Clackamas Dental Consultant | Dental Practice Solutions

Transition Now – Dentist Retirement Planning

By: Dr. David Black, DDS, FICD, FACD

June 25, 2019

I retired from private practice four years ago. I had a successful 40+ year run doing general restorative and cosmetic dentistry. I had associates, and I worked as a solo practitioner. In the end, a couple of young entrepreneurs bought my practice and I worked as an associate for four years before stepping away from the chair.

This blog is about transitioning your practice now. It’s about retirement planning.

Retirement from dentistry, done right, is not just the act of stepping away from clinical dentistry but many things need to be considered first.

There are many things that need to be considered before retiring and transitioning from your dental practice.

1. Can I get full value at the sale?

2. Can I even sell the practice?

3. Do I have adequate funds to be able to live well for the next 20-30 years?

4. What will I do in retirement?

Can I get full value at the time of the sale?

This is also tied to the question, do you have enough saved to retire? I worked with consultants about ten years before I sold to analyze my situation. I discovered I needed to increase the value of the practice by increasing the production and collections in the practice. Most sales are based on one of several evaluations, but mostly a three- year average of your collections. What that meant for me was the need to get another consultant to help me improve my systems, train my staff to be more productive, and save a large portion of my increases.

Values and production have changed in the ten years since I did this, but back then the magic number was to get production/collections above one million dollars. I am sure the ideal number is higher than that now.

The proposition is that you have to create an asset that someone finds valuable. To get top dollar, you must create something that is something of value, but also something the buyer sees as having growth potential. This sometimes means improving the physical plant or doing cosmetic things to increase value. The biggest thing you have to do is increase the total collections.

Can I even sell the practice?

I bought the records of a practice for $5000 when the aging doctor decided to retire. Unfortunately, he had ridden the practice down to next to nothing. His physical plant was old and the equipment was ancient.

I have seen several doctors just walk away from their practice. For that reason, I intentionally positioned myself to sell at the peak of production and I made my office attractive and functional. Some small rural areas may have the same problem as this dentist I bought out because it is hard to find doctors who want to live in the area.

You can discuss what you have with a broker or a dental consultant that helps with transitions to see if you have a problem practice you want to sell.

Do you have adequate funds to be able to live well for the next 20-30 years?

We are living longer. My financial planner told me we have to plan to survive until age 93. The good news is that we are enjoying a longer life.

The bad news is that we need more money and other assets to support us for more years. This is something I did not have the skill to project, so I found another expert to help me plan.

Hopefully you will have a paid-for home and other cash producing assets in addition to your retirement funds to help.

You also have to figure what your standard of living is and how much it will cost you to have a lasting income. The answer to this is to start early, defer as much gratification as you possibly can, so that you can survive your extra years in comfort.

My reality was that I did not have enough money and I wasn’t on the correct financial trajectory at first, but with planning and execution, I finally made it. At the rate I am going, I should spend my last dollar at age 93.

What will I do in retirement?

Some people are lucky enough to feel good just laying back, resting, playing golf every day and generally just taking it easy. Unfortunately, I was not wired that way. I wanted to do something that fulfilled my need to create a legacy and create more income to do extra things around the house or for my family.

I work part-time in a FQHC clinic, teach, coach and consult, along with lecturing and writing. I call that being “REPURPOSED”, not retired. That is me.

What about YOU?

As long as you have a transition plan that makes you feel good and cares for whatever your needs are, go for it.

We all will retire or die first. The sad news is that our bodies cannot continue to do the hard job of dentistry forever. Plan, Save, Enjoy!

If I can help you in your Retirement planning, contact me at: drblack@dentalpracticesolutions.com or Schedule a call here

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

DAVID BLACK, DDS, FICD, FACD

Dr. Black is an associate coach/dental consultant for Dental Practice Solutions. He is “The go-to-expert for all dentists who are thinking about transitioning into retirement or buying their 1st dental practice.

Dr. Black owned his own dental practice for over 30 yrs. There he developed an understanding of the critical importance in development of the owner-doctor’s leadership abilities, in addition to having great clinical skills. Once he built a high-level of productivity in his dental practice, he was able to sell to a group practice; and the rest of his career

Does Your Dental Hygiene Schedule Include a Black Hole?

By: Debbie Seidel-Bittke, RDH, BS

June 20, 2019

Holes in the dental appointment schedule are a huge challenge in today’s world of dentistry.

How much does one hole in your schedule each day cost your dental practice over the next year?

The truth is that is costs your dental practice hundreds-of-thousands-of-dollars over a year, if you have just one hole in your schedule.

Does your dental hygiene schedule include a black hole?

