---
title: "What missed patient calls cost · BuiltByEstrada"
description: "See what missed calls cost your practice in new patients and whether an answering service or AI receptionist pays for itself."
url: "https://builtbyestrada.ai/tools/practice-missed-call-cost/"
lang: "en"
---

# What missed patient calls cost

Free tool · Health

Every unanswered call can be a new patient who books somewhere else. See what those calls are worth and whether an answering service pays for itself.

New patient value at risk a month

$5,720

At these numbers

The service pays for itself. It recovers about $7.63 for every dollar you spend.

Recovered by the service a month

$2,288

Net a month

$1,988

Recovered for each $1 you spend

$7.63

Missed calls a month it must book to break even

12 calls

Value of one new patient in the first year

$330

New patient value at risk a year

$68,640

An estimate for planning. Check the numbers with your accountant before you decide.

## How the math works

Value of one new patient = revenue per visit × visits in the first year. Value at risk a month = missed calls a week × new patient share × that value × 52 ÷ 12. It counts new patients only.

Recovered a month = value at risk × the share the service would book. Net a month = recovered − the monthly price. Recovered for each $1 = recovered ÷ the monthly price.

Break even = the monthly price ÷ (new patient share × new patient value × booked share), rounded up. The service pays for itself once it books that many missed calls a month.

The example is a clinic that misses 20 calls a week, with 20% from new patients worth $110 a visit for 3 visits, against a $300 a month service that books 40%. All of these are example numbers.