Capacity, Price, or Patient Mix—Pick Your Growth Lever

Doctors CFO
Oct 15
3 min read

When growth stalls, the reflex is usually: “We just need more customers.” Sometimes that’s true. More often, it’s not. Most businesses don’t grow by piling on volume—they grow by pulling one of three levers: Capacity, Price, or Patient Mix. The real challenge is identifying which lever matters right now, then focusing relentlessly on it for the next 30–90 days.

A Quick Story: One Clinic, Three Levers

A mid-sized physical therapy clinic hit a wall: revenue flatlined even though new patients kept calling.

At first, the owner thought they needed more marketing. But a closer look told a different story:

Capacity was maxed—therapists were booked three weeks out.
Price hadn’t been raised in years, despite strong satisfaction scores.
Patient Mix showed half the visits were low-margin wellness sessions, crowding out higher-value rehab work.

In 60 days, they pulled two simple moves: raised prices 5% for new patients and shifted scheduling to favor rehab sessions. The result? More revenue with fewer burnout hours—growth without chasing more volume.

Lever 1: Capacity – The Operational Bottleneck

Capacity is the foundation: the time, rooms, and people available to generate revenue. If your providers are booked weeks out, chairs are full, or the waiting line is longest at peak hours, capacity—not marketing—is your true constraint.

Tactics to pull this lever:

Extend hours only on your highest-demand days.
Tighten downtime between appointments.
Add part-time coverage during peaks.
Remove steps that slow down throughput.

Capacity is less about “working harder” and more about running tighter.

Lever 2: Price – The Fastest Accelerator

Price is both a signal of value and a lever for cash flow. If your calendar is consistently full and customer satisfaction is strong, odds are you’re underpricing your value.

Tactics to pull this lever:

Roll out small, staged increases.
Grandfather loyal customers while testing new tiers.
Introduce premium bundles or concierge options.
Frame your price around outcomes, convenience, and expertise.

When capacity is maxed, price is the fastest way to unlock growth without adding overhead.

Lever 3: Patient Mix – Who You Serve and What You Deliver

If you can’t broadly raise prices and capacity is fixed, growth comes from shaping your patient mix. Not all services or patient segments contribute equally.

Tactics to pull this lever:

Highlight premium services over low-margin ones.
Re-sequence schedules to favor higher-contribution patients.
Bundle offerings to lift revenue per encounter.

Optimizing patient mix often requires stronger data discipline—knowing contribution after labor and pass-through costs is the difference between real growth and busywork.

A Simple 10-Minute Audit

Ask yourself:

Are you full? If yes → Start with Price.
Not full, but uneven demand by time/service? → Start with Capacity.
Full, but price-constrained by contracts or market? → Adjust Patient Mix.
None of the above? → Your issue is top-of-funnel. Fix show rate and new-client %. Ads should be the last move, not the first.

Metrics That Keep You Honest

Visits per day (by provider, location, day)
Show rate and cancellations
Revenue per encounter (by service/segment)
Contribution margin after labor and pass-throughs
Cycle time (arrival → completion)

Growth isn’t guesswork—it’s discipline with numbers.

The 30-Day Sprint Plan

Week 1: Pick your lever. Publish the target (+6% price on Tier B, or +1 hour on Tue/Thu peaks, or +15% share of premium services).

Week 2: Update schedules, pricing tables, and booking prompts. Train your team. Refresh scripts and FAQs.

Week 3: Monitor daily. Remove friction (checkout delays, code mapping errors, confusion).

Week 4: Review KPI shifts. Lock in what worked. Plan the next sprint.

Avoid These Pitfalls

Pulling all three levers at once.
Setting a dozen KPIs instead of 2–3.
Skipping team training and leaving staff unprepared.

Customers accept price or patient mix changes when the experience matches the message. Teams deliver when the playbook is clear and simple.

Bottom Line

Don’t chase volume blindly. Diagnose the real bottleneck, pick one lever, and execute with discipline. Sustainable growth is usually one good decision away.