Does your dental hygiene appointment include a black hole?

How many times does a dental patient call your office to change their appointment and they tell you they will “Call you back when they have more time?”

In the video I share today, you may think, “this is not our office!.” Your’e saying to yourself we never let patients leave or change an appointment without scheduling their next appointment!

We hear this statement all the time.

THE NUMBERS DON’T LIE

Our team of consultants and dental coaches currently evaluates dental practice key performance indicators (important measurements of success in a dental practice) and I can tell you that it is all too common that we see a huge, long list of patients who left the office without scheduling a next appointment.

Until you look at your numbers, it may appear that you are scheduling every patient with a next dental appointment.

The administrative team is responsible for most of the patient schedule. It’s important that every team member who will schedule a patient appointment understands the dental practice system for scheduling patients.

Working together as a team to have strategic systems and protocols are a key component of every successful dental practice.

The best way a dental hygienist can help reduce the holes in your dental practice schedule is to create value around what is completed at a dental hygiene appointment.

● What does your scheduling system look like?

● Does your team know what is included in your scheduling system?

● What do you say when a patient does need to change their dental appointment?

● How can you reduce the number of patients who call to change a dental appointment?

Much of this relies on your verbal skills, the words you use to add value to the dental services your provide.

Words like “teeth cleaning,” scaling and root planing and even the word decay,” do not add the same value as words such as, “preventive care appointment, gum therapy or gum treatment and cavities or hole in your tooth.” Try using Portland Pothole or just the word “Pothole” next time you see a cavity.

Patients can relate to these words.

One important point to make is this, until your patients say, “Do NOT call me anymore,” continue to follow-up.

Let your patients know you miss them, that you care about them and that a healthy mouth more likely means a healthy body.

No one I know has ever complained because I told them I cared about them.

I must ask, what is your scheduling and change of appointment system?

Does a dental hygiene appointment ever go into a black hole?!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

DEBBIE SEDIEL-BITTKE, RDH, BS

Debbie Seidel-Bittke, RDH, BS is founder and CEO of Dental Practice Solutions. Debbie is also a former dental hygiene program director. Her expertise is optimizing the hygiene department by taking a total team approach; including the doctor as the leader.

Check out the Dental Practice University intended for dentists and the entire team.

The university has training video modules, forms and scripts for each department in your dental practice.

The video modules are created for doctor(s) and include information to create a culture to bring in new patients, keep your dental team (employees) the life-time of your dental practice, as well as re-create or create your vision and mission. Doctors receive a 90-Day goal setting journal.

The hygienists have their own training video modules that cover time management, caries risk, treating the gingivitis and perio-patient.

The front office has video modules on phone calls, new patient calls, we provide job descriptions and a lot of information for hiring and keeping employees long-term.

You receive 24 AGD CE Credits. Try the University for FREE the first 2 weeks. Then you pay $97.00 a month indefinitely. You are locked in at $97/month!

The training includes 24 AGD CE Credits over a 12 month time for one person. You can use the training for your entire team but for individual log-ins and the additional AGD CE Credits you pay $20/month for each additional employee.

Learn more about the Dental Practice University here.

Dental Practice Transition How Do You Create A Saleable Practice?

By: Dr. David Black, DDS, FICD, FACD

June 12, 2019

You cannot have a dental practice transition unless you have a practice that someone else wants to buy. It is critical that you have many factors working in your favor to sell your practice.

There are both physical and esthetic attributes, along with sound business metrics and positive staffing considerations.

The question when considering a dental practice transition is, How do you create a saleable practice?

PHYSICAL AND ESTHETIC ATTRIBUTES

Location is always an important factor in any business or real estate deal. How much traffic goes past your office will help drive up new patients.

● How easy it is to enter and exit your office will help get new patients?
● Are you close to a school or a shopping center?
● Are you in a new or growing part of town or are you in a tired area that is not showing growth?

Next you have to consider the appearance from the road and what the interior of your office is like. Make sure trim is painted and not peeling. Is the landscaping inviting? Is the upholstery on your furniture torn and dirty or bright and comfortable.

● Do you have a physical barrier between the reception area and the receptionist?
● Is the carpet or tile in good shape?

Buyers look at all these things and it will affect their attitude about buying the office.

● Is your dental equipment modern or antique?

Both will sell, but the old stuff will bring a lower price. You will need to calculate what buying new equipment will cost against what the buyer is willing to pay for the old equipment.

Also you need to consider whether you can recoup the cost of replacement against just reducing the price to offset buying new equipment.

● Are you digital?

