Clackamas Dental Consultant | Dental Practice Solutions

Enhancing Dental Practice Productivity: The Key to Reactivating Patients

By: Debbie Seidel-Bittke, RDH, BS

July 9, 2024

One of the most direct methods to enhance productivity within a dental practice is through the reactivation of overdue or inactive hygiene patients, effectively bringing them back into the fold of routine dental hygiene appointments.

At Dental Practice Solutions, we understand the immense value of reconnecting with patients who have previously engaged with your dental practice. These patients already have a rapport with your team and perceive your practice as their trusted dental provider. Moreover, many of them likely have pending treatment needs.

Reactivating these patients not only helps keep a productive schedule but also strengthens patient retention and improves overall practice efficiency.

Continue reading and learn how to enhance your dental practice productivity with the keys to reactivating patients.

Dental Practice Solutions encourages dental offices to have specific ways to bring overdue-unscheduled hygiene patients back to your office. Your reactivation system must be automated so it works behind the scenes while employees complete other productivity tasks.

Only when automated systems do not motivate patients to schedule should you begin making phone calls. And of course, if you have patients that insist you only contact them by a phone call, do use the phone to communicate with these patients. Today’s population uses millions of text messages to communicate, and 90% of text messages are seen quickly, and respond much faster than a phone call or voice message.

Dental Practice Solutions has a Practice Growth System that includes Patient Retention. This is a white glove system that provides dental practices around the world to not only attract more new patients but it can be used to reactivate overdue hygiene patients, plus it will help schedule more cosmetic cases.

Phone Calls to Overdue Hygiene Patients

Most phone calls in our world today never reach the patient. Seldom do people answer a phone call when they don’t recognize the phone number calling. Even when do leave a voice message, that message many times, goes without the patient returning your call……not always but most of them time; isn’t that correct?

A few tips when you do make a phone call to schedule overdue/inactive patients:

Note: Most of our clients use a customized dashboard and we train them how to very easily generate a list of overdue hygiene patients and we can categorize by the type of unscheduled treatment needed (ex: Implants or Restorative $500 or greater), as well as specific insurance types.

Step 1. Generate a list and save this list of overdue hygiene patients who have unscheduled Perio therapy.

Step 2. Generate a list of patients who have been in the office within the last 6-9 months and do not have a next hygiene appointment.

Step 3. Generate a list of patients who haven’t been in the office for a hygiene appointment for 9-18 months.

Step 4. Next, is a list of patients who have unscheduled restorative and already have a next hygiene appointment.

We are now half way through 2024 and it’s important for these patients with insurance benefits to use it or lose it! Now it’s time to put the pedal to the metal and get these patients back on the schedule.

Step 5. Have one team member lead your hygiene patient reactivation system. This team member will support cross-training of the other employees so they can also participate in reactivating overdue hygiene patients and patients with outstanding treatment.

If you have this process automated, it makes this system less time-consuming and simple for the other team members to initiate a text message or email if needed. Make sure you have a specific process which includes your text and email message content as well as when and how often you will text or email your patients before a phone call is initiated or a letter mailed. Mailing a letter is another topic for another day but some we train our clients to do and it has yielded great results!

Use “Engagement” which is connected to the KPI dashboard to set up the various categories of the patients mentioned above. This allows you to easily automate text messages to your patients.

Step 6. When sending text messages make them short, sweet, and to the point. No more than 2 sentences. Make sure your office name and phone number are included in the text message. If you have a scheduling link, include this and make it super simple for patients to get back on the schedule with a click of a button.

If you would like to learn more about this, plan to join our Hygiene Reactivation Power Hour where we walk you through this process and provide implementation tools. You will also have access to a free snapshot of your hygiene departments untapped potential. When we look at a dental practice, there is always over 100k that is sitting there waiting for you to tap into.

If you never look, you will never know!

When you register for the Power Hour you have access to try out this dental practice system and check out for yourself how this works. Less work, more productivity!

We recommend you always follow-up with patients within 48 hours if they leave your office without a next appointment. As the patient is rushing out your office door make sure you tell them you will be calling or texting them a scheduling link to get them back on the schedule!

