|
Strrrrrike
Three You’re OUT (of money that is)
One look
at your payroll and you’d think you were financing
a team of major league ball players. And at least one
of them is spending too much time warming the bench.
You manage to eek out a meager percentage for yourself,
but installments into your retirement account have virtually
evaporated and forget plans for spring training. Payroll,
last time you forced yourself to check, was at 29%,
not counting taxes and benefits – well above the
20-22% benchmark. At this rate, you’re about to
be thrown out of the game. It’s time to walk the
bases and see who’s on first and what’s
on second.
Strrike One,
when Mary, your business manager, said the office needed
more help to tie up loose ends, you had nary so much
as a question about training and better utilization
of existing staff.
Strrrrike
Two, Wanda, who has been with you for years, has “topped
out” on the salary scale. Nonetheless, you continue
to reward her longevity, not her performance. And as
much sick time as she takes, her name is a permanent
fixture on the team’s injured list.
Strrrrrrrike
Three, your hygienist is paid 40% of her production.
OUCH! She’s practically a free agent.
|
Sally’s
Recommended Actions
- New hires
brought in to tie up loose ends usually unravel your
budget all the faster. However, if you bring in a
patient coordinator who will increase practice revenue
by making sure appointments aren’t lost, any
negative financial impact should only last for about
60 days. Beyond that, production should increase,
and the wage percentage return to the 19%-22% range.
- When employees
“top out,” they do not continue to receive
pay increases beyond cost of living. Base raises on
performance. Explain your performance expectations
to staff and what standards you will base salary increases
upon. For example: the treatment coordinator is to
secure case acceptance at a certain level. (See Performance
Measurements in Side Bar)
- If the
hygienist receives a guaranteed salary regardless
of their production, the expectation must be that
they produce three times their salary. Schedule hygienists
to meet that expectation. Hygiene salaries should
not exceed 33% of hygiene production, not including
doctor exam fees.
Lastly,
when profits go down salaries don’t go up. |
|
| Technology
Tool Box
 |
Mark
Dilatush
VP of Professional Relations
for McKenzie Management
Mark@mckenziemgmt.com
1-877-777-6151
Ext. 28 |
A series
of short weekly chores designed to keep the return
on investment in technology at its highest level.
|
If you missed any of the previous
issues CLICK
HERE.
|
Patient
Recognition - Complete Contact - Complete Service
Purpose:
- Every week we will publish one of the top
ten. Unlike the “Tonight Show”,
these are not in any particular order. These
are compiled from watching 20 years of mistakes
and helping to fix those mistakes. We would
rather our clients just avoid the mistakes!
Situation:
- We receive at least 50 phone calls per day.
We also personally greet another 25 patients
per day who visit our office. We have a team
of 5 staff in our dental office. Some of our
team have been with us for years but others
are relatively new. How can we use our computer
system to "personalize" every patient
visit and maximize our level of service to the
patients?
What
NOT to do:
-
Do not ignore the importance of being recognized
and greeted by name. It is your chance to make
a positive first impression with every patient
visit.
Do not underestimate the importance of patient
perception in the level of service delivered
by your team. In this case, perception truly
is reality.
What
TO do:
-
Review the telephone greeting procedure with
your business staff. Within the first 8 seconds
of your telephone greeting, you should learn
the patient's first and last name. As soon as
you hear their name, it should trigger you to
"Find" (bring up a patient list window)
the patient on the phone.
If you have a patient driven practice management
system, you should be able to suspend (stop)
what you are doing (no matter what you're
doing) and instantly bring up your list of
patients.
Look at their record and confirm their street
address: "Mrs. Smith, are you still at
376 Elm Street in Shelbyville."?
A quick glance at their balance, their next
scheduled appointment, and any outstanding
treatment plan should be done. Immediately
after that, go to the patient contact area
to review a list of notes from team conversations.
This whole process should take no longer than
4 seconds. You are now totally prepared to
service this patient.
Same
process holds true for personally greeting
a patient. Your practice management system
should support patient pictures (Portraits).
Confirm by sight (with the patient picture
in the computer) and greet every patient by
name. For instance: "Hello, Mrs. Smith,
how are you today? You are right on time"!
Now mind you, the personalization isn't over.
After greeting the patient by name, review
Mrs. Smith's balance. Review why she came
in today (work to be performed), any family
members who are overdue for their recall,
the age of any outstanding treatment plan,
the last time you updated her insurance information
(if she has insurance), and any notes from
previous conversations with team members.
This process should only take 5 to 6 seconds
and two mouse clicks. Ask the patient any
pertinent questions.that require immediate
attention and certainly ask any question that
help make the checkout process as smooth as
possible (update medical history, updated
insurance information, street address, guarantor
relationship, etc)
- Summary:
-
Your
patients can tell when you are prepared or
unprepared. Think back to your last hotel
stay. Did they actually get your room preference
correct? Or, did they let you know you had
a message and a box waiting for you the second
your record appeared on their computer screen?
How did you feel about that experience? Pretty
special right?
Practice
the sequence of steps at your next staff meeting.
If you do not know the steps, get trained
and learn them. Adapt the steps into your
normal business operations.
Your
patients will reward exceptional service.
|
|
|
You have 12
work days to reach your year end GOALS
. . .
•Will your production exceed
last year minus fee increases?
•Will your patient retention
increase to add days of hygiene?
•Will you take home more
money?
The TOP 4 concerns
of 2002
•Staffing •Scheduling
•Hygiene •Cash Flow
Will you make it?
Take this
test to find out!
What
if ...
Your business staff had the training, efficiency, knowledge,
expertise and organization of the
Nation's TOP Dental Management consultants?
"I
have some GREAT employees and know they could be even better
with the proper training, but that's not my area of expertise.
HELP!"
How
do I know if my staff needs Advanced Business Training?
Find
out by clicking here!
The
Center for Dental Career Development
Advanced Business Education for
Dental Professionals
Looking
for an
Easy, Quick, Painless way for you and your employees
to know when a raise is in order?
Performance
Measurements for the Dental Team
Book and Audio Tapes
Special Rate for this week's newsletter subscribers-$77!!!
Order
before 12/13 and receive as an added bonus…
Sally McKenzie's Most Popular Lecture on DVD
Breakdown: The Hidden Signals of Practice Erosion
Missed any past
issues of Sally's
Weekly
or Monthly
Newsletters or Magazine
Articles?
(click an item to view archive)
This
issue is sponsored in part by:
DentalTown
Secure
Data Express™ (SDX™)
McKenzie
Management
CareCredit
The
Center for Dental Career Development
Lares
Research
|