Any more the standard in any modern office is to have computer records and digital x-rays at the very least. A digital Panorex is prevalent in most offices also. If this is not the case, you will need to consider buying the digital upgrades or recognize that this is a big liability when selling.

BUSINESS METRICS AND STAFFING

If someone is going to buy a business, they have one of two approaches. The first is to buy an office that is profitable with good systems in place. They expect to pay a reasonable price.

The second type is looking for a bargain basement sale. If you are not making a good profit, if your production and collections are not high, if you are not seeing many new patients or have a sizeable group of patients of record, you are not going to get a good offer.

A few years before I sold my practice, I approached an older doctor who was going to close his office without selling it. He had run it down to nearly nothing and the physical plant was old and dated. I bought his phone number and his charts for $5000. I could not activate all his patients of record because they had left because of the state of the practice, but I did activate enough of his clients to more that pay for the cost to buy out the practice and not have another doctor come into our community in his office space.

You have two choices if you do not have good metrics:

1. Sell for less or improve your metrics.

When I sold my office, I had above average numbers, but I wanted to get the maximum return on my 40+ years of practice.

2. Hire an expert to boost your performance and profitability.

I hired consultants to help me improve all the key performance indicators that create success.

This is what you need to make the practice very attractive to the buyers.

I had long-term employees that had good relationships with our patients. This makes a buyer feel better about patient retention after you are gone. We had put in place many systems so that the team knew how to run the office without me micromanaging each and every thing going on in the office. I had many long-time patients that created the base for a smooth transition. The result of these efforts was to increase the sale price by about 30%.

The choice is yours:

Create a great, saleable practice, or bail out of the practice with less return on investment than you could have realized.

If you need help with your transition, give me a call for a free thirty- minute consultation, or engage us for coaching you all the way through your TRANSITION. Also you can get my free E-BOOK at our website, dentalpracticesolutions.com/resources

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

DAVID BLACK, DDS, FICD, FACD

Dr. Black is an associate coach for Dental Practice Solutions. He is “The go-to-expert for all dentists who are thinking about transitioning into retirement or buying their 1st dental practice.

In 2015, Dr. Black decided to share his knowledge to help other dentists duplicate his level of success, so he became a leadership coach and practice management consultant. His niche is treatment planning and case presentation.

Dr. Black is currently an associate coach and consultant, for Dental Practice Solutions, one of the leading consulting firms for nearly twenty years. As a seasoned practitioner, Dr. Black adds to the proven hygiene profitability coaching that Dental Practice Solutions is well-known for providing, to dental practices around the world.

Dr. Black’s expertise as an EQ and DISC trainer, makes him the best person to help more patients to say “YES!” to your patient care, as well as to enjoy working together as a team and loving what you do for your patients!

Want to have Dr. David Black speak to your study club or dental association?

Click to know more about Dr. David Black’s courses: Speaker Packet

Thinking about taking your dental practice to the next level?

We are looking for a few dental offices to beta-test our Dental Practice University training.

The training has video modules for the doctor, front office, dental hygienists and the entire team. There are scripts, forms and written processes.

You get information about Creating your culture, vision, team huddles that creat big productivity, hygiene video trainings on time management, treating the gingivitis and periodontal patient, CAMBRA, Lasers, phone skills, time management for the front office, handling cancellation calls, reactivating overdue patients, treatment planning, case acceptance, presenting financial arrangements, etc, etc.

There is a lot of training you receive over the next year. There will be hundreds of training video modules. You will also receive 24 AGD CE Credits for participating.

As a beta-tester, you pay nothing. We do ask that you provide feedback and give your opinion and ways to improve the University trainings.

To learn more about the University and to see if your dental team qualifies to be a beta-tester please TEXT: DPU to: 949-351-8741. Please text us: your name, your office name, your best email address and phone number. We will schedule 15 minutes to share more and let you know what we need from you and your team should you be chosen as beta-testers.

The Dentist as a Player-Coach

By: Peter Vanstrom, DDS

March 12, 2019

Consultant, Facilitator of Profit and Communication for Dental Practice Solutions

The National Basketball Association was founded as the Basketball Association of America in 1946. Throughout the many seasons of the NBA, some 40 players have served as both coach and player at the same time. Since the salary capwas instituted in the1984-85 season, the NBA has prohibited teams from employing a player-coach.

In 1948, Buddy Jeannette, of the then Baltimore Bullets, was the first player-coach to win a championship. Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics is the perhaps the most famous player-coach of all time.

He was a dominant player and an effective coach, winning two National Championships in the dual role.But that completes the list of player-coaches who won National Titles. Only 2 of 40 were champions.

