By: admin

September 18, 2014

As a practice management consultant, when we first begin to work with our client’s one of the metrics that we review with our client is the number of hygiene patients who are overdue for a hygiene appointment.

Many of our clients inquire about our services because they want to add more profits to their hygiene department. Dentists know there is possibly more money sitting in their practice but they don’t know where to begin to find untapped profits in their dental practice.

The Hygiene Recare System is one of the areas of expertise at Dental Practice Solutions.

10 Tips to Eliminate Last Minute Dental Hygiene Appointment Cancellations:

1. Always attempt to pre-schedule 100% of all hygiene appointments. Research tells us that you will lose over 60% of your patients if you wait for them to schedule their next hygiene appointment.

2. When patients are in the office talk prevention and their specific reasons for any areas of concern. Provide value to every hygiene appointment and why it is imperative to return for preventive care.
3. Talk about the important of optimal oral health and its relationship to their total health.
3. Talk financial benefits of a healthy mouth.

4. Never wait until a patient is overdue to contact them for a next hygiene appointment.

5. Use a text messaging service to contact patients regarding overdue appointments.

6. If you discover (and most office do discover this when they look at their hygiene department metrics) that you have dozens, hundreds of overdue hygiene patients, think about using a service such as                                                                                            SolutionReach that will allow you to email a newsletter to your patients who are overdue for a hygiene appointment.

7. When contacting overdue hygiene patients look at their chart notes and speak to each patient individually and speak about any specific concerns noted in their chart. These important facts may                                                                                                        include bleeding on probing, previous non-surgical periodontal therapy (Scaling and root planing, etc.), restorative concerns, etc.

8. Use customer satisfaction surveys to understand how your office is performing. When you do use a service such as SolutionReach these surveys can be customized with your office brand and then                                                                                                  sent directly to various sites such as Google+, YELP, Facebook, TWITTER, etc. This is a cost-effective way to gain search engine optimization and New Patients searching the internet for a dentist in                                                                                              your community is more likely to discover your office and your website.

9. After two attempts to call, email or text an overdue hygiene patient, you want to send a letter. I suggest that you have a perforated portion where they patient can tear off and respond to why they may                                                                                           not be responding to your messages about scheduling a hygiene appointment. Enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope to make it easy for patients to respond.

10. Ask your patients how they would like you to confirm their next hygiene appointment. Most patients in today’s fast-paced world would much rather have a text message sent to confirm an                                                                                                                appointment. Ask patients which method they prefer: Post-card only, email, text message, phone call or no reminder at all.

You will always have patients who need to change or cancel a hygiene appointment. Life happens. At Dental Practice Solutions we recommend that our clients have their answer machine say At some point during the voice message include this: “…This answer machine does not accept cancellations. If you need to cancel your appointment please call during normal office hours or call doctors cell phone…”

You probably already know which patients are most likely to cancel last minute. You can name off a list of patients who are chronic abusers of your cancellation policy. These are the patients who call on Friday when the office is closed and leave a message on your answer machine to cancel their Monday morning appointment. This most likely means that you will have an open hole in your schedule when you get to the office on Monday morning.

All patients must understand your cancellation policy and if you charge for last minute cancellations. When patients understand your office expectations and they understand they can’t cancel without at least 48 hours notice, you will discover very few last minute cancellations occur.

Another strategy for chronic offenders that you do not wish to dismiss from the practice is to have the patient prepay a sum of money or provide a credit card number in order to hold the time in your appointment schedule. If the patient does cancel with 48 hours of their scheduled appointment, they will lose the deposit paid to reserve their appointment.

The best recipe for eliminating last minute hygiene appointment cancellations is to hold your patients responsible for their appointments and set a consequence for disappointment.  Creating and following through with a broken appointment fee can create harm to your dental practice and may cause the patient to angrily leave the practice. It is possible that they may bad-mouth the doctor and the entire team if you confront patients but then you must ask “Do you want to keep a patient in your practice, who does not respect your time?” Remember that you are running a business and to be a successful business, people need to have respect for your business and value your time.

Every patient cancellation should be dealt with individually and in an appropriate manner because there are legitimate reasons people miss dental appointments and some will need to call last minute to cancel or reschedule.

In summary

• Every team member needs to be pro-active by identifying chronic offenders of your cancellation policy.
• Do not allow patients to leave messages of cancellation on the office answering machine at any time. Patients must call during normal business hours or call doctors cell phone. Some doctors even have a special cell # they use for these type of calls. It’s well worth a few extra dollars each month for this additional phone #. You will also discover not too many patients wish to call doctor on their private cell # to cancel an appointment. You’ll be surprised to discover not too many patients really needed to cancel bad enough to call doctor and let them personally know about their excuse for not coming to the office. I have heard excuses such as “I can’t get another appointment for a haircut unless I cancel my dental hygiene appointment.” TRUE STORY!
•  The clinical team needs to stress the importance of preventive care and the need for routine dental  hygiene appointments. Add value to the dental hygiene appointment by using words like “Preventive Care”, “Periodontal Maintenance” or “Hygiene Appointment” and nix the word “Cleaning.”
• Attempt to preschedule 100% of all hygiene patient next appointments.
• Understand how each patient prefers to be contacted to confirm their appointments. You will probably discover that many of them want a text message sent! Remember, most patients now communicate via text message. This is how we communicate in today’s world.  May seem sad but this is very true about today’s population.

If you would like script templates please email our office and we are happy to send scripts which you can customize and make your own words. We recommend our clients practice what to say to patients who prefer not to preschedule a next appointment.

We can also send you a form that outlines what your office voice message should say to eliminate those last minute cancellations. Just email our office at: dentalpracticesolutions@gmail.com

 ABOUT DEBBIE SEIDEL-BITTKE, RDH, BS

Debbie Seidel-Bittke is President of Dental Practice Solutions and her team serves dental practices throughout the world. She has worked in the trenches for over 25 years, is a former assistant professor at the University of Southern California and wrote the accreditation for a Dental Hygiene Program in Portland, Oregon. Debbie started Dental Practice Solutions in 2000 and her passion is to help other dental professionals share the important information about oral health and how this can help us all live a longer and healthier life. Through her dental hygiene department programs she supports dental office globally, to tap into profits without working harder or more hours. Debbie has a unique dental hygiene recare system you can use to customize your messages to overdue hygiene patients. The eBook gives example scripts and how to time your messages to patients who have been lost from your dental practice. You can reach Debbie to receive a complimentary call to DISCOVER your dental practices’ untapped potential. Call 503-970-1122 or schedule a 30 minute Discovery Session here: SCHEDULE A NO CHARGE DISCOVERY SESSION NOW

By: admin

September 11, 2014

Over the past month you have probably notice a lot of videos of people dumping buckets of ice and water over their heads. This is NOT the result of global warming but a viral phenomenon which brings awareness to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. You may wonder “What does the #Icebucketchallenge have to do with your dental practice and profitability? And WHY would I write about this in a dental blog?!