Create urgency around preventive care and saving money. Whatever you know is a possible objection to scheduling care, speak to that potential objection!

Example: “Mrs. Jones, I know money is a concern and it can potentially cost more if you leave the tooth untreated. Is tomorrow at 10 AM a good time to call and get you scheduled?

No? Ok, how about I text you a link and when you click that link? Now you can choose a day and time that works best. Does that work for you if I text that link to you?

Awesome! We will see you soon and get that hole taken care of before it causes more problems and costs you. more money! See you soon.”

We cover all of this information during the dental power hour, plus, a lot more so please be sure you register.

If you miss the date for our Hygiene Reactivation Power Hour plan to book a workshop for your office to learn and implement this important information.

You can contact us here to book a discovery call to find out more about a workshop or more that we offer.

Keep your back door closed and an additional 100k+ to your practices’ bottom line!

Dental Practice Management Consultant Takes Team from Good to Great!

By: admin

August 6, 2013

As a Dental Practice Management Consultant I see various types of dental practices.

It is the sad truth but most of the dentists who contact my office are usually at a sink or swim stage and it can be a daunting task to even pick up the phone and talk, let alone try to make a decision about hiring a dental practice management consultant.

(And this article will explain the ROI on hiring a consultant.– IF you read between the lines regarding their BIG results!)

It usually takes a dentist 3 months to make a decision to hire a new consultant and by this time the office numbers have plummeted to where doctor is not able to sleep at night.

Does this sound like you? Are you one of these dentists thinking that you must do something but you fear change or worse, you fear nothing will ever change no matter what you do!

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” ~ Albert Einstein

Maybe you have tried various new dental business systems or other practice management programs and nothing seems to work.

Let me put your mind at ease and begin to share a recent client of ours: (Read on and you can calculate for yourself the doctors ROI on hiring a Dental Practice Management Consultant)

In order to create consistent profitability for doctors desired outcome I needed to research and analyse their current numbers. I looked at their list of services, fees, production and collection numbers, P & L, etc., before we began to dive into the consulting process. We were able to set realistic goals after sitting down to research and strategize together.

Years ago, I learned that it is extremely important to identify the practices’ obstacles and road blocks, to reach where they want to be. Once I have the attention of doctor and the team I can place my full attention, together, with my passion, enthusiasm and keen insight, to dig into the necessary work that needs to be done. We create a step-by-step process to work smarter and not so hard. It really doesn’t not mean that working with a Dental Practice Management Consultant is stressful or creates more work. It is just the opposite. Together; doctor, the entire team and I, roll up our sleeves and dig deep into the barriers that broke down the success of the office.

Big Results

The team at “Dr. XYZ” in Portland, Oregon, has shown big improvements in less than 5 months of hygiene department coaching. When I first met with doctor she showed me the hygiene schedules. Each hygienist (2 hygienists) had at least 2 openings each day. The office has seven days of hygiene patients each week. Originally these days were not booked with patients but just sitting open.

The entire team changed many of the words that they used with their patients. The front office scheduling coordinator no longer calls and asks patients to return a confirmation call. She is confirming patients appointments about 4 days in advance of their appointment. All patients are now aked if they prefer to be contacted via email, text message or phone call.

(Some of the words they changed were “Cleaning” as well as asking patients when THEY wanted to return vs. suggesting an appointment date and time. They took control of the schedule. AND they increased the percentage of pre-scheduled hygiene patients.)

Many of the patients now request an email to confirm their appointment. The email says something like this:

“Dear Mary,

I am writing to let you know that Doctor XYZ and Holly, (Most know HOLLY is their hygienist) are looking forward to seeing you for your preventive care appointment. Dr. XYZ will review your x-rays and complete a visual exam. Holly will also complete an oral cancer screening exam using our new technology called Vizilite with can detect any early signs of oral cancer. She will also evaluate the health of your gums for inflammation, disease, check any restorations, remove plaque, calculus and stains as necessary. We look forward to seeing you on Friday August 9th at 8 am.”

