Top 10 Management Tools for a Successful Practice

Power Thought: Banta Consulting 

1. Design systems and protocols for a good foundation of production and collections.
2. Hire and train for positive attitude and acquire great teams with a dedication towards customer service and effective communication.
3. Hold a "morning huddle" every day to check in on the pulse of the practice and address day to day concerns before they become major issues.
4. Strategize each week by holding team meetings.  Set a theme for each week of:
• Cross training
• Analyzing monthly numbers
• Continuing Education
• Role play - practice communication for patient questions.
5. Choreograph schedule for optimal productivity.
6. Get the money off the books and into the bank quickly.
7. Utilize excellent customer service...patient's impression of you begins on the phone.
8. Sharpen your clinical and practice management skills often by attending and participating in select continuing education.
9. Inspect what you expect.
10. Have more professional fun and find your "internal giggle".

Lois Banta

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7 Steps to Getting Paid

Power Thought: McKenzie Management 

1. Communicate your financial policy to patients regularly
2. Expect full payment at the time of service for all procedures under $200
3. Partner with a patient financing company, such as Care Credit
4. Offer a slight adjustment in fees for costly procedures not covered by insurance and paid in full
5. Allow patients to build a balance on their accounts prior to starting treatment
6. Require insured patients to pay their portion at the time of service
7. Give patients the opportunity to pay in full within 30 days before contacting them

Sally McKenzie

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10 Ways to Increase Practice Productivity from Within

Power Thought: Jameson Management 

1. Go over dentistry diagnosed but untreated for your scheduled patients every day in your morning huddle. View these reports from your Curve software together and make a point to go over these problem areas with your patients while in the chair that day.
2. Ask your patients to fill out a Smile Evaluation questionnaire when they come in for their next appointment.  Even if they filled one out as a new patient, their wants and needs may have changed over time and here is a place to pinpoint those hot buttons.
3. Ask for referrals.
4. Give at least two business cards to each patient at each appointment to give to friends and family for referrals.
5. Use the digital camera effectively and regularly to show your patients the areas of needed attention in their mouths.  A picture is worth a thousand words!
6. Educate!  Make sure you have ample patient education material available for your patients.  Before and after albums in the reception area, attractive brochures about specific treatments, educational videos provided by your Curve software, etc.
7. Be persistent and proactive in your continuous care program.  Use your Curve software to help you locate patients that have "fallen through the cracks" in their continuous care and begin an effective campaign to get back on board with their hygiene appointments.
8. Market to your patient family.  Your Curve software can provide you with ample reasons to stay in contact with your patient family, thus solidifying their relationship with you.  Use this software to stay in front of your patients for birthdays, post-treatment letters, educational letters, and notes to referring doctors, to list a few.
9. Amp up your case presentation system.  Time to revamp how you are presenting treatment to your patients?  Get this system revitalized and give your patient the best possible through excellent communication skills and technological skills (i.e. use of digital and intra-oral camera shots).  Bring your patients in need of extensive treatment back in for a new and improved presentation - you may have found a new way to get to "yes"!
10. Behold the power of the hygiene appointment!  Give yourselves ample time in the hygiene appointment to go over dentistry needed in your patients' mouths.  The use of the digital camera in a hygiene appointment can prove to be a very powerful tool for case acceptance.

Cathy Jameson, PhD

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