PT / Who we treat / D-02 · SPECIALTY DENTAL
The referral pad built the practice. It's also the ceiling.
Specialty dental presents with a split personality: referral-fed insurance work, and self-pay procedures that need direct demand. Most groups fund the first and starve the second.
SUBJECTIVE
"GPs send less every year — the DSOs keep it in-house now." · "Our implant ads bring tire-kickers." · "We can't tell which referrer sent what."
OBJECTIVE — what we find on intake
Self-pay conversion off the site is negligible · referral sources untracked past the intake sheet · acquisition cost on cash procedures unknown · specialist volume conflated with general-practice volume
ASSESSMENT
Two funnels forced through one pipe. The referral network is an asset nobody instruments, and self-pay demand gets bought like insurance demand — broad, unqualified, and priced like it doesn't matter.
PLAN
Referral-engine instrumentation · self-pay funnels split by procedure margin · financing-forward consult flows · pre-exit narrative built for consolidators
WHAT WE MEASURE
- Self-pay consult conv.
- Referral attribution
- CAC, cash procedures
- New patients / mo / loc
- Months to system
RELATED CASE FILES