In good health,

Megan Ridgley
Scheduling Coordinator at Dr. XYZ

Here are the BOTTOM LINE Results the office has received from the Dental Practice Management Consulting Process:

The office of XYZ has decreased their cancellations and open holes in the hygiene schedule, down to no more than 1 each week.
The team began role-play exercises to more effectively communicate non-surgical perio treatment. We also worked together (role-play) on overcoming many of the barriers and obstacles for patients accepting aesthetic and restorative treatment.
The original percentage of adult patients treated for periodontal disease went from 18 – 45% in the past five months.
The hygienists now have a 90% acceptance rate for using the Vizilite which has contributed to an increase in production.
The team learned how to assess and categorize patients for Caries Risk using the most recent CAMBRA protocols. (found in California Dental Journal 2011) This provided another $3,000 production to the practice without creating more patient time in the chair and didn’t increase the practice’s overhead. This is pure profit!
This increased hygiene production as well without adding more chair time or hiring more employees to work in the office.

One Team Challenge Existed

The one challenge they were still having at the end of July was keeping the hygienists on time so we were able to implement our “Down to a Science” strategy which seems to be helping with time management.

The Dental Practice Management Consulting Process

Each month I have at least one phone call with doctor to discuss the successes and challenges that may still exist. We are able to work together to create a systematic approach to solve these challenges as they occur.
Every sixty days myself or one of my team coaches is in their office for about 1 1/2 days of hands-on training, team meetings, role-playing and strategy sessions so discover solutions to any challenges.

The fact that the team has an expert there to guide them through a step-by-step process is a much easier way to create their next stage of success.
I have to add that the office administrator is great to work with and we spend a lot of time working together each week.

As of August 5, 2014 the office production numbers are at $628,000 with the hygiene department up by $65,000 and aesthetic/restorative case acceptance has increased by $110,000 this year so far.
The total production and collections is estimated to be up by approximately 30% from 2012.

More Big Team Results

The team has gained a new enthusiasm for working together. They told me that they feel like a family and have their friends (their patients) come to visit daily.

Recently, doctor had a pizza party after hours and each team member played a role in calling overdue hygiene patients. This was one more solutions we came up with through our research and strategy sessions together.

The team also receives a bonus when they achieve their new collection goals which appears to have limited team morale.

Would you like to be our next success story? There are so many options today. The one roadblock I see holding offices back is the attitude “It’s this economy that holds us back!” I want to say to you “Creaate your own economy!” People really are finding many ways to buy what they really want. Do your patients understand the wonderful menu of services you offer?

Does you team educate your patients about doctors extensive specialty courses he/she has completed?
Let your patients know about the research on oral health and it’s relationship to total health. I do believe most of your patients want to live a longer health status.

Let’s schedule a time to talk about your next level of success: support@dentalpracticesolutions.com or 888-816-1511
Maybe you want to take a test drive of what our team offers. Here is a simple and a simple step-by-step guide to get your started:
30 Day Dental Hygiene Profits Program

ABOUT DEBBIE

Are you looking to improve profits in your dental hygiene department? Debbie has an innovative and successful way to educate you and your team to create the small tweaks mentioned in this blog. Debbie has been in the trenches of the dental office over 30 years. She is a former Dental Hygiene Program Director, an assistant professor from the University of Southern California and even co-taught the practice management course for the senior dental students at USC.

Check our her services section on the website to find one that meets your needs. Consider getting your team involved in her 12 week Case Acceptance Program. You won’t need to stop your day of work at the office or pay for a consultant to travel to your office. The program is at your fingertips 24/7 indefinitely.

Debbie speaks at most of the major dental conferences in the world. She is recognized for the past 8 years as “One of Dentistry Today’s Top Consultants.”

She will also be featured on the cover of Hygiene Today in September 2013. (Published alongside Dentistry Today)

Many of her clients span from not only the United States but Brazil, Australia, India and the UK, just to mention a few.

7 Tips for Dental Hygiene Appointment Success: Staying on Time, Keep it Down to a Science

By: admin

July 24, 2013

Let’s face it, working in a dental office and managing to stay on time for your patients can be a stressful event!

