New Patients per Month: Reconcile the First Event

Which date defines new patients per month?

Open Dental's New Patients Report uses the first completed procedure date rather than the stored Date of First Visit field. That field follows separate update rules and can move when a new-patient appointment is rescheduled before any procedure is complete. Check which date an export actually uses. New Patients Report and first-visit field rules describe the distinction.

For a transaction review, put the month and event in the label. “February new patients, first completed procedure basis” gives the next reviewer a testable rule. A field called first visit may sound similar while answering a different question. Do not combine the two measures into a growth trend until their membership has been reconciled.

Worked example: two February counts

All people and dates here are invented. Review the supplied file on March 2, 2026, and count dates from February 1 through February 28, inclusive. Each letter represents one distinct person. The table supplies the stored values; it does not claim that one software workflow must produce them.

Four people have a stored first-visit date in February: B, C, E and F. Three have their first completed procedure in February: A, B and F. The difference of one does not mean there is just one disputed record. Person A appears only in the completed-event count; C and E appear only in the stored-field count.

That membership check explains the gap more fully than comparing totals alone. Person D is outside both February groups. A later return visit for D would not change the supplied first completed procedure date. Neither total measures everyone treated during the month.

Test date changes separately

In the first sensitivity, change only A's supplied first completed procedure date to January 31. The February completed-event count falls to two, B and F. The stored-field count remains four. This is a separate hypothetical file, not an instruction to alter a clinical record.

For the second sensitivity, return to the original table and supply a first completed procedure date of February 25 for C. The completed-event count becomes four: A, B, C and F. The stored-field count is also four, yet its members remain B, C, E and F. Equal totals can still describe different groups.

Use the reconciliation in a purchase review

Keep the chosen definition stable across the periods being compared. Save the report settings, extraction date and exception list. Ask the person who maintains the records to explain the exceptions, using a controlled review process. A date mismatch may need investigation; it is not proof of an error or of misleading conduct.

For a sale discussion, keep early outreach seller-blind and omit owner and practice identity, exact location, financials and staff details. Require an NDA before an authorized buyer receives identifying evidence. Time staff involvement around their real reporting and transition duties. Use aggregate counts first; patient-level access needs a separate lawful basis.

Summary: compare membership before growth

The base case gives four stored dates and three first completed events. In the second sensitivity, both totals reach four while the people still differ. Reconcile those memberships before presenting a change as growth.

Read active patient counts, recall reappointment rate, production reports and procedure mix for related measures. The buyer guide and DSO overview cover the wider transaction. Discuss the report review.