Align the practice’s annual and daily production goals. Daily goals should be set to achieve the annual production goal. For example, if the practice wants to produce $800,000 in 200 workdays, the office needs to schedule $4,000 per day. While practices won’t be able to achieve this exact number each day, it’s a goal every team member can strive for.
Management Monday: Check out Dr. Levin’s whitepaper, “Goal Setting – A Critical CEO Function,” by clicking here.
When you make improvements suggested by parents, give them credit. If you’re making changes based on parent feedback, let parents know that you’re responding to—and appreciate—their suggestions. This will demonstrate that you value their opinions highly and will also encourage them to offer more improvement ideas.
Friday Freebie: Watch Dr. Levin’s video, “Feedback Loops” by clicking here.
Advice for the Pediatric Dentist – Increase your business knowledge. Clinical expertise is required to graduate from dental school and residency programs, but those skills don’t guarantee a successful practice. Today, a dentist must be both a master clinician and a capable CEO. Fortunately, the opportunities for business education are numerous, including online classes, books, articles, seminars and dental organizations.
Additional Resource: Read a FREE excerpt from Dr. Levin’s book, “100 Ways to Increase Your Practice Profitability,” by clicking here.
Advice for the Marketing Coordinator – Market consistently. To ensure the best marketing results, consistency is critical. Use strategies on an ongoing basis throughout the year. Haphazard marketing invariably generates inconsistent results, which leads to fewer new patients, lower production, and decreased profitability.
Whitepaper Wednesday: Download Dr. Levin’s FREE whitepaper, “The 9 Areas of Expertise: Marketing,” by clicking here.
Script every parent and patient interaction. Scripting helps dentists and team members communicate more effectively with parents and patients. As in sports, working from the same “playbook” builds team unity. Scripting communicates clear and consistent messages to parents and patients by using:
Additional Resource: Watch Dr. Levin’s video, “Interpersonal Communications – Get Along With Everyone” by clicking here.
Set the example. A leader is the example that other people will follow. Leaders who ask team members to behave and act one way but do not do it themselves send a counterproductive message. Take the time to assess how well you were projecting the behaviors and attitudes that you want your team to take. This will go a long way towards helping people understand the leadership behaviors that you would like to see in the practice.
Management Monday: Check out Dr. Levin’s whitepaper, “Level IV Leadership,” by clicking here.
Don’t get confused by insurance codes. If you’re having trouble understanding which codes to use for insurance, simply contact the insurance company. You hear about many tricks and gimmicks but you can’t be sure that they’ll actually work. The insurance company will tell you the correct code and the rules for using that code so you can be efficient and effective in the future.
Friday Freebie: Watch Dr. Levin’s video, “Game Changer #4 – Decrease In Insurance Reimbursements” by clicking here.
Manage the practice’s time. The schedule serves as your practice’s primary time management tool, determining how the doctor’s and staff members’ time will be used. Schedule patients wisely, based on parameters designed to achieve the greatest efficiency. This will enable you to increase production, reduce stress, maintain energy throughout the day and provide better patient care.
Additional Resource: Learn more about Dr. Levin’s book, “Beating The Clock,” by clicking here.
Keep an eye on profit. How are you measuring your practice success? Jim Collins, author of the book Good to Great, talks about having one number that is the most important number in your practice. That number is profit. If you study profit carefully it will give you incredible insights as to what’s working and what isn’t. Should you join that insurance plan or should you leave another? Is now the time to invest in new technology? These questions and more can be answered by knowing the status of your profit margin.
Whitepaper Wednesday: Check out Dr. Levin’s whitepaper, “Dentist as CEO – Finance & Overhead Analysis,” by clicking here.
Track average production per new and long-term patient. To understand your total production numbers—and improve them—start with patient metrics. Monitoring these figures will motivate you to use comprehensive exams and treatment plans for all patients, not just new ones. You’ll see how presenting more elective and multi-tooth treatment increases production.
Additional Resource: Watch Dr. Levin’s video, “The Danger of Low Production” by clicking here.