It is not difficult to figure out why so few were big winners. It is extremely difficult to be a coach who is making all of the line up decisions, game time player substitutions, game time play call decisions, disciplining poor play, motivating players during the game and, of course, arguing with the referees, while being at your best playing in the game.

Hey, doc, does this sound a bit familiar?If you own a dental practice (or a few), and you practice in that dental practice as a dental care provider, then you are a dental player-coach. And, it is not easy wearing both hats, is it?

How many days have you been working hard all day, just a stride off schedule, only to find the time crunch at days end is forcing you to skip another work out, miss another of your kid’s soccer games, or cancel out on a gathering with friends. Being a dental player-coach is not only difficult; it is, in fact, almost impossible.

One of the toughest aspects of being a dental player-coach is when you are in the clinical area, working on patients, producing for the office, how do you keep track of the rest of the practice? For example, who is keeping tabs on the front desk? Is the receptionist answering the phone quickly and correctly? Is the financial/treatment coordinator closing those cases with solid financial arrangements? Are patients being greeted properly and seated in hygiene on time? Oh yeah, what is happening in hygiene?

Exhausting isn’t it? We dentists know why only 2 out of 40 NBA player-coaches won championships; it’s absolutely draining. It is in fact, almost impossible to fulfill both roles and be successful. In dentistry it is so very difficult to act as the owner of the practice, managing all business, staffing, training and financial affairs while practicing at the same time. The rare “Bill Russell of dentistry” needs no sleep, has no social life and loves to live at the office.

So what is the solution for dentists who are placed in the practitioner-owner mode? Well, a few options I do not like. To relieve yourself of the ownership headaches, you could sell your practice to a corporate entity and simply become an employee. Or you can sell to a management or DSO type group and give up control and possibly work for them. Or you could sell to an associate and hope that you are kept on to work as long as YOU like.

Frankly, for the potential profitability, retirement potential and autonomy, I have always chosen outside coaching for my team and me. I have practiced for 30 years and have utilized the talents of a number of different practice management groups, individuals and advisors to help me build and sustain a very profitable practice.

With the proper outside coaching for you and your team, you can own your practice and maintain all of the benefits of ownership. And, you can still be a player, enjoying the financial rewards, challenges, achievements and fulfillment of the clinical aspects as a practitioner.

An outside coach, or consultant, can be the fresh set of eyes and ears that can help redirect focus, refresh systems and keep staff members (and you) accountable for the actions that make your practice successful. It is tough to be a player-coach in any sport and in any business. If you are a dental player-coach, open yourself up to some outside coaching and watch your practice grow.

How about we sit-down and chat more about your position?

Please contact me if you are open to chatting about this. I have solutions.

To schedule your free profit-boosting session, click here or call to schedule: 949-351-8741. You can also email our office to schedule.

ABOUT DR. PETER VANSTROM

Consultant, Facilitator of Profit and Communication for Dental Practice Solutions

Dr. Vanstrom has thirty years of clinical practice delivering high quality dental care.

He teaches other dentists across the USA how to provide outstanding care in areas such as cosmetics, implant dental surgery, implant restorative care, oral cancer, and non-surgical periodontal treatment.

He also teaches other dentists about how to run a team-driven and patient centered practice like his.

Without A Strong Foundation The House Will Fall

By: Dr. David Black, DDS, FICD, FACD

March 5, 2019

The young associate dentist evaluates a new patient.

This patient is a 50-year-old woman, who is a type II diabetic, and taking medications for both diabetes and high blood pressure. She is missing her lower right first molar (#30) and has several old amalgam fillings that are breaking down plus, they all have recurrent decay.

The woman has periodontal probing’s measuring 4-6 mm’s in depths. The periodontal infection is localized to the posterior quadrants and includes a 6 mm distal pocket depth on #31. All of the periodontal pockets have BOP.

Excited, the young doctor immediately discusses and schedules a three-unit bridge to replace the missing #30, with abutments on #29 and #31.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?

To use the analogy of building a house, this young doctor placed the roof before he poured the foundation. I can still remember from many years ago, when I was in dental school, they gave us a sequence that we were told to never violate. Oral surgery, endo, perio, restorative, and finally; prosthetics.

When we presented our dental treatment plans to our instructors, we always had to follow this same sequence.

FOUNDATION- FLOOR- WALLS -ROOF

The Foundation refers to removal of infection and any non-restorable teeth. If there are teeth that cannot be saved, get them out of the mouth first! Stop pain and take care of any abscesses. Either treat teeth with endodontics or extract them. This is important to eliminate systemic infection because we know that infection in the mouth causes infection in the does body.

