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“Top
Obstacles to Achieving the Ideal Practice.” This week…
one of the barriers likely to be interfering in your ability
to reach your goals. Next week I’ll discuss proven solutions.
Barrier
#4 The Perception vs. Reality of Staff Productivity
They all seem to
be working at a breakneck pace. No doubt about it, everyone
is stretched practically beyond physical recognition, including
you. Staff are scurrying from room to room, dirty instruments
are piled high, the office manager is so stressed out that
if you so much as think about adding another item to her “to
do” list, she instantly assumes a martial arts posture
and is ready to high karate chop you and your “to do’s”
to smithereens. All signs point to everyone working
hard, so productivity must be at an all-time high, right?
Wrong.
It’s easy
to believe that when the office is busy and everyone is running
around frantically like mice in the maze that activity translates
into productivity. For many doctors, until they sit
down and really look at the productivity of their staff and
the effectiveness of office procedures, they are convinced
that if they’re busy, they’re productive. But
as we’ve heard time and again, working hard and working
smart are two very different things.
And when staff
appear to be maxed out, doctors are fast to latch onto the
quick fix strategy. Hire More Staff! This idea is so full
of hype and unmet promise that someone should package it up
and sell it as some sort of revolutionary breakthrough on
late night television. The doctor doesn't want to lose the
staff he/she has so they easily cave in to bringing on another
pair of hands to save the day. Regrettably, just like
every other quick fix approach, this too frequently proves
to be a big money wasting, time draining disappointment.
Instead of looking at ways to make systems more time and motion
efficient that might require CHANGE… it's easier just
to bring on another person. Payroll then goes beyond the 20%
of revenues (industry standard- taxes and benefits are an
additional 3-5%) and the dentist is having a hard time paying
the bills.
Staff “busyness”
resulting in low production return usually means there is
not enough direction and staff are not focused on practice
goals or outcomes. Seldom does it actually mean you need to
throw more people into the mix. The $64,000 question, of course,
becomes how do you know if you need more staff or
not.
Next week, I’ll
share my six-step strategy to determine if your staff
are working hard or hardly working.
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"Sometimes
I know I am lacking in the business skills I need to manage
staff and know the numbers."
1 to
1 Coursework
Staff Management for Dentists
Now
Available
The Center
for Dental Career Development
For
more info click the link below
to request current information!
click
me
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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.
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If you missed any of the previous issues
CLICK
HERE.
|
Get
them while they’re hot! Electronically!
Situation:
You are in the middle of presenting a treatment plan
with a patient and you're ready to review their financing
options. You are reiterating that doctor Larry has diagnosed
and recommended they have x treatment totaling $2500.
You are looking at your computer screen, you click on
a $ sign icon on the tool bar ,,, this automatically
prepopulates the patient's information to a patient
financing application … you type in their income
and housing information, click submit and in less than
10 seconds … yes, I said SECONDS
you have approval for presenting the option of "affordable"
monthly payment.
Now, take
a few moments to reflect back on the days before
technology. You would have the patient fill
out a paper application, fax or call it in, wait for
approval and then communicate the approval to the patient.
This process was prohibitively long in some circumstances
and often resulted in a lapse of time that can 'cool
off the sale'.
Solution:
I am very happy to report that one of the major practice
management software companies, (Dentrix™) has
added the above mentioned dollar sign icon to their
Toolbar. This allows the patient information that is
already in the computer system to be sent directly to
CareCredit™ one of the nation's leading patient
financing companies with endorsements of state dental
associations across the U.S. Finding out if the patient
has been approved can take as little as 10 to 15 seconds!
I am sure
the other major software companies will be close behind
in their development with links to patient care financing.
When you
have the patient in the chair or consult room, this
level of service means a lot especially if you need
to do an emergency root canal or a crown that may find
the patient without $800 to move forward. Affordable
monthly payments that you know is approved in less than
10 seconds keeps the patient in the chair.
