How the recurring-revenue math works
Monthly program revenue equals active members times the monthly fee. Lifetime value of a program patient equals the monthly fee times the average number of months a patient stays enrolled. Monthly contribution equals program revenue minus medication cost, minus supplies and labs, minus the clinical time at what that time costs you. The one input that moves the whole model is months enrolled, and it is the one many practices never measure. Every number comes from your own practice; none of them should be borrowed from a vendor's slide.
A worked example, labelled illustrative
Say an illustrative practice enrolls 40 patients at $400 a month, which bills $16,000 a month while they all stay. If medication, supplies and clinical time run $180 per patient per month in this example, that leaves $220 per patient and $8,800 of monthly contribution. With an average stay of seven months in this illustrative case, each enrollment is worth about $2,800 in revenue. Adding one month to the average stay across all 40 adds $16,000 to the year in this example. Replace every input with your own before you act on any of it.
What has to be true operationally
Programs built on GLP-1 medications or on hormone therapy live or die on the month-to-month routine, not on the first consult. Confirm the clinical model, the supervision and the consent process with your medical director and counsel; what follows is the operational layer around whatever model they approve. Each piece below needs a named owner before the first patient enrolls.
| Operational piece | What it has to do | Who owns it |
|---|---|---|
| Intake | Capture the patient, the consent, the program tier and the start date in the record system, and book the first check-in before they leave | Front desk, with the provider signing off |
| Monthly check-in | A booked touchpoint every month, in person or remote, on the calendar before the previous one ends | The provider; the system reminds |
| Refill reminder | A message a set number of days before the refill is due, without naming the medication, with the booking or pickup link, and a second one if there is no reply. What may be said by text is for counsel and your medical director to confirm | The system, in the provider's voice |
| Lapse comeback | When a check-in is missed or a refill goes unclaimed, a message from the provider within the week, by name, with one question and one link | The system, with the provider answering replies |
| The dashboard line | Active members, new enrollments, lapses and months enrolled, updated weekly and visible to the owner | The owner reads it; the system keeps it |
Launch it to the existing patient list first
- Pull every active patient from the record system and remove anyone the provider flags as unsuitable to approach. The provider decides who is a candidate; the list only decides who hears about it.
- Write one message from the provider announcing the program as something the practice now offers, with a link to a consult, not a sales page.
- Send it in three waves a week apart so the consult calendar can absorb the replies, and follow every reply the same day.
- Only then put it on the website and in the new-patient flow. The existing list is the cheapest launch you will ever run, and it tells you how to describe the program to strangers.
How to do this on Monday
- Write the five operational pieces on one page with a name next to each.
- Set the dashboard line up in a spreadsheet if nothing else: members, enrolled this month, lapsed this month, average months enrolled.
- Book the consult with your medical director and counsel to confirm the clinical model and consent.
- Draft the provider's launch message and the refill and lapse messages, so they exist before the first patient does.
What to do next
NorthCore's Launch a treatment solution builds the operations around the model your medical director approves: the launch to your list, the check-in and refill reminders, and the program line on the dashboard. Scoped in writing and covered by the promise on this site: results in 90 days, or we keep working until you have them.