There is one exception to this rule: you must address the patient’s primary need first, IF, it does not seriously violate the rest of the sequence. An example could be, a missing filling in a front tooth, and the patient was self-conscious about the esthetic problem.

The Floor can be built. The floor is built on the foundation and is similar in function. Our next step is to control or eliminate any periodontal infection so the patient will have a strong foundation that will not become progressively worse after we build our fine restorations.

This is the rule that the young dentist in the above story broke. He constructed a bridge before he had cured the periodontal problems his patient had. I can’t imagine trying to locate where the margin on the abutments will be with the pocketing present, the over extension into a sick periodontal pocket, and trying to have a dry field when trying to cement the bridge. This treatment can include debridement, scaling and root planning, any grafts and surgery that may be needed, and maintenance to be sure our house will be strong and healthy.

The Walls can now be placed on a healthy, strong foundation and the floor. The Walls can be compared to doing the necessary removal of decay and broken fillings present in the patients mouth. This will make smoother margins and will often uncover decay that may be present. Now we must go back to our foundation. If there is a pulp exposure this requires treating the nerve before going any further. When a tooth needs a crown later in the process, sometimes a core filling will be needed to make sure the tooth is strong and will retain the crown.

The Roof comes next. This can include a number of procedures, including the bridge our young doctor immediately decided was the most important project; the shiny thing, the high priced project he wanted to get completed in the first sequence of the treatment plan. Unfortunately, this sequence of treatment is the case too often. We hear of all the total restorative make-overs, the implant retained prosthesis that are done in one day, and also the twelve veneer cases that are done on the second visit in some offices. My prayer is that when you place the roof on your cases, you have made sure the foundation, the floor and the walls are all solid, so that the roof won’t collapse, a few years after you have placed that last nail to hold the shingles in place.

FOUNDATION, FLOOR, WALLS, ROOF. Make sure you follow the correct treatment sequence and work through each needed step to insure your patient’s dental house will be strong and last for many years to come.

About Dr. David Black, DDS, FICD, FACD

To schedule a No-Cost Profit Boosting Session Contact Dr. Black Here

AMP Up Your Implant Profits in 2019!

By: Debbie Seidel-Bittke, RDH, BS

January 15, 2019

There is a lot out in the world of dentistry for the General Dentist to take advantage of.

Most dentists in 2019, want to AMP up their ç by placing more implants. A few weeks ago, I sat down with Dr. Peter Vanstrom, to talk about how you can AMP up your implant profits in 2019!

Keep reading to learn more about our conversation and click the video below to listen in to our conversation.

Dr. Vanstrom and I, will be hosting courses in 2019 so you doctor, can AMP up your implant profits this year!

1. How can a dentist learn about implant services?

There are various dental implant companies as a resource to learn how to AMP up your implant placement in 2019. Look at these companies first.

This is a start to get a great education about placing dental implants.

2. How do patients feel about implants being placed in their mouth?

Patients do feel nervous about implants being placed in their mouth. It is surgery and they get worked up about placing a screw in their jaw.

I know that would make me nervous! What about you?!

Compassionate Confidence

Especially when placing implants, you have to feel confident.

It’s important to know deep down, that you are trained, and you are an expert in placing implants. You and the patient must understand that the implant will result in a tooth. This is a tooth that will last indefinitely in their mouth. At least this is our goal when placing an implant.

Patient pays one time and it will last a lifetime.

Patients must understand that you will place a beautiful crown over that implant. For patients concerned about aesthetics this is important information to discuss with them.

Possibly, you will place two implants on the mandible and then snap a denture into that. Patients need to know that this denture will fit comfortably, it should be something that lasts the rest of their life. They pay one time for this service. It lasts the rest of their life, unlike a denture which needs to be relined and can become uncomfortable, causing pain and sores in their mouth.

Doctor, you have the specific education and special training to do this. You are going “Beyond what you learned in dental school!”

Also important is your level of confidence. You must also be compassionate.

Sometimes, as dental professionals, we may not deeply understand what it feels like to lose a tooth. It can feel very traumatic for our patient. It’s a big deal for the patient to lose their tooth!

Patients want to feel confident that you, their dentist, can put their teeth they lost, back into place. Many patients won’t say this to you but, losing a tooth feels traumatic. It may feel like they lost a limb.

If you are confident, compassionate and understanding of your patient losing their tooth (teeth), you patient will also feel more confident having you replace their tooth.

Yes, it costs a lot of money to replace teeth and implant dentistry is expensive, it usually goes outside the insurance box (Yes, your patients put themselves into that “insurance box” …. right?!) where the doctor and the team, must offer “flexible financial options.” The dental front office team must have various options for third-party payments that assists patients with payment for implant services.

