Free marketing & patients tool
Patient Lifetime Value (LTV) Calculator
Patient lifetime value (LTV) is the gross profit a patient brings in over the whole relationship. The basic formula is average visit value × visits per year × years as a patient × gross margin. A $450 visit, 3 visits a year, 4 years and a 60% margin gives $5,400 of revenue and $3,240 of gross profit. Enter your numbers below, or switch to the membership mode.
Prepared by Prospyr · Reviewed October 3, 2026 · Free, no sign-up, runs in your browser
Revenue left after product and provider cost.
Optional. Gives LTV:CAC and payback.
Optional. 0 ignores the time value of money.
Lifetime gross profit per patient
$3,240
48 months of relationship. Lifetime revenue is $5,400.
Lifetime revenue
$5,400
Gross profit per month
$68
LTV:CAC
13 : 1
Gross profit ÷ CAC
CAC payback
3.7 mo
CAC ÷ monthly gross profit
LTV formula for a practice
The calculator uses two simple models. Pick the one that matches how the patient pays.
- Pay per visit: LTV = average visit value × visits per year × years × gross margin
- Membership: LTV = (monthly fee + add-on spend per month) × months retained × gross margin
- Months retained from churn: months = 100 ÷ monthly churn %
- LTV:CAC: lifetime gross profit ÷ cost to acquire the patient
- CAC payback: acquisition cost ÷ gross profit per month
The optional discount rate discounts each month of revenue by (1 + rate)^(month ÷ 12). Research on customer lifetime value reviews many richer models; the ones here are deliberately the ones you can fill in from your own books.
Worked example: injectable patient vs. membership patient
| Input | Pay per visit | Membership |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue basis | $450 × 3 visits/yr | $199/month |
| Time | 4 years (48 months) | 20 months (5% monthly churn) |
| Lifetime revenue | $5,400 | $3,980 |
| Gross margin | 60% | 60% |
| Lifetime gross profit | $3,240 | $2,388 |
| LTV:CAC at $250 | 13.0 : 1 | 9.6 : 1 |
| CAC payback | 3.7 months | 2.1 months |
The membership patient is worth less here only because the sample patient stays 20 months instead of 48. Membership churn is usually the number to watch, because every point of monthly churn cuts the lifespan. The memberships feature page covers how practices track it.
Where to find your inputs
Average visit value, visits per year and patient tenure all come from your scheduling and billing data. Pull them for a group of patients who first came in the same year so the years are real, not guessed. Gross margin is revenue minus product cost and provider cost for that service, divided by revenue.
Practices running reporting in Prospyr can read visit frequency and revenue per patient straight from the schedule. If your numbers come from a spreadsheet, a rough estimate is fine, as long as you use the same method each time so changes mean something.
Why LTV matters more than first-visit revenue
A new-patient visit often earns less than it cost to bring the patient in. Lifetime value shows whether the cost is worth paying. Pair this with the customer acquisition cost calculator to get the cost side, and the marketing ROI calculator to judge a channel. Harvard Business Review has noted that acquiring a new customer can cost anywhere from five to 25 times more than keeping an existing one, which is why the years input matters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate customer lifetime value?
Multiply average revenue per visit by visits per year and by the number of years a patient stays, then multiply by gross margin to get lifetime gross profit. For example, $450 × 3 visits × 4 years = $5,400 of revenue, and at a 60% margin that is $3,240 of gross profit. Use gross profit rather than revenue when you compare it with what you spend to win the patient.
What is a good LTV to CAC ratio?
A ratio of about 3 to 1 is a common rule of thumb in subscription software, and it is not a standard for medical practices. The honest test is simpler: lifetime gross profit should be well above acquisition cost, and the cost should be earned back quickly enough for your cash flow. The calculator shows both the ratio and the payback in months so you can judge it for your own practice.
What is the difference between CLV, CLTV and LTV?
Nothing meaningful. Customer lifetime value (CLV or CLTV) and LTV are different abbreviations for the same idea. In a practice it is the value of a patient over time. The papers that define it, such as Gupta and colleagues in the Journal of Service Research, treat it as the value of the long-term relationship.
How do I calculate lifetime value for a membership patient?
Multiply the monthly fee (plus any add-on spend per month) by the number of months a member stays, then apply gross margin. If you do not know the months, estimate them from monthly churn: lifespan in months is 100 divided by the churn percentage, so 5% monthly churn is about 20 months. A $199 membership kept 20 months is $3,980 of revenue.
Should I use revenue or profit for lifetime value?
Use gross profit. Revenue overstates what a patient is worth because product, injectables, consumables and provider time all cost money. The calculator shows both lifetime revenue and lifetime gross profit, and it uses profit for LTV:CAC and payback.
What does the discount rate do?
It values later years of revenue a little lower than earlier ones, because money received sooner is worth more. Leave it at 0 for a simple estimate. A rate of 10% per year on the default example lowers four-year revenue from $5,400 to about $4,470.
How can I raise patient lifetime value?
There are three levers in the formula: more visits per year, a longer relationship, and a higher margin per visit. Rebooking before the patient leaves, treatment plans, and memberships act on the first two. Change one input at a time in the calculator to see which lever moves the result most for your practice.
Sources and scope
- Gupta S, et al. Modeling Customer Lifetime Value. Journal of Service Research, 2006;9(2):139-155
Peer-reviewed review of implementable customer lifetime value models, used for the definition of LTV and for allocating spend between acquisition and retention.
- Gupta S, Lehmann DR. Customers as assets. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 2003;17(1)
Peer-reviewed. Shows how a simple formula can estimate the lifetime value of a customer.
- Gallo A. The Value of Keeping the Right Customers. Harvard Business Review, October 29, 2014
Source for the statement that acquiring a new customer can cost anywhere from five to 25 times more than retaining one.
Planning math from the numbers you enter, not a forecast or financial advice. The 3:1 LTV:CAC figure is a software-industry rule of thumb, not a standard for medical practices.