Which numbers should a small clinic in India track every month?

Most clinic KPI lists online are written for hospitals with billing software and a revenue-cycle team. A small Indian clinic running mostly on calls, WhatsApp and UPI needs a shorter list, and none of it needs paid software.

Which numbers should you track first?

Eight numbers cover most of what a small clinic needs to know each month. Each one shows where enquiries turn into booked, attended, returning patients, and where they fall away instead. If you are still working on the bigger question of where new patients come from, our guide to getting more patients at your clinic covers that. This page is only about what to count once they start coming in.

How do I count enquiries by channel?

An enquiry is anyone asking about an appointment, whether they book it or not. Splitting the count by where it came from shows which channel actually brings people in, instead of guessing.

• Calls. Your phone's own call log for the day, or a paper tally kept at the desk if more than one phone is used.
• WhatsApp. Count new conversations that day in the chat list, not every message inside them.
• Google. Calls and messages that started from your Business Profile show up on their own in the Performance report, covered further down this page.

Try this for one week before a full month. A week is quick to count by hand and already shows which channel carries the most enquiries.

How do I track reply time?

Reply time is the gap between when a patient's message or call arrives and when someone at the clinic actually responds. It does not need special software to see.

• WhatsApp. Every message carries its own time. Check the time you actually replied, not the time you eventually got to it at the end of the day. The free WhatsApp Business app also has a Statistics screen (Business tools, then Statistics) that shows totals of messages sent, delivered, read and received for the account.
• Calls. Note the time a call was missed and the time it was called back, on the same sheet used for missed calls below.

Pick one busy day a week and write down the actual times for a handful of enquiries. A rough average across a few weeks is more useful than trying to track every single one.

How do I check that missed calls got a follow-up?

A missed call only turns into a lost patient if nobody calls or messages back. Keep a simple daily tally: how many calls were missed, and how many of those got a reply the same day, by call or WhatsApp.

Our guide to missed calls at your clinic has a ready-made count sheet for exactly this, along with what to say when you call back.

How do I count bookings and show-ups?

A booking is an enquiry that got a confirmed date and time, from any channel. A show-up is a booking that actually walked in. The gap between the two, divided by bookings, is your no-show rate.

A 2024 systematic review of outpatient no-show studies found a mean rate of 15.2% and a median of 12.9%, though individual studies ranged from about 10% to 30%, according to a review in Health Science Reports (opens in a new tab). Figures like "20 to 40%" on some vendor blogs have no study behind them, so treat those as marketing rather than a benchmark. Count your own clinic before comparing to any of these. If yours is high, our post on reducing no-shows at your clinic covers what to change.

How do I tell new patients from returning ones?

Ask at booking, or check whether the name or phone number already appears in your register or appointment book. It does not need to be exact to be useful.

A month heavy on new patients and a month heavy on returning ones are both normal. Watch the trend over three or four months, not one month on its own.

What do Google profile views and actions mean?

Your Google Business Profile has its own free Performance report. It shows how many people saw your listing, and what they did next.

Find it by searching your clinic on Google, opening your profile, and tapping Performance, or from Google Maps: open your business listing, tap "See more" next to Performance, choose a date range and apply. If your listing is not fully set up yet, our guide to Google Business Profile for clinics covers claiming and completing it.

How do I track reviews received and replied?

Two numbers here: how many new reviews came in this month, and how many of those got a reply from the clinic. Both are visible on your Business Profile under Reviews, with no separate tool needed.

Count the reply on its own from the star rating. A short, professional reply is something every review can get, good or difficult, and it is worth tracking as its own number.

How do I put this together every month?

Pick one day, for example the first Monday of the month, and fill in the same worksheet. This month's column against last month's is what turns eight numbers into a pattern.

After three or four months you will see your own normal, and a single unusual week will stop looking like a crisis.