the wrong way two months in a row, find the cause before it becomes a pattern.

The trend matters more than any single month. A holiday, a new hire, or a software change can cause a one-month dip. A steady slide is a signal.

When the numbers point to something bigger

A sudden drop in your net collection rate is not always a billing problem. Adjustments and write-offs are also where revenue can disappear through mistakes or, sometimes, theft. If your collection rate falls without an obvious reason, review your adjustment reports line by line, and make sure the person posting adjustments is not the only person reviewing them.

Check your practice's CPR

Use the free CPR checker to calculate all three numbers from your monthly reports. Your numbers stay in your browser and are never saved or sent.

If your results raise questions, book a revenue review and we will walk through them together.