Q. I’ve had a lot of trouble implementing various systems in my office (i.e. scheduling, financial policy, recall, etc.) it seems things start off well, but sooner or later, stop getting done. How can I keep my staff motivated to keep these systems in? A. Thank you for your question. Every situation is different, and [...]
In the process of working with MGE Managament Experts, Inc. clients, I’ll find at times that there’s a confusion between the duties of a treatment coordinator and a financial coordinator. A number of practices tend not to differentiate between the two when they are actually entirely different positions. A financial coordinator is responsible for the [...]
Any tips on how to make my schedule more productive?
How well you present a treatment plan is of course a large factor in all of this. Let’s say you have a patient who requires substantial treatment. The price tag on this treatment plan is in excess of $10,000. If your patient follows through, this is $10,000+ that ends up on your schedule. And most importantly, you end up with a healthy patient if his treatment is accepted, started and completed.
Question: My practice is not doing so well. I think it is my location? Any advice?
Answer: I have not seen your office, but, unless you are somewhere in the Yukon with only 100 people living in a fifty mile radius, your difficulties are most likely not related to your location. Sure, a good location can help, more foot traffic, better recognition, etc., but this would not be the basic reason behind your success or failure.
Question: Should I present treatment plans to my new patients on their first visit? Answer: Thank you for your question. Let me start out by saying that my answer is based on the assumption that you are referring to restorative treatment discovered during a new patient initial exam. Emergency type treatment would of course be [...]
Traditionally, a dental Office Manager is selected due to his or her knowledge of dental systems, software, insurance, experience as an assistant, or at times for nothing more than longevity in the practice. In other words, a super-competent worker usually gets the title of Office Manager.
Many dentists assume that their schedule isn’t full due to a lack of new patients. In my experience, this is rarely the real reason, so attracting more new patients won’t necessarily solve the problem. Of course, there are exceptions –e.g. you’ve just opened a scratch practice without an established patient base, or you might have a situation that is stemming the flow of new patients.
If someone were to write down all the things he or she knows should be happening in the practice (i.e. recall, etc.), and then make time and discipline themselves to go through the office and see which of them are actually happening and which are not (and correcting them), they would see a marked amount of change and improvement in the office. Now, this of course assumes that the way you are asking for things to be done works (meaning it produces a positive result).
I often see dentists trying to make a certain production number—they’d like increase by $20k per month, etc.—but then they never change the way they do things! They’re often convinced that they just need to bring in more new patients and then production numbers will magically increase.
Question: How can you tell if an employee is a good fit for your office? How do you judge employee performance? For that matter, is there a specific criterion you should use when deciding who to promote and who to let go?
Question: When I interview people for positions in my office, they often sound good in the interview, but after I hire them they don’t get their job done. What should I do about this?
Rather than starting with a question this week. I thought I’d post a copy of an article I wrote on the subject of Executive Skill. I hope you enjoy and feel free to share any feedback.
My name is Sabri Blumberg, and I am an executive at MGE. Almost every day, I get questions from MGE clients on specific subjects, or how to solve certain situations in their practice. For example, how to build a productive team of staff or how to increase new patient numbers. I always try to answer these questions as best as I can with solutions I know have worked well with other clients.