DENTAL PATIENT CASE ACCEPTANCE

A very important piece to know if you want to AMP up your implants in 2019, is for the back-office team and doctor, to know the valuable words to say to your individual patients, how to overcome the potential patient objections and so much more.

Each patient will respond differently so you must understand each patients “hot-buttons,” their motivators and also their objections, even before they tell you what those are. AND, patients may not even understand their true objection, but they are letting you know they do not want an implant.

It’s our role as the dental professional, to sift through all the non-verbal communication and get our patient to want what they need. This is part of the “art in dentistry.” This is the active listening we must understand thoroughly.
Case acceptance is working with your patients to help them understand the value of completing implant dentistry. You must create a collaboration with your patient and help them make the best decision for their total health.

You can listen in to more of our conversation when you click the video below.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

NEXT IMPLANT COURSE

Peter Vanstrom, DDS and Debbie Seidel-Bittke, RDH, BS

JANUARY 26, 2019
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
8 AGD CE CREDITS

REGISTER HERE

You can also call our office for more information: 949-351-8741 or Email Us

How to Grow an In-House Membership Program

By: Debbie Seidel-Bittke, RDH, BS

January 9, 2019

Debbie Seidel-Bittke, RDH, BS, talked to Jordon Comstock, founder and CEO of Boomcloud about their membership program.

Dental Practice Solutions niche is teaching hygienists how to talk to patients about necessary treatment and Boomcloud is a great adjunct to helping patients pay for the dental treatment they need.

During this short podcast, Debbie and Jordon talk about:

1. A predictable, recurring revenue stream for your dental practice.

2. They talk about a specific tool to help market your dental practice.

Attrition is a part of every business so this is one important tool you must learn about to help market your dental practice and create sustainable profits.

3. They also talk about reducing a dentist’ dependence on PPO’s.

4. When you listen to the podcast you will learn the benefits of a “subscription system.”

a. Think Amazon Prime but for your dental practice.

We are in a new age of dentistry and this information will bring you into a forward-thinking world to grow your dental practice.

How can we help you grow your dental practice in 2019?

Please call us @ 949-351-8741 or Email Us to schedule a No-cost profit boosting session Click to Schedule and discover the easiest way to make 2019 your best year ever!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Debbie Seidel-Bittke, RDH, BS, is one of Dentistry Today’s top dental consultants. She is an international coach, speaker and author. Debbie is the CEO of Dental Practice Solutions.

Debbie is a world-class leader in creating profitable dental hygiene departments. She is a well-known as a former clinical assistant professor at USC in Los Angeles and a former hygiene department program director.

Dentistry Today recognizes Debbie as a Leader in Dental Consulting for the past 16 years.

Steps to Crack the Cancellation Code

By: Debbie Seidel-Bittke, RDH, BS

December 11, 2018

The holidays are here, and your patients have a lot of tasks, parties and Christmas shopping to do before December 25^th.

The last thing they have on their mind is a dental appointment.

Cancellations are at all time high; call it a pandemic!

In a normal day at your office, how many patients call to change their dental appointment?
How many patients are calling on the day of their dental appointment to let you know they can’t be there?
How many of your patients flat out, don’t show for their dental appointment?

The holes in your schedule are costing you thousands of dollars each week and these dollars add up to hundreds-of-thousands-of-dollars annually. The lost revenue equals millions of dollars. during the lifetime of your dental practice.

Solutions

When you register for this 5-Day Free training you will view short videos of information you can implement right away.

Some of the important parts of reducing cancellations are:

Letting your dental patients know what you expect
Have a cancellation procedure in place
Procedure for voicemail messages
A system around value and benefits to your dental patients
What to say when patients DO call to “change their dental appointment

There is a wealth of information you can implement immediately when you do register for this free training.

You can’t lose. You only eliminate the holes in your dental schedule and lost revenue when you enroll now in the free training and implement what you learn over the next week.

Register for the Free 5-Day Training Here.

ABOUT DEBBIE SEIDEL-BITTKE, RDH, BS

CEO: Dental Practice Solutions

Debbie Seidel-Bittke is not only the CEO and founder of Dental Practice Solutions but she has been known for the past fifteen years as one of Dentistry Today’s Top Dental Consultants. She is the only consultant with expertise in growing the dental practice by implementing systems and processes to grow a dental hygiene department by Dentistry Today.

She has a background in academia as well as a former dental hygiene program director.

You will read many of her articles published in dental journals and she has spoken at most of the national dental conferences. She works with dental practices on a global level. Read more about her here.