The idea of dumping ice water on your head because of a cause is really not new or innovative, and in fact it was not originally associated with ALS. How did this movement lead to a record number of donations to ALS research over such a short period of time? AND what can we learn from the ice bucket challenge that can benefit your dental practice?

There are a few ideas that I have to bring in overdue dental hygiene patients as well as gain new patients. Halloween is around the corner and why not participate in the Halloween Candy Buy-Back Program? Invite parents to come by your office with their children and drop off their Halloween Candy. The children will receive $1.00 for every pound of candy these bring to your office and in return you can donate to the armed forces or replace with something healthy. Possibly you will choose to donate fruit or healthy food to a hospital or food bank in your area.

The holidays are around the corner so maybe an open house for patients. They come to your open house as a CELEBRATION and “THANK YOU for Being a Patient at Our Office!” Think of this as a patient appreciation event. Offer prizes on the hour for those who do come to your event. Now is the time to get the word out to your patients and get your idea to go “viral before the holidays are here and gone.”

These are just of the ideas that came to mind when I thought about what we can learn from the Ice Bucket Challenge.

How you can use this Ice Bucket Challenge to promote patients New and Patient of Record, come to your dental office?  Here are some suggestions you can expand upon to bring back patients and get new patients coming to your dental office:

• Target an audience where you know your patients will be and make certain that even potential new patients will discover your innovative ideas that ultimately attract them to your dental office. Most people are communicating on their smart phone and social media accounts so make sure to take advantage of communication via these methods.

Do you have access to send out a newsletter to your patients? Let your patients know what special events you have going on at your office. Tell your patients specific dates and time to come by the office and participate in your event. Invite your patients to bring their friends and neighbors with them. Have a raffle or hourly give away during your event. Most people want to know WIIFM (What’s in it for me).

If you are making a donation for a cause, let people know about this when you promote your event. Most people feel good knowing they are doing something for a worthy cause. If you are donating the candy or if you will exchange Halloween Candy and bring fruit to a community food bank, let your patients know about this plan.

• If you are making a donation let your patients know how they can also personally make a donation instead of this be all about your office making the donation. Let your patients participate at any and every level possible. Provide a website in your communication where they can participate if they prefer to just make a donation.
• Provide a specific time and date that you will have your office “challenge,” open-house or Halloween Candy Buy Back event, etc. Post the date and time in your newsletter, on your website, and your social media pages, etc.
• This is a perfect time of year to promote an event for your patients. Many dental offices believe that September is a slow month, why not make time to plan something big for the end of year to bring in your patients and gain more New Patients? Why wait until January 2015 to get a plan in place that will increase your dental practice profits? When you know it is going to possibly be a slow month, create a plan for success. Be proactive not reactive to a slow month.
• You may not have realized it but the Ice Bucket Challenge started as a generic summer charity challenge and ALS- focused campaign in late July 2014, when members of the Boston College community and Boston College Alums, Team Frate Train, adopted this practice as a creative way to raise awareness in the Boston area. These groups overlapped and created a domino effect that quickly spread throughout the New England area and then led to national exposure.

This may seem like a pure stroke of luck; the involvement early in the challenge of several high-profile sports and entertainment celebrities who were associated with each of these communities had established social media followers, and they also contributed to this huge momentum.

Do you want to know how to help gain exposure for your dental practice? Use the hashtag with all of your social media postings. In our SEO-driven world, your campaign will spread more effectively when you remember the hashtag. Possibly use your dental office name with the hashtag in front of it to create more SEO exposure for your office. Example: #HarborCoveDental

The hashtags will make it extremely easy for people to search and learn more about your efforts. Create some videos; take pictures about your event just using team member smart phones and post on social media, on your website and in your newsletter, when you send out your event information.  And when you have your event also post pictures and videos of the event in the same ways that you promoted it.

Fast-moving campaigns like this will start to  gain traction and notoriety; frequent users of social media, i.e. your patients, naturally want to get on the bandwagon to show they are part of the in-crowd. Instead of waiting to get challenged, you may want to post your own videos from your dental practice proactively. People in general, think it’s cool to be involved!

In the case of the Ice Bucket Challenge, some people have gone to great lengths not just to participate, but to  stand out from the rest of the submissions, creating more buzz–and interest in getting involved. The downside of these types of viral campaigns is that they tend to go from “white hot” to “ice cold” quicker than you can fill a bucket with a bag of ice.

When members of Team FrateTrain issued the Ice Bucket Challenge to their base, they did not set out to make it a huge viral hit, nor did they have a large fundraising goal in mind. They simply wanted to raise awareness about ALS and Pete’s fight among as many people as they could. By focusing and executing this goal all by itself, the rest of this exposure happened organically.

Whether you are running a small dental office or a large group dental practice, creating the next world-changing event, or promoting  a new service in your dental practice (Such as just INVISALIGN, a new whitening service, etc,) for your existing patients, understanding how to leverage social media effectively to gain awareness and traction for your efforts is crucial.

Good business marketers already know this, but even the best have a hard time actually getting it right. By incorporating some of lessons we have learned from the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, and setting reasonable expectations for success, you can give your next marketing campaign a better chance to gain traction and provide a boost to your growing dental practice and get patients coming to your dental office. Now… consider yourself challenged!

Did you glean any great ideas to get patients coming back to your dental office? If so, I’d like to hear about them in the comments section below. Please do tell.

 ABOUT DEBBIE

Debbie is Founder of Dental Practice Solutions since 2000. She serves dental practices globally through her dental hygiene systems and online products. Debbie is known for creating sustainable and profitable dental practices through her vast knowledge of what makes a dental practice successful. She is also known as one of Dentistry Today’s Top Dental Consultants. She has a no-charge 7 Day Dental Hygiene Department Profitability Program that you can get a glimpse of what working with her is like. Grab your 7 Day Program here: 7 DAY DENTAL HYGIENE PROGRAM

By: admin

August 27, 2014

There are many services and systems a dental hygienist can provide to make the dental practice more profitable.

This week I will write about just 3 steps dental hygienists can take to get off the treadmill and create profits plus so much more.

One week ago I received one of the nicest, most touching emails from the hygienist of a client.

The hygienists name is Marlene at Westover Smiles. Marlene is a recent graduate from a dental hygiene program in Virginia. I will post her letter sent to me below. Providing care in a dental office as a dental hygienist is very different from learning about dental hygiene in a college or university program. She knew how to be a dental hygienist but lacked the experience of working in a dental office, talking to patients about disease, treatment plans and then keeping on time during the day with her patients. Dr. Sadeddin, her employer enrolled in one of our programs to support Marlene in getting to her next level of success. It was also a fun experience for me to work with not only Marlene but doctor and the team!

This reminds me of what my mother told me about “Marriage.” My mom always told me “You never really know what it is like to be with your husband or significant other, until you live with them.” This is similar to becoming a dental hygienist. You never really understand what it’s like until you are in the trenches of the dental office.