The dental office team members need to take charge and manage the daily schedule.

How can your dental team take charge and reduce the potential threat of stress of “Staying on Time”?

The dental hygiene appointment can be stress-free is you follow these 7 tips.

Step 1 Set Goals

Break down your goals according the each department, and each treatment room in your dental office. For example, a typical dental hygiene appointment should provide profits to the dental practice not a loss leader.

If you plan accordingly the profit potential can happen with the feeling of stress. Waiting for doctor to examine the patient is often a huge stressor. Even patients become anxious waiting for doctor to arrive. Have you had patients who had to wait for the doctor exam and they became impatient? Read on for some more tips to stay on time.

Step 2 Time Your Procedures

I am almost positive that you have a good idea how long each procedure will take. Time your procedures; doctor / hygiene exams, assistant time, fluoride treatments, sealants, even doctor prep time, on and on. Write down a list of services you provide patients. Write them down, include the treatment room available for the procedure (Maybe you can move a patient who needs impressions, etc., after the routine hygiene procedures) write down available rooms, which can additionally provide this service. (Within their scope of practice) This will help you gather a lot of information about how to schedule more productively and with less stress.

Have you taken time to “time” your procedures? If you have not done so, schedule a monthly team “timing meeting.” Your timing can become easily disrupting with various factors. Some of these factors are employee turnover, what to do in the case of a late patient, how do you make up for time if patient anesthesia is a challenge, etc? There are so many more topics regarding timing so sit down and create a success plan around this topic.

Step 3 Break Down the Time

Break down each appointment into primary, secondary or doctor/assistant time. When you schedule around the primary providers time, your practice will drive a health level of revenue.

I want to ask that you write down and share what type of dental procedures you enjoy providing. Include the entire team: dental hygienists and assistants as well. As a dental hygienist, I have enjoyed treating the periodontal patients. Many of my dental practice management clients have a hygienist that prefers to see the periodontal patients. In many offices one hygienist will see a large majority of the pediatric patients or the new patients. Another hygienist is best at treating the more difficult patients; stressed out patients and more difficult periodontal cases. Discover which services each provider enjoys most and then schedule in “special” times for these types of services in each provider’s schedule.

Block your schedule in 10-minute increments. If you choose 15 minutes, you will lose thousands of dollars over a year of appointments. It just doesn’t round up when you have 15 minute increments of time in your daily schedule.

Here are a few examples:

Scaling and Root Planing (SRP) – 2 quadrants. This may take only 90 minutes. There will be 3 – ten minute increments of time left after this block of time.

A patient who is at moderate to extremely high risk for caries will be returning to your office every three to four months for about 10= 20 minutes of time. (CAMBRA – CARIES MANAGEMENT BY RISK ASSESSMENT guidelines)

If you have a 90-minute block of time for two quadrants of SRP, the block of time after this service is a great time to schedule an appointment for a patient at moderate to high risk for caries. (Fluoride Varnish, homcare instructions, etc.)

Possibly a small child can be seen for a prophy/fluoride appointment. Sealants or impressions for night guards or bleach trays can fit in these thirty minutes of time as well. When you strategize and look over the doctor’s schedule, you may have the prep of a crown scheduled for 80 minutes. The doctor’s time should be blocked off during the exact time he/she must be in the room. (Examples: anesthesia time, preparing the crown, seat time, etc.)

Think outside the box of purely blocking patient dental hygiene appointments for exactly 60 minutes for a hygiene appointment. Block out the assistant time as well in this situation.

Many offices are implementing assisted hygiene, (Not to be confused with Accelerated Hygiene!) and I enjoy guiding teams through the process of creating a stress-free, success schedule of time with assisted hygiene. Always block for doctor, assistant time and hygienist time.

Step 4 Use a Schedule with Blocked Templates

Once you have established your daily production goal for each treatment room, work with your team to create and visually layout a best schedule to create quality dentistry, delivering impeccable care and that personal touch.