Creating a Culture of Payment

By: Debbie Seidel-Bittke, RDH, BS

December 4, 2018

I recently had a chance to sit down with the A/R Ninja, Andy Grover Cleveland.

During this short conversation we not only talked about how to create a culture of payment, but we talk about how important it is to bill your patients and call them regularly when they owe you money.

Andy will share why it is important to use a 3rd party to bill and he will let you know when it is best to get a 3rd party involved in collecting money in your dental practice.

Stick to the basic principles:

Outsourcing your dental insurance.

In today’s world dental professionals have a lot more responsibility and therefore outsourcing your dental insurance is very helpful for efficiency.

Empower your team to use their judgement when doing their job.

“Mr. Patient, it will be $599 today, how would you like to take care of that today?” Now the PAY-tient says, “My brother-in-law plays golf with doctor, so I will talk to the doctor about this.”
You must have parameters and stick with the plan.
Payment options must be clear.
Know what the rules are and empower your team to live by the rules.
Doctor, you can’t change the rules and make exceptions.

Pay-tients must pay at the time of service.

Billing and Calling Pay-tients regularly

Communicate routinely when your Pay-tients owe you money.

You can do collections but maybe.
Checkout the Tennessee Backwoods Dentist on youtube to see, are you equipped to do some of these important tasks yourself?

Where do you spend your time daily in the dental office?

There are too many things “to-do” in a given day in the dental office and outsourcing collections, etc., can be very efficient for running a dental practice.

Question: What is the average for accounts receivable (A/R)?

Answer: Debbie and Dental Practice Solutions recommends 98% collections.

Andy mentions that for a start-up, you don’t want a high overhead.

If you have a mature practice, now you can do in-office financing and you may not need to have the high monthly collections.

If your personal finances can weather a higher A/R to allow more patients to make payments (in-house) on high-end services, then a higher A/R may work for your dental practice.

Andy states: “Every time you send a statement to a Pay-tient you are sending a message that you have made a mistake.”

What is the best way to contact a patient who owes you money?

Andy says that it depends upon the individual person. Keep the end in mind and try not to send statements. Try using all the avenues for sending statements; email, paper statement mailed and/or a text message with a link to pay.

Andy also says,
Dentistry is non-recourse.

Recap of the Podcast:

All patients are asked to pay at the time of service.
If patients do not pay at time of service, they will leave with a statement
Work A/R weekly.
Call outstanding A/R Pay-tients to ask, “how is (state the last service, area in their mouth treated), feeling?
If it doesn’t get done, it won’t get done without someone doing it. Hire a service that will get it done.
Focus on your “core competency…for doctor that is clinical dentistry.”

Debbie says:

Understand, has your engine light come on? Is it blinking? If you said Yes, you need to outsource this area.

Be sure you don’t miss another info-packed FB live. Come over to our Facebook Business page for daily tips, inspiration and our weekly Facebook Lives:

Do you wish you had more Pay-tients say “YES” to your care?

Check-out our Case Acceptance/Treatment Planing Mastermind.

The next session begins the week of January 7, 2019.

How do I know if this mastermind is right for my dental practice?

The Mastermind is great for dental practices who:

Want more hygiene patients to accept high-end services

-More implants, more crown/bridge, Invisalign, etc.

If your case acceptance is less than 90%

If you have one hole in your schedule each day

If you want your production to be higher

If you want more patients to pay at the time, they schedule for your care

Contact our office for the application.

Registration is limited to ONLY 10 offices.

When you contact our office, we will provide the mastermind details.

The 30-Day Mastermind is $795 and has a MONEY BACK GUARANTEE!

Email us: admin@dentalpracticesolutions.com

Or Call for application: 949-351-8741.

Systems Patients Can Expect During Their Dental Hygiene Appointment

By: Debbie Seidel-Bittke, RDH, BS

October 24, 2018

Why did you purchase the car you are driving?

Why do you shop at the grocery store you frequent and why do you stay at a specific hotel when on vacation?

The answer to these questions should be the reason why your patients come to their hygiene appointment routinely.

What can your patients expect during their routine hygiene appointment?

There are a few systems patients can expect during their dental hygiene appointment when you have systems I place.

This is about consistency. It’s about efficiency and making people feel like they are Number 1!

Does each hygienist in your dental practice know what services they will complete on each patient, at specific hygiene appointments?

Each one of your team members should also know about these systems.

There are many services that hygienists provide patients during a hygiene appointment.

Having written systems for hygiene appointments will make life easier for employees, your team members as well as, keep your patients returning because they feel valued. Your systems provide the best care for patients and your patients feel it.