This is exactly what Marlene experienced. Marlene knew what to do as a hygienist but lacked the ability to actually communicate using words that add value to the patient’s appointment, enroll them into future care at the office and her timing to completing hygiene services was still not there.

I remember how difficult it was for me to get into the real world as a clinical hygienist. Thirty years ago most hygienists were given 45 minutes for a patient appointment and in the hygiene program we had 3 hours of patient time! All of a sudden, when I arrived as a dental hygienist in the real world of dentistry, it felt like the treadmill was really going fast and I had to run as fast as I could to keep up! It was not fun. I felt stressed and very lost, just like Marlene.

For nearly 15 years as a practice management consultant, I have enjoyed creating ways to support hygienists who feel stressed, burned-out, overwhelmed and just ready to quit what can be a great career. I love serving dentists as my clients and their team. Let me share with you a few ways (there are so many more) to help hygienists work more efficiently, add improved profits and patient care. These three will create harmony within the team and a sustainable dental practice for the doctor.

First of all, the dental hygiene department can be profitable. Back thirty years ago and even when I was just dreaming of a dental hygiene career, the dental hygiene department was thought of as a loss leader. This is no longer true!

These 3 steps are a small part of what Marlene and the team at Westover Smiles has implemented.

3 Steps to Less Stress and More Profits in the Dental Hygiene Department:

1.    Create and share your philosophy for treating perio patients

This means the doctor and hygienists agree on what is considered a perio patient. (This means you all agree on radiographic type of calculus, radiographic bone loss and even without the presence of calculus, what areas are probed and at what intervals, etc.,m etc.) Next is when to intervene with non-surgical periodontal therapy (Phase I Therapy) and how you will treat each individual perio patient.

2.    Communication to add value and get a commitment from your patient

Doctor, hygienist and the entire team need to know what words to use with their various patients to add value to patients’ appointments, show empathy and communicate in language each different patient will understand

Learn about the various personality types and how to talk to each patient’s different personality type. The DISC profile is a good place to start. Tone and your posture (Proxemics) are also important when speaking to patients about their overall health and dental concerns, etc.

Write it down, (Keep scripts for future employees to understand what is expected) the words each team member will use when speaking to patients. When you know what you will say, role-play the patient situations practicing your communication with the various patient personality types. Practice on each other not your patients and get your communication down to a science.

3.    Monitor, Monitor, Monitor

In real estate they say “Location.” “Location.” “Location.” In dentistry it is important to monitor anything and everything that you want to see a result in.

Know what the acceptable key metrics are for a dental hygiene department. Do you know what percentage of your adult patients have received periodontal therapy? What is the norm for treatment of perio in the nation?

Do your hygienists know what their production numbers?

Each employee needs accountability and to be a part of the total process, financial aspects included; will create valuable employees. If your hygienist is not interested in the production numbers, ask yourself if you are ok with employing a hygienist who only cares about a pay check?

Dentistry, even the dental hygiene department is a business. The dental hygiene department should produce 25% to 30% of the total office production.

There are many other areas in a dental practice that create profitable dental hygiene departments, but I share just three today.

Do you implement all three of these? If not, choose one today to begin implementing. Schedule a team meeting and write down what you what you need to create to get to your next level of success and profitability, discuss it and practice doing what you talk about implementing. Set up some accountability so you know that what you say and what you practice does get implemented.

Employing committed team members will make or break the success of your dental practice. It is what creates a great reason to come to the office every day.

When the entire team takes responsibility for their part and when you have accountability measures in place, you will not only create a team-driven practice which makes a happier, more pleasant work environment but also create systems so everyone knows what is expected. Think of this as a choreographed dance routine.

When everyone on your team works in harmony your dental practice will see a payment in dividends returned for the life of your dental practice.

Marlene’s Letter to Debbie

“I cannot thank Debbie enough for helping me through this journey. I started off as a new graduate – no experience out of school. After I got my license, I worked with the temp agency for months. During this time, I worked with multiple doctors, all with different views on things. I did not have a firm system for myself as a hygienist. Back in hygiene school our teachers did their best to get students prepared for the real world; but in reality, it is just not the same. Unless one has experienced it themselves, one can easily get lost, confused, and/or run late with the patients.

When I first got my permanent job I was excited because I knew I would be the only hygienist in the practice. As a couple of months went by, I realized my communication with patients was not to the standard it should be. I lacked the best words to use with my patients and/or my explanations to the patients just did not “make the mark.”

I was not firm enough to make patients realize the consequences of diseases and their overall health if the perio disease was not treated. That is when I started taking Debbie’s program. She guided me to have my own system as a hygienist. Debbie gave me scripts on what to say to patients on certain topics. I made those scripts my own. I used the words that felt comfortable to me but as least I had something set in stone to learn best from.

I now feel more comfortable and confident. Patients are listening and learning about their total health. They are saying “Yes” to my care as well as doctors excellent dentistry he provides. Everyone in the office can tell a difference. Not only has Debbie helped me but has helped the office as a whole. As a team my office and I have better communication. I will keep working on this program to become an exceptional hygienist for my patients. Thank you Debbie!”

Marlene Quispe, RDH

Office of Hazim Sadeddin, DDS

http://www.westoversmiles.com/

 ABOUT DEBBIE

Debbie is Founder of Dental Practice Solutions since 2000. She serves dental practices globally through her dental hygiene systems and online products. Debbie is known for creating sustainable and profitable dental practices through her vast knowledge of what makes a dental practice successful. She is also known as one of Dentistry Today’s Top Dental Consultants. She has a no-charge 7 Day Dental Hygiene Department Profitability Program that you can get a glimpse of what working with her is like. Grab your 7 Day Program here: 7 DAY DENTAL HYGIENE PROGRAM

By: admin

August 7, 2014

Do you ever feel like you are leading an army but no one is behind you following your direction? Have you ever wondered: “Why doesn’t anyone else on my team care as much as I do about my practice?!”

Is it possible they don’t know what your vision for the practice is? Have you communicated with your team what you dream of for your dental practice?

I believe in the CANI attitude. CANI means “Constant And Never-ending Improvement. This means that you have an open mind to always wanting to be better than you are today.

In today’s blog I want to share with you some ideas to get you on your way to “Creating More Value in the Dental Hygiene Appointment.” When you can empower your dental hygienist to have a CANI attitude, you will also discover the hygiene appointment becomes more valuable to the patients, the doctor and hygienist enjoy more satisfaction in what they do and patients become aware of the outstanding services you provide them. Profits in your practice will improve when the hygienist takes ownership of their important position in your dental office. Doctor will discover they can come to the office and provide the quality dental care they enjoy and not have to manage a dysfunctional team.

Utilizing some or all of these suggestions means that you will also begin to see your production rise as well as develop raving fans from improved quality patient services provided in your dental office.

