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Sally McKenzie,CMC              President  McKenzie Management, Inc. Sally McKenzie's Weekly Management e-Motivator Click here to print this e-Motivator Article. Missed any past issues of Sally's  Weekly or Monthly Newsletters or Magazine Articles? (click an item to view archive) June 17, 2002   WEB: http://www.mckenziemgmt.com For a FREE Analysis of Your Practice by Sally McKenzie...click here This issue is sponsored in part by: McKenzie Management - A full service, in-office dental management consulting company specializing in the business, clinical,and hygiene areas of practices nationwide.You can find McKenzie Management at http://www.mckenziemgmt.com CareCredit - More than 30,000 healthcare practices nationwide use CareCredit as an alternative means of helping their patients finance treatment. You can find CareCredit at http://www.carecredit.com Dental Town: -Never practice solo again! DentalTown.com is a free community, hosting dentistry's MOST ACTIVE message boards, classified ads and a dental event calendar. The site is open to dental professionals throughout the world, 24-hours a day, 7 days a week. Once you visit, you'll wonder how you ever practiced without it! Log onto http://www.dentaltown.com TODAY! Lares Research - Make Your Practice Profitability Soar! SoftCare™ boosts your hygiene department profitability to a new level. Treatment of periodontal disease with the Lares' PocketPro Lasers™ is easy to learn and offers a quick and dramatic return  on your investment.   Lares lasers will also make your dentistry faster and easier, visit us at http://www.laresdental.com/products/lsc/default.asp or call 800-347-3289,ext. 1 and schedule an educational presentation. HPSC - Finances, via lease or loan, dental and office equipment, leasehold improvements, working capital and supply contracts at fixed competitive rates, with no points, variables or hidden fees. HPSC also offers a variety of financing programs to dental professionals seeking to set up, expand, buy into, or acquire a practice. http://www.hpsc.com/ INFORMS - Allow InForms to participate in your successful practice by becoming the "ONE STOP SOURCE" for your front office needs. We carry a full range of products including: recall and appointment cards, registration forms, exam forms, statements and envelopes, folders and labels. Call us at 1-800-722-4884 or email us at informs@bellsouth.net today to receive your catalog.     Sally McKenzie's Weekly Management e-Motivator---Issue #16 All Systems Go...  All Systems STOP ! You feel like the Terminator's latest target. More patients than you can count have said "Hasta la vista, baby." The staff is engaging in another round of war games. And the creditors are prepared to take no prisoners. "What is happening to my business?" you lament. These are just a few of the telltale signs of management system meltdown. Scary as it sounds, the practice management infrastructure can fail before you even recognize there is a problem. Like termites in the walls, the signals of practice breakdown are never as obvious as their detrimental effects. They are often subtle, gradual changes that can be quickly lost in the day-to-day busyness, the personality struggles, the communication snafus, the staff changes, etc. Take a few critical steps to reinforce your practice infrastructure. Consider personalities. Personnel and personalities significantly influence the systems. Personality testing for applicants enables you to identify which candidate has the best temperament for each position. Certain people are perfectly comfortable asking for money, clearly, others are not. The Keirsey Temperament Sorter Test found in the book "Please Understand Me," by David Keirsey, or online at http://www.keirsey.com, is an excellent tool in placing current and prospective employees in positions for which they are best suited. Do it right the first time. Employees, particularly those involved in collections and scheduling, must be provided the tools and training to succeed and be expected to meet certain performance measurements. Police your policies. Office policies guide your staff. At a minimum, establish a financial policy that you are comfortable with and stick to it. Recall and retain patients. Delegate responsibility for the recall system to someone who will be accountable for its success. Give them the tools and the time necessary to succeed. That person is the patient coordinator.   Sally's Recommended Actions: Monitor your systems at least monthly. Designate particular staff to report on specific systems each month. For example, your business manager should be reporting on the level of collections for the month and if the practice will achieve its monthly collection goal. Expect payment at the time services are rendered. Many patients don't pay because they are not asked. Make it a standard operating procedure to request payment. "Mrs. Jones your fee is $125 will you be paying with cash, check, or charge?" In lieu of extending credit to patients, partner with a patient financing company, such as CareCredit (http://www.carecredit.com). Expect your patient coordinator to make a specific number of patient calls each day and to schedule a specific number of appointments. She should ensure that a certain number of patients complete treatment and that the hygienist is scheduled to meet established financial goals.   Want to MOTIVATE your TEAM ?  Check out McKenzie's "POWER PACK SPECIAL"  - click here. McKenzie Management Newsletter Information: To view Newsletter Archive:  To view past issues of this newsletter, click here. To unsubscribe: To discontinue receiving the Sally McKenzie eNewsletter, click on the link at the very bottom of this page for instant removal,  or simply click Reply to this email with the word "Remove" as the only word in the subject line. To report technical problems with this newsletter or to request technical help,  please send a descriptive email to: webmaster@mckenziemgmt.com To request services, products or general inquires about McKenzie Management activities:  please send a descriptive email to: info@mckenziemgmt.com If you would like to have any of your dental practice concerns answered personally by Sally McKenzie,  please send a descriptive email to her at: sallymck@mckenziemgmt.com. Copyright © 2002 McKenzie Management - All Rights Reserved.