Do you prefer to see your high-end aesthetic cases in the morning? Do you want children in the office early morning? Block out these times exactly when you want them to be in your schedule.

I always requested that my patient appointments for scaling and root-planing be scheduled in the morning. Occasionally, I would have one after lunch but I definitely enjoyed seeing the more difficult cases in the mornings when I was fresh.

Step 5 Decide Who Will Schedule Next Appointments

The success of a full schedule really has a lot to do with the clinical team. If you have a couple of administrative team members at the front desk, you may want to have one of them in charge of scheduling doctors’ appointments.

The hygienist (or someone on the hygiene team) is the very best person to schedule future hygiene appointments. I have found over the years as a clinical hygienist and working with my clients, that the hygienist is in a good position to educate patients about their need for specific types of appointments and the necessary intervals to maintain optimal health. This is in line with how communication works best. It also eliminates patients going to the front desk with any confusion about why they need a next visit for “x, y, or z.”

The one time it is not efficient for the hygienist (or someone on the hygiene team) is when the patient needs multiple appointments scheduled. An example of this is a patient who was diagnosed today for four quadrants of scaling and root planing and will need to return for 4 appointments plus a perio maintenance appointment, four to six weeks later.

It can be a good idea to have one person at the front desk also is in charge of the hygiene schedule. This is one person who can make follow up calls to overdue hygiene patients as well as schedule these multiple appointments as necessary.

Step 6 Hygiene Exams

It works best for everyone, (patient, doctor and team members) if doctor enters the hygiene treatment room to complete the exam after the hygienist has completed her/his assessments and before the last 10 minutes of the hygiene appointment. I will share a diagram at the top of this blog and below is an explanation of how this should flow.

**See the photo at the top of this blog for a break-down and science of time management. Doctor should come into the hygiene room to complete the patient exam after 2nd interval – (See the time management pie chart) which is the hygienist’s initial case presentation. The hygienist completes his/her assessments and then presents his/her findings in an initial case presentation. This is a couple of minutes to explain what the hygienist and patient saw in the patient’s mouth. Doctor should not enter the hygiene room to begin the exam later than 15 minutes before the hygiene appointment is supposed to end.

Step 7 Communication Saves Time

Many offices today use radio devices, communication lights in the treatment room, or instant messaging on their computer software to communicate if a patient has arrived to the office.

Many sports teams have a high level of communication skills, moving from one play to another. This is the same level of communication you will want to have in your dental office.

One More Stress relief Management Tool

Imagine your time management skills as rewarding and stress free.

Understanding the value of your time, how it can be used and a commitment to effective communication are your keys to manifesting your goals and increasing profits in your practice!

Do you have a time stressor during your day in the dental office? What might that be? I would enjoy hearing about your time stressor.

Maybe it will be another topic here for another week’s blog. It is possible that I have a solution. If you write it in the comment below, you never know, someone else may have a great solution.

Looking forward to supporting you!

ABOUT DEBBIE

Debbie Seidel-Bittke, RDH, BS, is founder of Dental Practice Solutions and for over 20 years she has been committed to creating a dental hygiene department that works enthusiastically, creating a high performance teams, improving patients’ total health and consistent profits to the dental practice.

She is an author for journals such as Dentistry Today, Hygiene Town and RDH. Debbie speaks internationally about systems and services in the dental hygiene department to create a team that works like a well-oiled machine, improving the total health of patients’, utilizing the most recent science to prevent disease and consistently increase profits.

In 1984 she graduated from USC in Los Angeles in with a Bachelors Degree in Dental Hygiene. She is a former clinical assistant professor from USC. In 2000-2002 Debbie co-taught the practice management course for the dental students. Debbie is also a former dental hygiene program director for a school in Portland, Oregon where she wrote the accreditation, hired the instructors, purchased all the equipment, worked with project managers on the building of the school while managing a 2 million dollar budget.
Debbie works with dental practices throughout the world and is considered a leader in creating consistent profits to a dental practice through services and systems in the dental hygiene department.

Check out her new program for 30 Days of information to increase profits in your dental hygiene department: 30 Days of Profit to Your Dental Hygiene Department