Your 5 Tip Checklist to Create Value in the Dental Hygiene Appointment

1.    Morning Team Huddle

Before the morning team huddle begins the dental hygienist needs to audit his or her charts. This means they will be looking for outstanding patient treatment and necessary services to complete at todays dental hygiene appointment. Examples of this are: appropriate x-rays, blood pressure, fluoride, periodic or even a comprehensive exam (Completed every 3-5 yrs.), outstanding restorative treatment, and any family members who are due for a dental appointment (hygiene or restorative). A lot of this information can be found on the routing slips. No flipping through charts during the team huddle. This needs to be a smooth and succinct process which if you don’t do this today, may take 20 minutes when you first begin. When done properly (Baring no more than 2 dentists and 6 team members reporting), a team huddle should take approximately 10 minutes of team time. For a template of what a morning team huddle looks like, send our office an email: dentalpracticesolutions@gmail.com

2.    The Hygienist should  schedule patients’ next visit for hygiene

It works best if the hygienist can always schedule the patient’s next hygiene appointments. Dental Hygienist’s may wondering “Why me?! I am on a treadmill as is and I don’t have time for this!” The reason they are the best person to pre-schedule future hygiene appointments is because they have just looked in the patient’s mouth over the past 45-55 minutes and they are the best person to explain to the patient “WHY” they need to return and what will be completed at the next hygiene appointment.

The hygienist never asks the patient “Would you like to schedule your next appointment?” And the hygienist will not ask the patient “Why can you return for your next hygiene appointment?” The hygienist (and anyone making a patient appointment), needs to take charge of the appointment schedule and not ask patients when they want to return.

Have a goal to schedule at least 90% of all future dental hygiene appointments.

3.    The Hygienist should always tour the patients mouth with the intra-oral camera

“Pictures paint a thousand words.” This is very true with dental patients as well. Tell patients what you see and then show them exactly what you see in their mouth. This means the patients are more likely to take ownership of their mouth. Sit the patient’s upright in the dental chair. Face them knee-to-knee and eye-to-eye to discuss what you see in their mouth. This positioning with the patient is called “proxemics.”  Proxemics builds trust and rapport with your patients.

This sets the stage for a more effective doctor hygiene exam and means the patient will hear about what you see more than one time (from not only the dentists’ perspective but they previously heard it from the hygienist). It can also mean less time for doctor in the hygiene room talking to the patient. Good news for hygienists that feel doctor makes them run behind.

4.    Doctor Hygiene Exam

There is no need for doctor to wait until the end of the hygiene appointment to complete the hygiene patient exam. This can be done after the patient information has been completed. The hygienist will collect all of the patient data and explains this to the patient. This usually takes no longer than 25 minutes at the beginning of the hygiene appointment. Doctor should always be notified by their assistant when there is a break with their patient treatment (possibly waiting for impressions or when the assistant is preparing temporaries, etc.), and now leaves their patient to enter the hygiene treatment room to complete the hygiene patient exam.

The hygienist stops their procedure and introduces doctor or says something about the patient to doctor (If doctor already knows the patient there is no need for a formal introduction. The hygienist will always use the patient and doctors name upon doctor entering the hygiene room), and then the doctor will have a very light and simple conversation. Next the hygienist will gently interrupt doctor in the rapport building phase– relationship continuation conversation  (the small chit-chat), with the patient (should not last longer than 90 seconds – no more than 2 mins MAX!).

The hygienist will now proceed reporting to doctor about the services completed and what the patient and hygienist see in the patients’ mouth. The hygienist will report on future x-rays and the necessary appointments (if there are restorative needs, etc.) which include future dental hygiene appointments  The hygienist needs to have x-rays and intra-oral photos available for doctor to easily view.

5.    Hygiene Hand-off

How the patient is handed off at the front office is very important. This will build more trust with the patient and the end goal of this system is for the patient to again, understand that they will be returning to your dental office.

Too often, patients are left to walk alone to the front office. All patients need to be escorted to the front office by the dental hygienist preferably. The hygienist will speak to the front office team member using the patients name and explaining all the services the patient received today. She or he will explain to the front office auxiliary what services are of primary concern which areas of treatment need to be scheduled – while the patient is at the front desk. Best case scenario, the hygienist has scheduled the patients’ next hygiene visit, and the hygienist will also report – in front of the patient – when the next appointment date and time are. She or he will also state what the appointment is scheduled for.

One quick tip: NIX the word “Cleaning” and tell all the team members to stop saying this word as well. Choose to speak to your patients using words that add value. “Dental Hygienists in today’s world – are preventive care specialists.”

Try using some of these words when speaking to patients about a dental hygiene appointment: Dental Hygiene Appointment, Preventive Care, Periodontal Therapy, Scaling and Root Planing, Periodontal Maintenance.

CONCLUSION

When the dental hygienist is open to the CANI attitude and serving patients at the highest level, your job as the CEO of your dental practice becomes much easier, and more satisfying.

It is possible that you can check off this entire list saying that you are doing all of the above. For some offices, they are only completing a few of these tips and I want to suggest that you just choose one of these to implement this next week. Once you feel comfortable implementing this new system or patient service, go to the next tip and try to implement this one.

Slowly implement them one at a time. Only implement the next tip after you feel that you have the one new service or system “down to a science.” Be patient with yourself and take baby steps to get to your next level of success.

Track and monitor your results to watch your profits improve as you provide that next level of service and patient care. You will also develop patients who are your raving fans!

ABOUT DEBBIE

Debbie is Founder of Dental Practice Solutions since 2000. She serves dental practices globally through her dental hygiene systems and online products. Debbie is known for creating sustainable and profitable dental practices through her vast knowledge of what makes a dental practice successful. She is also known as one of Dentistry Today’s Top Dental Consultants. She has a no-charge 7 Day Dental Hygiene Department Profitability Program that you can get a glimpse of what working with her is like. Grab your 7 Day Program here: 7 DAY DENTAL HYGIENE PROGRAM

By: admin

July 24, 2014

While I do have the opportunity to work with some of the most amazing teams in the world, I always see patients walking out of the office unescorted and/or with their chart in hand.

Just as when you are eating in a nice restaurant, how you are left feeling upon finishing your meal, is how a patient can feel at the end of their appointment without a proper dismissal. The food tastes good but what happens after desert when the check comes?

To create the best dental patient hand-off experience, read these tips for your patients to have the best experience while in your office.

If you have a seamless process for your patient dismissal your patients are left feeling happy about their dental experience, your office meets their production goals and you develop Raving Fans!

9 Suggested Steps To Create A Successful Dental Patient Hand-off:

The following are suggestions to have a successful patient experience. By following these steps your patients will feel well cared for and you will find you will have a schedule that is meeting your production goals much more easily. This type of handoff will leave patients feeling a higher level of trust and are very likely to be your raving fans because of the experience they have had in your office.

