Started
Started means the patient signed and paid a deposit, or financing funded.
Started is the stage that matters commercially, because it is the first one where the patient has committed money. It is also the stage almost nobody in this category reports against, because it is smaller and slower to arrive than every number above it.
Our cost per seated arch figure is measured against this definition. A case that is treatment planned, approved, and enthusiastically discussed has not started until the deposit clears or the lender funds.
What is included and what is excluded
Counts
- A signed treatment agreement with a deposit received
- A financing application approved and funded by the lender
- A patient paying the full fee up front
Does not count
- Treatment planned production, however confidently quoted
- A verbal yes with no money moved
- A financing application submitted but not funded
- A signed plan where the deposit later fails or is refunded
A worked example
11.48 patients receive a plan with a fee, at a 30 percent start rate.
- 01Presented: 11.48
- 02Consult to start rate: 30 percent
- 0311.48 x 0.30 = 3.44
3.44 started cases from the original 100 leads, or roughly 3 in 100.
How this differs from
- Presented
Presented is the plan and fee. Started is money committed against it.
- Collected
Started is the deposit or funding. Collected is the money actually received.
- Cost per seated arch
Cost per seated arch uses started cases as its denominator, nothing earlier.
These definitions come from our published measurement standard. Read The Arch Standard for the reporting rules they sit inside, or see every term.
Want this measured in your practice? A consult walks through how we track it, if that is useful.
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