While stress in the dental practice neither can be nor should be eliminated, managing it is critical. Dentists and their teams need to identify those areas that cause negative stress and take concrete actions to reduce them. It all starts with changing the things you can. Staff can be changed, educated, and properly directed; schedules can be changed; collections can be changed; treatment presentations can be changed; business procedures can be changed – all to yield improvements and reduce strain on the practice and team immediately. Take these steps:

1. List the stressors starting with those issues that are most intense. Develop a plan of action to address the sources of stress through a procedure or system.

2. Meet regularly as a team to refine systems and procedures that continue to cause stress.

3. Clearly define staff roles and responsibilities.

4. Train your team to ensure that they can succeed in your practice.

5. Establish work schedules that are compatible with demands and responsibilities on the job. If “Julie” is responsible for delinquent account calls, but never is allowed time or a quiet space to make those calls, she cannot fulfill her job expectations. Make adjustments so employees can carry out the duties they are assigned.

6. Improve communications. If you are stressed out because cancellations and no shows have been on record pace the last few months, rest assured your team is worried too. Talk about the situation as a team and together develop strategies to address it.

7. Take time out for fun – an afternoon at the movies, the zoo, or a long lunch. A little fun can go a long way in reducing stress.

“Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.” That is one of my favorite quotes from American philosopher William James.

Oftentimes, it’s the little things – the seemingly insignificant actions – that make all the difference. Our opinions of each other are often shaped by them. Our perceptions of the products and services we purchase are influenced by them. And our views of the people who are selling or delivering them are directly affected by them. Those seemingly intangible influences that give us a sense or feeling that this business or that office is a quality operation, that those people are truly a caring team, or a trustworthy group. Simply said, it’s the little things that reinforce what your patients already want to believe. They are merely looking for confirmation.

Patient opinions and perceptions are shaped by multiple variables, many of which tend to be subtle and vague. Often it’s the intangibles that have a very tangible impact on your success and practice growth. Want to evaluate the “intangibles” in your office? Start with the obvious – staff attitudes. Conduct regular “attitude inventories.” Evaluate your staff’s routine communication with patients – tone, body language, their command of the English language. If you cringe or bristle, consider communication training for your team. Telephone training and practice scripts ensure that the “little things” don’t derail the big opportunities in your practice.

Eighty percent of practices are losing more patients than they are gaining new patients. It’s easy to assume that patients you’ve had for years will continue to return, and it’s also easy to fall into the trap of thinking that those patients will raise questions and inquire about treatment options without your prompting. What happens far too often is teams fall into the “Transaction Mindset.” The patient is coming in for a routine oral hygiene appointment and exam. Everyone clicks into autopilot, after all this is merely a routine transaction. Wait! Wake up! This is one of only two contacts your office will have with that patient in the next 12 months. This isn’t a mere transaction. It’s your brief opportunity to strengthen your relationship with this patient.

In many cases, the six-month visit is the only time the dentist is going to have the opportunity to sit down with the patient and assess not only his/her their oral health condition, but also the individual’s oral health concerns and interests. What do you do during every routine visit to WOW the patients, further educate them on the importance of oral healthcare, and inform them of the services that your practice provides? Anything? In about eight months, you might be wondering why you haven’t seen this or that patient in your practice for a while. Can you figure it out? Maybe they were tired of being treated as simply just another “routine transaction.”

Consider the unspoken messages you and your team convey to patients, starting with the obvious: your smiles. Every time a patient comes into your practice, they are examining your smile. What does yours say about your dentistry, your team, and your philosophy of care? Case in point: A young orthodontist I know is building his practice alongside two very well established doctors in a mid- size city. He is a nice young man, but I can’t help wondering what impact his own crooked smile has on his patients’ decision to proceed or delay treatment – particularly his adult patients. How often are patients second guessing their decision to pursue $6,000, $8,000, $10,000 in adult orthodontic treatment when they sit down and have a conversation with “Dr. Allen.” After all, even “Dr. Allen,” the orthodontist, doesn’t have perfect teeth – and if anyone can afford straight teeth, they reason, it’s an orthodontist.

You and your team advertise your dentistry. If you’re selling smiles, everyone on your team, including you, doctor, should wear the beautiful smiles that excellent dentistry can create.

If you’ve found that production numbers for 2012 left you with little joy to your world, consider what you can do throughout the next 12 months to ensure that production in 2013 has you singing the Hallelujah Chorus next Holiday Season.

Take a few practical steps to improve the bottom line and put the dental team on a high performance track they can stay on. Prescribe treatment plans for patients that include everything that needs to be done – appointments necessary, the cost of treatment, an estimated length of treatment time, and any treatment options. Implement an interceptive periodontal therapy program. Designate a treatment coordinator who is responsible for presenting treatment plans to patients and is expected to secure at least 85% case acceptance. Hold the scheduling coordinator accountable for daily monitoring and following up with patients that have unscheduled treatment.

Market your services to existing patients. Provide superior customer service that will encourage patients to refer friends and family. Implement a recall system that ensures full schedules and minimizes no shows and cancellations.

Each month run the year-to-date Practice Analysis Report and compare it to the same period last year. Do that every, single month. Do not wait until the bell tolls midnight on December 31 to find out how your practice has done for the year.