1. Before a patient leaves the operatory, review specific findings during their appointment.

• Ask the patient if they have any questions about their dental treatment

• Let the patient know you will get them scheduled for their treatment and if necessary, you will have them speak to the financial coordinator about their financial obligation, etc.

Always escort the patient to the front desk and when you arrive at the front desk now communicate the following:

2. In front of patient at the front desk, discreetly state the services the patient came to the office for today, to the front desk team member

3. What was accomplished during today’s dental appointment?

4. What treatment recommendations (aesthetic dentistry options, dental products, etc.) were made and how soon the patient should return for their treatment (follow up, post-op visit, etc.)

5. Verbally communicate next visits

• If the back office has scheduled any appointments verbally communicate this to the admin team member while the patient is standing with you at the front desk

6. Patient’s ability and desire to schedule their next dental appointment

• With the patient next to you at the front desk verbally communicate to the admin team member the patients desire to schedule

• When patients have scheduled their next dental appointment in the back office be sure to re-state the date of their next visit to the front office team member upon check-out

•  For example: “Mr. Philamoth is ready to get scheduled for the two crowns on the upper left side. Tooth Numbers 14 and 15. He is able to come next week if we have time available in our schedule.”
•  Another example may be: “Mr. Philamoth would like to discuss how much he needs to pay for the two crowns on the upper left. Numbers 14 and 15.”
• Or another example may be: “Mr. Philamoth wants to wait to do the two crowns on the upper left. Numbers 14 and 15.”

In this situation when a patient wants to wait it is very likely that they did not understand the value of completing their treatment. The benefit of completing their treatment did not sink in. It is possible that they have objections to treatment and these were not identified when the patient was seating in the operatory.

7. When patients do leave the office without a next appointment, it is very important to ask when a good time to follow up with them will be. Let the patient know a date within the next 14

days when you will call to follow up. Reinforce the benefit and value to the patient for completing treatment sooner than later.

8. When patients have not scheduled their next appointment, write down a tickler to call after you tell the patient you will do a “follow up call.” Call on the date you have communicated you

will call to follow up. Why are you following up? Because as a healthcare professional you want your patients to not experience pain and live a longer-healthier life.

9. Say your farewell and last few comments to the patient as you leave them at the front desk with the admin team.

The following are only suggestions and examples of what to say. Discuss what works best for your office and your patient situations. Think benefit to your patients and what creates value for your patients choosing to return to your office and not another office down the street.

Have fun with this and enjoy everyday doing what you love to do! We are all together in this, creating healthier and longer lives for our patients. That smile IS a curve that changes everything in the lives of your patients.

Keep them smiling!

 ABOUT DEBBIE 

Debbie is Founder of Dental Practice Solutions since 2000. She serves dental offices throughout the world. Debbie is best known for creating dental hygiene department systems and services which create dental offices that are profitable for the years of the practice while the team works smart and not so hard. You will find Debbie as a frequent contributor in Dentistry Today and on dentistryiq.com as well as being chosen by Dentistry Today for the past 9 years, as one of the TOP DENTAL CONSULTANTS. Grab her 7 Day Dental Hygiene Department Program to get a taste of what she can do for your dental practice.

By: admin

January 3, 2014

The hygiene appointment can seem stressful and yet it is not meant to be that at all! Time is limited and there is so much to complete in just sixty minutes. Doctor is rushed and the hygienist feels that he or she is waiting forever for doctor to complete the patient exam.

The last thing the clinical assistant wants is to have doctor stop their current procedure and spend time on something else and in another treatment room! Doctor’s patient and the patient in the hygiene room get frustrated waiting for doctor! When the hygiene patient is dismissed the last thing they want is a bill for over $100 and all they feel they did was sit and wait!

Continue reading to discover your success plan for dental hygiene patient exams. Stop running behind and feeling stressed! Here are solutions to the frustrations we feel as a dental professional on a set schedule of time all throughout the day.

CREATE  SOLUTIONS

Rather then continue to rant about this, let’s talk about solutions to these frustrations.

Change can sometimes be uncomfortable but let’s face it, somethings gotta give!

Here is the success plan for your doctor hygiene exams:

Let’s divide the hygiene appointment into three sections. Section 1 is the data collection. Section 2 is the case presentation and section 3 is the clinical treatment, the doctor exam and dismissal of patient. (Section 3 is the clinical treatment for continuing care and periodontal maintenance appointments.) And, I want to empahsize that the doctor exam is completed between 30 and 45 minutes into the dental hygiene appointment. Not the last five or ten minutes of the appointment.

Learn to prioritize what is most important. For example, once a year you will complete a full-mouth periodontal screening exam and x-rays. Oral cancer is unfortunately one of the highest forms of cancer in today’s world so I hope that you are using one of the latest technologies such as ViZilte® , VELscope®, or Identifi® by Henry Schein for annual oral cancer screening exams. These are just a few of the new technologies that can diagnose a precancerous lesion.

The point is that you need to prioritize these screenings. If you are completing the perio exam then you don’t do the x-rays at that appointment but alternate between these screenings so you can have time to do it all of the screenings over the next year.

The challenge we seem to have is that we have to get it all done right now! What must you do at each dental hygiene appointment?  Here is a “to-do” list that needs to be top priority: (see www.perio.org for recommendations)

a)      Medical history update including risk assessments for disease

b)      Screening for any known sensitivity or pain

c)       xerostomia/halitosis

d)       Blood pressure screening (annually)

e)       Radiographic assessment to update (annually)

f)        Oral cancer screening including intra- and extraoral exam and use of adjunctive screening technology, as indicated (annually)

g)       Periodontal screening including an annual comprehensive periodontal assessment as recommended by the AmericanAcademy of Periodontology (spot probe each appts)

h)      Salivary diagnostic tests, (as indicated)

i)        Caries management by risk assessment (CAMBRA) including caries detection technology and interventions to lower risk and implement remineralization strategies

j)         Restorative and esthetic screening including identification of occlusal disease

k)        Smile evaluation (annually)

During data collection portion of the dental hygiene appointment, the important priorities will begin to emerge. This is what will allow the dental hygienist/clinician to provide treatment based upon a diagnosis. Many times what may be a priority based on a past clinical patient notes is now forgotten due to what the hygienist sees at the current appointment.

After you have prioritized and collected the data for your dental hygiene patient you will begin to make a provide a clinical diagnosis and present what you “see” in the patients mouth. (Note: many patients resent that they always seem to go to the dentist and they find something!)

Patient Example

Mr. Yee has an appointment today with his dental hygienist. Chris, the hygienist, has scheduled to use Identifi® for the oral cancer screening.

Mr. Yee has not been in to see his hygienist for over two years so Chris is feeling stressed about getting it all completed today! This patient is a male, 56 years old and slightly obese. His only risk factor is high blood pressure.

Chris quickly reviews Mr. Yee’s health history and notices that he is taking new blood pressure medication. Mr. Yee also has high blood pressure today. It is 160/100.

