Profitability per treatment room: you know what each chair bills, not what it earns
Nextica Law & Tax acts as the outsourced finance director of a healthcare centre: a profit and loss account per treatment room, chair or clinical unit, with overheads allocated on an explainable basis; clinical cost per hour and margin by treatment type, which is what reveals what fills the schedule without filling the till; practitioner productivity and variable pay; equipment investment budgeting with its return; and the cash flow of a clinic that is paid in instalments or through finance providers while paying for materials up front.
The treatment that brings in the most patients is usually the one with the thinnest margin. Without a cost per procedure, there is no way to know.
What's included
1. A profit and loss account per treatment room, chair or clinical unit, with overheads allocated on an explainable and stable basis.
2. Calculating the clinical cost per hour
minutes of occupancy multiplied by practitioner, assistant, equipment depreciation, rent and overheads.
3. The real cost per treatment type, adding materials and laboratory, time, and what is not billed: included follow-ups, touch-ups and redos.
4. Margin by treatment and ranking the portfolio by that margin, which is what reveals what fills the schedule without filling the till.
5. Productivity per practitioner and designing variable pay from data rather than perception.
6. Equipment investment budgeting with the return calculated on actual occupancy rather than expected.
7. Cash flow for a clinic paid in instalments or through finance providers while paying for materials up front, with the lowest cash point marked.
THE TREATMENT THAT BRINGS THE MOST PATIENTS USUALLY EARNS THE LEAST
And without a cost per procedure there is no way to know. These three are not regulatory risks: they are what makes a fully booked clinic fail to make money.
Cost per treatment calculated only from materials and laboratory
it misses room time valued at an hourly cost and misses what is not billed —included follow-ups, touch-ups, laboratory redos and schedule gaps. Without the third piece, every treatment looks profitable.
Overhead allocation that changes from one quarter to the next
moving the key moves the ranking of units, and when the ranking moves nobody believes the numbers and decisions stop being taken.
A fully booked clinic with cash flow problems
materials and laboratory are paid immediately or at thirty days and equipment is financed with fixed instalments, while a growing share of income comes in by instalments or through a finance provider that deducts commission and settles later. The gap widens exactly when the clinic grows.
Frequently asked questions
How is the real cost of a treatment calculated?
By adding three things that are almost never added together. First, the materials and laboratory work for that specific procedure, the only one most clinics track. Second, time: the minutes of room or chair use multiplied by an hourly cost that includes the practitioner, the assistant, equipment depreciation, rent and overheads. And third, what is not billed: the included follow-ups, the touch-ups, the laboratory redos and the schedule gaps that treatment creates. Without the third, every treatment looks profitable.
Why can a fully booked clinic have cash flow problems?
Because it is paid later and pays earlier. Materials and laboratory work are paid immediately or at thirty days, equipment is financed with fixed instalments and payroll is monthly, while a growing share of income comes in by instalments —directly or through a finance provider that deducts its commission and settles later. That gap widens exactly when the clinic grows. Which is why a centre's dashboard should always carry, next to the margin, two figures: how much is outstanding for treatments already carried out, and which week holds the lowest cash point.
Content reviewed by
Elena Bosch Prat
Directora · Consultoría Contable y Financiera
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