It is very important for hygienists audit the patient record before they begin their day. This morning or day before seeing patients, is the first system and a good place to begin when implementing systems. The patient- record – audit – information, is used during your morning team huddle.

Here is a list of the services your patients should expect to receive during routine dental hygiene appointments. Your system will include all of these and maybe more:

Build rapport

This is probably the most important part of your appointment. Take note how many of your patients are seated without a bib being placed on them right away?

Just sit and catch-up or if this is the first time you are meeting, take time to ask about them. Find out something unique, interesting and something fun to remember.

You will be amazed how great it makes your patient feel to just sit a few minutes and chat rather than sit with a bib on their chest immediately.

Update medical history

This is where you need to be the detective. Ask more than “Any changes in your health?” It is very important to ask questions like, “What medications do you take?” Medications can affect their oral health, cause xerostomia, etc. Ask, “Do you take herbs?” Some herbs can cause excessive bleeding.

Ask, “Any surgeries?” Be sure to ask, “Do you take blood thinners, do you have any teeth that concern you?”

The next step is to inform your patient about what services you will provide for them. Consider this as “consent to treat your patient,” even if you believe they know why they are there.

Once you have informed your patient and they have informed you about their health and any chief complaints, you must know what interval your dental practice will take BWXs, FMXs and PA’s.

Does your office use the latest ¹fluorescence technology? Our hygiene team recommends that dental hygienists complete this type of screening once a year. HPV is on the rise causing oral and pharyngeal cancers.

We are in the business of saving lives!

Once you have competed these screenings it is time to check the health of your patients’ gums.

How often does your dental practice recommend a comprehensive periodontal exam (CPE)? See the recommendations from the ²AAP to know if you are providing the standard of care.

If your patient is not due for an annual CPE, what is your protocol to spot probe to be sure your patient does not have any new areas of inflammation or infection?

Which teeth do you spot check? And why these specific teeth do you spot check?

More systems:

Treatment planning /Coordinating the treatment plan with your patient.
Doctor/Hygiene Exam. When does doctor know to arrive in the hygiene room to complete the hygiene patient exam?
Scheduling the next appointment. When patients need to return for a routine hygiene appointment, we recommend the hygienist schedule this appointment when the patient is finished with their hygiene appointment and before they are escorted to the front desk.

The hygienist has spent in most offices we work with, fifty minutes looking in the patient’s mouth, and they are the best person to know exactly when the patient needs to return and why it is important for them to return at this specific time.

What written systems does your hygiene department have?

Conclusion

When systems are in place, people will know what is expected. When everyone on your team knows what is expected your dental practice will run efficiently. Your systems need to have information that will allow your team to have the information they need to provide the best patient care.

When you provide the best patient care, you will have patients who feel well-cared for and these are the patients who continue to return to your office indefinitely.

References from the blog:

Does your hygiene department have a system in place to support each of the identified services in a routine hygiene appointment? If you don’t have all systems in place or you want to “Up Your Game,” let’s schedule a time to chat! Call our office to schedule a time: 949-351-8741. You can email to schedule: admin@dentalpracticesolutions.com or Schedule directly from our calendar here.

About the Author

Debbie Seidel-Bittke, RDH, BS, CEO Dental Practice Solutions

Debbie Seidel-Bittke, RDH, BS is founder and CEO of Dental Practice Solutions. She is also a former dental hygiene program director. Her expertise is optimizing the hygiene department by taking a total team approach; including the doctor as the leader.

Dental Practice Solutions is able to support your dental practice with supporting your front office admin skills, insurance billing, reimbursement as well as credentialing and increasing your PPO fees.

Schedule your no-cost Profit Boosting Session Here Today. You can also call our office to schedule: 949-35-8741 or email us.

Welcome

to Dental Practice Solutions

Transition Now – Dentist Retirement Planning

Does Your Dental Hygiene Schedule Include a Black Hole?

Dental Practice Transition How Do You Create A Saleable Practice?

PHYSICAL AND ESTHETIC ATTRIBUTES

BUSINESS METRICS AND STAFFING

Want to have Dr. David Black speak to your study club or dental association?

Thinking about taking your dental practice to the next level?

The Dentist as a Player-Coach

ABOUT DR. PETER VANSTROM

Without A Strong Foundation The House Will Fall

About Dr. David Black, DDS, FICD, FACD

AMP Up Your Implant Profits in 2019!

How to Grow an In-House Membership Program

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Steps to Crack the Cancellation Code

Solutions

Register for the Free 5-Day Training Here.

Creating a Culture of Payment

Systems Patients Can Expect During Their Dental Hygiene Appointment