While completing the clinical exam, Chris notices that Mr. Yee has an abcess on the lower left first molar (tooth #19). Chris also discovers that there is generalized bleeding upon probing with generalized 3-6mm pocket depths.

I think you can probably relate to this experience and possibly this is an every day occurrence for many clinicians. The answers to how you would prioritize your patient will be different for each of you, dependent upon your individual patients and findings.

One approach to treating Mr. Yee would be to call his medical doctor and/or send him to his doctor before beginning any further treatment today. Since Mr. Yee has taken his blood pressure mediation prior to his hygiene appointment, it is in his best interest to see his physician as soon as possible before beginning any future dental treatment. But what would a diagnosis look like for Mr. Yee?

Will doctor complete an initial exam (D140) or a comprehensive periodontal evaluation (D180)?

Code     Procedure                     Description                                                  

D140      Initial Exam                    Specific to a concern

D150      Comp Exam                   New/Current pts

D180      Comp Perio Exam         New/current pts w/ perio risk factors & clinical evidence of perio

This is a perfect scenario to recognize that a dental hygiene appointment is not about cleaning teeth but about the oral all total health of the patient.

It is fine to update the data and have doctor complete the exam but best (in the patients best interest) to recommend that Mr. Yee sees his physician to check his blood pressure and if his medication(s) needs to be changed prior to beginning periodontal or future dental treatment.

What treatment would you recommend for a patient that has a chronic slight to moderate periodontal diagnosis?

The American Academy of Periodontology Recommendations

Many dental offices today recommend that you do the best cleaning and have the patient return in six months. However, the AmericanAcademy of periodontology recommends that patients with chronic slight to moderate periodontist have the following treatment: (See www.perio.org for these recommendations)

a)      Discuss risk factors (tobacco use, Diabetes and other systemic factors)

b)      Instruction and reinforce plaque control  (home care instructions)

c)      Supra-subgingival scaling and root planing

d)      Antimicrobial agents used

e)      Eliminate localized factors such as: restorative overhangs, over-contoured crowns, ill-fitting prosthetic appliances, tooth movement

f)       Restoration of open-contacts which result in food impaction

g)      Treatment of occlusal trauma

Periodontal surgery may need to be considered if initial therapy does not resolve the periodontal condition.

DON’T WAIT

The biggest clinical challenge in the dental office is time management. The doctor should never wait until the last five or ten minutes of the hygiene appointment to complete the patient exam. After the data has been collected and the treatment initially presented by the dental hygienist, the dentist can enter to complete the exam. This usually means between thiry minutes to forty-five minutes into the hygiene appointment, doctor can complete the patient exam. There is no reason to wait until the very end of the appointment to complete the patient exam.

The clinical assistants need to be aware of the time and signal to doctor when it is time to move into the hygiene treatment room and complete the patient exam. This relieves the hygienist from stopping what he or she is doing to signal doctor to complete the exam. The clinical assistant is with doctor and should be able to know when it is approrpiarte to stop the current procedure to go complete the hygiene patient exam. See the photo of the Pie Chart for how this can work out.

PROXEMICS

Use a triangle position of doctor on one side of patient and hygienist on the other side. The patient should be able to look to their right and see a cliniana and then look to their left and see the other clinician. This is a subliminal comfort when both clinicians are positioned in this manner.

This is known as “Proxemics”.  The term “proxemics” was coined by researcher Edward Hall during the 1950’s and 1960’s and has to do with the study of our use of space and how various differences in that use can make us feel more relaxed or anxious.

The advantages of this position is many but here are a few reasons to create a triangle for patient/clinician conversations with a patient:

a)     The patient hears the dental hygienist’s input to the dentist.
b)     The hygienist and the dentist have a professional exchange of information about the patient, in front of the patient, and this means that the patient hears the same conversation.
c)     The dentist understands the priorities for the examination. The exam is thorough and concise.

d)     Increases interaction of the patient, and brings them into a partnership with their oral health.

e)     The patient is more likely to pay attention when someone talks about them when they are present and in the center of the conversation.

(See the photo at top for an example of proxemics)

Creating a successful hygiene patient exam requires planning for success. The rewards for this successful plan are plentiful. Working in a dental office can be stressful and this is only one way to reduce stress. Practice this success plan at your next team meeting. Take note in the future about how this decreases your stress and increases your case acceptance. Do you see more patients returning with improved health when you create your success plan for the highest level of patient care?

Please comment below and tell us how your doctor hygiene exams are going. We would like to hear from you.

 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Debbie has been named once again, for the seventh year in a row, as one of Dentistry Today’s Top Consultants. She has a background in academia and has started a dental hygiene program in Portland, Oregon. She is a former assistant professor at the University of Southern California where she co-taught the practice management course for the senior dental students as well as teach in the dental hygiene department.

Debbie has clinically in all aspects of a dental office. Through her knowledge of working in the trenches and her academia background she knows what it takes to create a successful dental practice as well as lead dentists to be their most successful and profitable as a business owner.

If you are looking to get to that next level of success, you will want to schedule a no-fee practice profile and have her review your practice’ true potential. You may be one of those who is leaving over $100,000.00 USD inside patient charts. It costs nothing to have Debbie look at your numbers and potential but it costs you millions if you never look.

By: admin

December 24, 2013

As I look back over the past year, all the conferences I have spoken at and, all the offices I have provided my expertise to; I have to say that for most of the dental professionals I have talked with this year, they have said, “We are fine, just as we are!”

Do you ask your patients or a friend when you see them: “How are you?”

And what is their response?

Do they say “I am fine”?

Do they tell you how they really are?! Do people really tell you the truth?

When you tell me that you are doing fine, will you be able to retire when you want to?

Doctor, How are you really doing? Did you know that your dental practice numbers don’t’ lie? Most of the dentists I talk to never look over their numbers.

I find that they think it is better to just hide their head in the sand.

Maybe most dentists don’t want to be bothered with the mundane question “How are you doing?” – because then they would have to deal with the truth.

Rarely, does a dentist tell me how stressed out they really feel about their numbers. Nor do they talk about the chaos they are experiencing every day at the office.

Let me ask you now, “Are you doing fine?”

Is your team steering the course for the success of your dental practice? Or are you veering off into the pit of gloom and doomsday?

Seriously, how do your finances look? Do you really feel better not looking at your numbers?

A few years ago at the Annual meeting for the Academy of Dental Management Consultants, our keynote speaker was Bill Rancic. Now you may ask, “Who is Bill Rancic?”

Bill Rancic is the winner of the 1^st Apprentice, Reality Show, Produced by Donald Trump. Bill Rancic started out many years ago with a cigar of the month club and his business was doing just fine. (As some would say) Yes, that was how it went back in the early days. But you know what? He was open to asking for help. That is how he has become the multi-millionaire he is and yes, very successful today. Look him up if you don’t know who he is. Most will agree that he lives a great life! Bill doesn’t work hard but lives the life most of us dream of having.