The link
between the computer and the patient financing company
is also a valuable tool to reactivate patients on the
Unscheduled Treatment Plan Report found in your computer
system. Run this report for the past 12 months and start
dailing for dollars. Our consulting team at McKenzie
Management have found this script works well for our
clients.
"Mrs.
Jones? This is Mary from Dr. Larry's office. How are
you? Great! Dr. Larry mentioned your name yesterday
which got him to thinking about the treatment he had
recommended that hasn't been done yet. You had dental
treatment that needed to be done from last _____. Perhaps
at that time money was posing a problem for you. And
since we try to do everything possible to SOLVE problems,
Dr. Larry wants you to know that we now have a relationship
with Care Credit that will allow you to make small monthly
payments for the treatment you need. So...before calling
you, I contacted Care Credit, our treatment financing
specialists and found that the treatment you need can
be paid for in monthly payments of $xxxx with no interest.
All we need to do to get started is for you to answer
a couple of questions for me and I will be able to tell
you if you are approved for the low monthly payments.
Let me go back over the necessary treatment with you.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
So, to
reiterate you could have monthly payments for the treatment
as low as xxxx. Is there any reason why we can't go
ahead and schedule you an appointment to begin?
Why not ask
the qualifying questions for CareCredit's approval first,
you have the unscheduled treatment patient on the screen,
hit the $ icon and have the answer before you finish
going over the treatment needed. No delay on getting
an answer from the patient, IF they are approved. Just
like magic you have the answer. Technology certainly
has a way of making us time and motion efficient.
Get 'em while they're hot!
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Doctors Reveal the Top Practice Issues of 2002
Stifling Practice Growth and Profitability
!!!
- Staffing
Issues- Turnover resulting in recruitment of "good"
employees as well as internal conflicts and lack of training.
-
Scheduling-#1 issue was BUSYNESS! Practices
are feeling the effects of the shortage of dentists since 1995.
Schedules booked out far in advance. Concerns over time and motion
ineffeciencies.
-
Cash Flow/ Overhead-Payroll expense continues
to escalate beyond the 22% limit. Accounts Receivable over 90
days rises above the 15% range.
-
Hygiene-Perio therapy treatment still below
33%. Openings in schedule.
Will
you be ready to run for the GOAL in 2003?
Find out Here
Start
the year off right!!
Get the BEST of the BEST
Dental Manager's Tool Kit
5
of Sally's Top Selling Books
Cash Flow, Hiring, Hygiene, Performance Measures,
Recall
Special
Rate for this week's newsletter subscribers. Receive all 5 books
for $165!!!
Order
before 2/21/03 and receive as an added bonus…
Sally McKenzie's Most Popular Lecture on DVD
Breakdown: The Hidden Signals of Practice Erosion
ORDER
NOW
"Recently
I moved my chairside assistant to the front desk to be our financial
coordinator after firing the previous one.
I didn't know how to train her and she was quickly becoming
overwhelmed. Knowing that this could no longer go on I decided to
send her to The
Center for Dental Career Development. Sally McKenzie and her
team showed my financial coordinator how to not only do every aspect
of her job but also coordinate her management
duties with the Dentrix Dental System™. I now have
security in knowing that my financial systems are functioning to
the best of their ability and the process even uncovered $110,000
in lost revenues! Bottomline…I made
money on my decision!"
NOW
AVAILABLE
Advanced
Business Training
·
Financial Coordinators
· Patient Coordinators
· Scheduling Coordinators
· Treatment Coordinators
The
Center for Dental Career Development is compatible with the following
computer management systems: Dentrix™, Softdent™,
EagleSoft™,
PracticeWorks™,
Easy Dental™,
Discus Dental™.
Test
Your Skills NOW!
The
Center for Dental Career Development
Advanced Business Education for Dental
Professionals
1-877-900-5775
737 Pearl St. Ste. 201
La Jolla, CA 92037
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This issue is sponsored
in part by:
DentalTown
McKenzie
Management
CareCredit
The
Center for Dental Career Development
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Research
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