If you ever hear Bill Rancic talk, he says that he has “those days” and he too, has to get up, brush off his pant legs and move forward.

Think of other leaders and can you imagine them telling you that they are “just fine?”

What about Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Regan, Nelson Mandela? How would they respond if you were to ask them, “How are you doing?”

I can’t imagine them saying “Just fine.”

Are you really feeling “Just Fine?!”

Every year we have a theme for our business. This year is going to be the year of Reaching Abundance.

I need to ask you before 2014 arrives, “Are you ready to tell yourself the truth?”

Are you ready to grab some courage and admit that FINE is not Your Best if you want to Create Abundance for yourself?

Are you open to reaching more abundance in 2014?

Are your arms open to receive abundance? Is your mind-set in the right place? Are your eyes wide open and your ears ready to hear the truth?

Time to clear out the clutter in your life and your business.

December is your last chance to save dollars on your 2013 taxes. It is your last chance to turn it all around.

Last week in a client’s office — because he allowed me to look at his numbers — we immediately found over $10,000. Yes, Imagine that! That was in the 1^st hour of our in-office consult.

When you open your eyes, ears and your door to our dental management expertise, we can create abundance for you now, not later. It is not a wait and watch game with your finances.

You don’t tell you patients to wait and watch their tooth decay or bleeding gums and, I want to tell you that you can not wait any longer to create a better life –with abundance.

The average office that uses and implements our systems will have an average of 300% return on their investment. And this investment is when you use our services for 12 months. Yes, this is just the average.

Currently, until the end of December, we are running our year-end specials. Some are $33 for something that will bring you thousands of dollars. When you spend money on one of our small systems not only do you increase your chances of increased production with less stress but we also offer you 20% off our in-office consulting services when we look at your numbers before January 7, 2014.

I think this will be more than just fine. Do you agree?

Use the comment section below to let us know “How are you doing?”

If you don’t have a success plan in place for 2015 at this time of the year (Last quarter of 2014), then you have planned to fail.

I am offering you a No-charge 30 min Discovery Call to serve you and get your success plan in place before 2015 is here.

Let’s talk about creating the most abundance for you in 2015: SCHEDULE YOUR CALL HERE

 About Debbie

Debbie has been named once again, for the seventh year in a row, as one of Dentistry Today’s Top Consultants. She has a background in academia and has started a dental hygiene program in Portland, Oregon. She is a former assistant professor at the University of Southern California where she co-taught the practice management course for the senior dental students as well as teach in the dental hygiene department.

Debbie has clinically in all aspects of a dental office. Through her knowledge of working in the trenches and her academia background she knows what it takes to create a successful dental practice as well as lead dentists to be their most successful and profitable as a business owner.

If you are looking to get to that next level of success, you will want to schedule a no-fee practice profile and have her review your practice’ true potential. You may be one of those who is leaving over $100,000.00 USD inside patient charts. It costs nothing to have Debbie look at your numbers and potential but it costs you millions if you never look.

Her 30 Day Dental Hygiene Program or her Case Acceptance Program are great ways to get a quick start and a taste of what Dental Practice Solutions can do to get you to that next level.

Click on this link to schedule a No-Fee Call to discover the True Potential of your dental practice: CLICK LINK TO SCHEDULE

Or call toll-free: 888-816-1511 or 503-970-1122

By: admin

December 16, 2013

“Work on your business not in it.”  Michael Gerber.  Author of The E-Myth

When you are the owner of a dental practice, you are also the owner of your own business. Most dentists I know are very talented artists and get an “A” in science. However, understanding how to work on your business is not at the top of most dentists “to do” lists.

When you own a dental practice you have added responsibilities. You have business expenses to be concerned about, daily and monthly reports to view, taxes to pay, a profit and loss statement to review with your accountant and the list goes on and on. I believe and hope that you are concerned about your bottom line and your net profits.

“It’s not how much you make, but how much money you can keep.”

As a dental practice management consultant, I see many dentists struggle with the above mentioned responsibilities, so in this blog I will talk about the 5 must have’s for a successful dental practice.

“There is a difference between a good business owner and a great business leader.” You don’t have to be born a leader but you must have an open mind to learn how to lead.

1. LEADERSHIP

What does it mean to be a great business leader?

• A leader never uses the same method of leadership. They will always be open to using different methods and styles to reach a goal.

• As a leader you must have the same objectives as your teammates (and they must embrace the business owners goals as well) and, you must encourage your team members.

• The great leader knows how to speak to his/her team.

In order to have a great team, when you are the leader, you must understand your team. You must nderstand the various personality styles of your team. Know what keeps them feeling inspired and motivated to do their best.

2. TEAMS OF GREAT LEADERS

People are the mitochondria – – the powerhouse of your business. Great business leaders will understand who they should recruit and hire for their team. Successful dental practices will have a written system to train all team members. The leaders of great teams share their vision for the business and engage the team members in the vision and mission of the dental practice. The great leaders of successful teams will share their business code of ethics (Similar to the Ten Commandments). This will lead the team in a way that everyone including the clients you serve, know what they can expect, when they are in the office. Great leaders will be able to develop passionate teams.

When guiding successful teams I have found what will maximize profits in the business. These teams will have the following:

• Written Standards:  A professionally designed Human Resource Manual.
• Written Communication: I have worked with doctors who say they want to provide excellence. What does this mean? How do you communicate excellence to the patients you serve? Provide scripts for the team in order to accomplish your goal and expectations to provide excellence.
• Provide the Experience: If you want to create a Ritz Carlton, five-star experience, you can waste hours talking about creating the experience. Whatever the brand is that you want your business to portray to patients; if it is Ritz Carlton, take a trip to a five star spa or hotel to personally experience this brand you want your patients to experience.
• Attitude Affects Performance: How do you arrive to the office each day? Do you great the team with a “Good morning” and genuinely begin the day at the office with a smile on your face? As the leader of your team it does make a difference when you begin with a positive. You are more likely to have a great day when you begin with a great attitude. Leave personal problems in the parking lot.
• Conflict Resolution: Your motto should be “Resolve it now or take it somewhere else.” This means you will not permit tension or an environment of hostility. If the employees cannot resolve their conflicts, they need to find a new place of employment.

3. DENTAL PRACTICE PROFITS

I enjoy playing tennis. If I could earn enough money to live on playing tennis, I would have chosen this career. Iwas never able to be a USTA Top Ranked player so I knew it would not be a viable career for me. However, I always enjoy my time on the court!

Have you ever seen a professional tennis player who did not enjoy the game of tennis? It is the same thing with dentistry. If you and your team enjoy serving your patients, you are more likely to have a successful, sustainable and profitable dental practice.

Know your Numbers: All successful leaders know and understand where their money is going. There are four specific areas money is spent in the dental business:

• Payroll

What you pay your team should not exceed 33%.

• Lab costs

These costs should not exceed 15%.

• Supplies

Your supplies should not exceed 8% of your total expenses. Shop around to maintain the best quality and benefit for what you are paying.

• Lease, Rent, Facility Costs

The expenses of your facility should not exceed 8%. There are some reasons this may be higher but the operative principle or standard is 5-8%.

The above numbers will guide you to keep your overhead under 60%.

 Fees: To keep your overhead level, your practice fees should be in the 80^th percentile. This is based on yearly reports. The higher your fees, should mean less overhead and the greater your profits will be. If you are a specialist, your fees should be in the 90^th percentile.

Collections: Always set your goal high. No less than 98% should be collected each month. The longer a patient owes money, the less likely you are to be paid. When your collections dip below 98% create a plan to immediately work on collections until they are back on track.

4. TRAINING TO GET TO THE NEXT LEVEL

Many dental practice owners have been sitting around wringing their hands, scratching their heads, hiding their heads in the sand, wondering what to do about the economy.

The answer to this is “Create Your Own Economy!”

Does the above describe you? Talk to your sales rep, attend CE Courses, and/or meet with your team to discuss new services you can offer your patients when 2014 arrives. One more way to get to the next level is to pick up the phone and call a dental practice management consultant, an expert. Schedule a complimentary -no-fee- look at your numbers and true potential.

These are a few suggestions to get to “that next level” in your dental business.

Invest in your team and your practice on an annual basis, not every ten or twenty years. Let your patients know that you invest in your team and practice. Tell your patients that you always stay abreast of latest technology, science and services to offer them the highest level of care.

5. KNOW WHAT YOUR PATIENTS WANT

When was the last time you surveyed your patients? Do they want dental implants or BOTOX services? How many patients of yours want tooth whitening procedures? Do you ask the magic question(s) to discover what patients really want?

AND do you know the correct questions to ask so you know what patients want? If you never ask, the answer will always be “NO”.

Do you know how to ask questions so patients can tell you what their burning desires for beauty and health are? What are specific words that you can say and discover what patients want from your dental office?

CONCLUSION

Owning a successful dental practice  mean you understand what it means to offer the best customer service, creating an outstanding patient experience, and offer the highest level of care. This is some of the traits you need to have if you wish to maximize your profit potential.

If you follow the  guidelines outlined in this article, you will offer employees a great place to work,  provide a positive patient experience which in return give your practice profits that provide a great life for your patients and yourself.

You must understand that as the owner of a dental practice, you are not only a technician, but you are a business owner

It means that you must be an effective leader. As the leader of a business you need to create a team that can produce beautiful music with successful scores. Effective leadership will create a collaborative team. Put these two together and you should have a profitable business.

Great Leadership + Great Team  =  Happy Patients

Happy Patients  =  INCREASED PROFITS

INCREASED PROFITS Can be a Vehicle to Provide You with a HAPPY LIFE!

Now, Go REAP the benefits of Great Leadership!

Do you have a PLAN to create Your Next Level of Success in 2014? Please use the comments below to tell us how you plan to create that next level of success.

What will you do differently in 2014 to get to your next level?

ABOUT DEBBIE SEIDEL-BITTKE, RDH, BS

 Debbie has been named once again, for the seventh year in a row, as one of Dentistry Today’s Top Consultants. She has a background in academia and has started a dental hygiene program in Portland, Oregon. She is a former assistant professor at the University of Southern California where she co-taught the practice management course for the senior dental students as well as teach in the dental hygiene department.

Debbie has clinically in all aspects of a dental office. Through her knowledge of working in the trenches and her academia background she knows what it takes to create a successful dental practice as well as lead dentists to be their most successful and profitable as a business owner.

If you are looking to get to that next level of success, you will want to schedule a no-fee practice profile and have her review your practice’ true potential. You may be one of those who is leaving over $100,000.00 USD inside patient charts. It costs nothing to have Debbie look at your numbers and potential but it costs you millions if you never look.

Her 30 Day Dental Hygiene Program or her Case Acceptance Program are great ways to get a quick start and a taste of what Dental Practice Solutions can do to get you to that next level.

Click on this link to schedule a No-Fee Call to discover the True Potential of your dental practice: CLICK LINK TO SCHEDULE

Or call toll-free: 888-816-1511 or 503-970-1122

By: admin

December 10, 2013

When you have successful team meetings, your dental practice will experience less stress and drive your dental practice to a higher level of success.

Dental practices that fail to hold daily, monthly and annual team meetings are found to have more chaos and be less productive.

Especially in today’s gloomy economic climate, when many dental practices are not as productive as years past, team meetings are more important than ever before. Team morale and everyone focused on the dental practice goals are now more important than ever.

Read on for team meeting tips to reduce stress and drive your dental practice success.

1. Purpose

Every member of the team needs to understand why each meeting is taking place. Understanding the dental practice vision is very important to having an engaged team.

2. Agenda

Distribute a written agenda prior to the meetings so all team members can review and be well prepared.  List out what you will discuss during the meeting. Collaboration is best when the team members feel involved and like they have an important part in the meeting process.

Assign a team member to lead the meeting, one to record notes during the meeting and someone to be in charge of action items created. The team leader should also be aware of the time spent on the agenda and various topics so the meeting flow is steady.

3. Timely

Each meeting should have a leader and that leader needs to hold everyone accountable for beginning and ending in a timely manner. Schedule emergency patients, phone calls and various tasks at a time that will not interfere with the team meeting.

This also sets the stage with a message that the doctor really values meetings and everyone’s time.

4. Respect

Many team meetings turn into rant sessions so be sure that each team member can participate equally without being cut short. No one team member should feel that they are being cut off. And no one team member should be seen as the person doing all the talking.

Great ideas are lost from team members who feel they don’t have an opportunity to talk or give input.

A team means that each individual can be a part of the ideas. Each team member should feel comfortable sharing their knowledge to improve customer service, communication, case acceptance and so much more that makes a successful dental practice.

A big part of dental practice success means that your team meetings keep everyone “in the loop”.

It’s that time of the year where you should be mapping out all of your valuable team meetings for 2014. Do you have your annual plan in place for 2014? What team meetings are scheduled for 2014?

Did you answer No, to any of the above? Let me know in the comments below what team meetings your office schedules each month. I want to hear what you are doing in your office.

Do you find it challenging to hold regular team meetings? Give our office a call so we can keep you on track for more success in your dental practice BEFORE 2014 is here. Do Not Wait ‘til January 1, 2014 to create your plan for improved success. We will set up a no-fee call with you to get your on track now: 888-816-1511 or CLICK HERE TO SCHEDULE   

About Susan Ketterer

Susan is a dental practice management consultant and has been in the dental field for over twenty years helping practices start from their 1^st patient to leading them towards a timely retirement.  Integrating practical systems and management techniques that are easy to implement makes her successful with her clients.

Susan Ketterer can be reached at:

support@dentalpracticesolutions.com

Call Toll free: 888-816-1511