dental practice management

You Need to Know These Myths About Dental Practice Success

dental practice success.jpg

The path to dental practice success can have its obstacles. Believing any of the many dental myths out there can block you from being successful. In order to overcome these obstacles that hinder dental practice success, it’s important to recognize the myths as to why your business isn’t successful. Only then can you effectively work through any issues.

Avoid these major misdirecting myths of dental practice success.

Myth #1: Outsourcing Is a Waste of Time & Money

Running a dental practice can be extremely demanding. There are so many different tasks to complete in order to be successful. One of the tasks that is extremely necessary but can be exhausting and time consuming is making calls to overdue patients. Outsourcing your dental recall system will help to bring your practice fantastic results and your office’s time management will be on point.

Outsourcing some of the day-to-day business aspects of the dental practice is not only economical, but allows for more time and enhanced business efficiency. If dentists or the dental staff is running the business side of the practice, it can place additional time demands on them and pull them away from the ever important patient-related tasks. An effective alternative is to use an outsourced partner to take over those labor-intensive business functions which will free up your time to make your business more successful. Patient Focus offers innovative solutions that make it seamless for dental providers to manage relationships with active and inactive patients.

Patient Focus will breathe life back into your practice. Learn how to get started on your path to dental practice success here!

Myth #2: Only Cosmetic Dentists Make Money

There are a lot of dentists out there who believe that because cosmetic procedures cost more, they will make more money by ONLY providing cosmetic dentistry services. But the fact of the matter is that the patients who want to pay for these expensive cosmetic services make up a smaller percentage than those who will pay for treatments and preventative care, according to ADS Transitions. If you put your focus solely on cosmetic services, you’ll lose a large number of dental patients who may not be able to pay for these specialty services.

Overcome these 2 myths of dental practice success in order to build the practice of your dreams!

5 Tips to Cultivating the Happiest Dental Patients Around

Patient happiness and satisfaction is an area that many of us in the dental industry take for granted. It’s become to say ‘we are not just treating teeth; we are treating people’, but it is oh so true. There is tons of lip service given to this idea, but most times not a lot of action behind it. Sure your dental patients may leave your practice with the healthiest teeth, but how was their experience? How well were they treated?

Dental patients will appreciate the overall dental experience if they leave happy. Then, they will come back and maintain excellent oral health and refer your office to friends and family.

Happy dental patients = successful dental practice

It’s time to provide your dental patients with quality care while making their office experience unforgettable. Here’s how you can provide them with the best dental patient experience your office can offer and keep them smiling the moment they walk through your door.

Greet them.

Say hello and give your dental patients a warm welcome right when they come in the door. It shows that you recognize them, that they matter and most importantly, that you care.

Remember who they are.

Everyone wants to feel special. Make it a point to connect with them and remember details about their lives. Connecting will not only ensure happy dental patients, but will create a sense of loyalty.

Don’t talk over their heads.

Patient education is important. Always keep in mind your dental patients didn’t go to dental school. Speak in terms that they’ll understand.

Stay passionate.

It’s so easy to get into a rut at work. Try to reignite that passion you felt when you first started practicing when you go about your day-to-day routine.

Use their name.

Call your patients by name whenever possible. This will give them the sense that they are unique and being served personally and not just another number in your chair.

Making your dental patients happy should be your number 1 priority. Why? It’s simple—without patients you wouldn’t have a practice. Use these tips to start cultivating the happiest dental patients around.

Get Started Today

In only three simple steps you could be up and running with Patient Focus! Learn more today.

9 Reasons You Need a \’91Battle Free\’92 Unified Office

Any conflicts that arise in your dental team can make you want to throw your arms up in despair and retreat. But the need for collaboration is here to stay, and while it\’92s not the easiest thing, it will put more minds on the prize: to produce better results.

If your dental team has frequent arguments, or you simply aren\’92t a unified office, how can you get things back on track?

The Great Divide Between Front and Back Office

Dental practices who successfully blend their front and back dental staff will not only provide exceptional patient service, but also enhance operational performance, improve team morale and reduce costs.

Here are some of the most common struggles between the front and back office:

The schedule struggle. The schedule is the one thing in the dental office that affects every team member and every patient. If someone doesn\’92t follow the schedule, it can create chaos behind the scenes. The schedule should be on everyone\’92s radar and doesn\’92t \’91belong\’92 to just the front or back office. Have your schedule mapped out and available to the front and back office to discuss. Then, watch some magic happen and the unified office can schedule together harmoniously.

Treatment planning tug o\’92 war. Clearly establish who enters the treatment plan, when, who presents it and who schedules it.

Regardless of why your team isn\’92t getting along, or if there is an office divide, following a few simple guidelines can help you to resolve disputes quickly and work towards a more unified office.

Step in early. Emotions run high when there is tension or a dispute starts, the sooner you step in the better. If conflicts are left unresolved, they will fester which can result in lasting resentment and hurt feelings, making it difficult to diffuse the situation.

Establish a shared goal & agreement. An important step is ensuring that whole dental team is focused on the same thing: the patient. Whenever possible, connect the resolution back to the dental team\’92s shared purposes, values or identity. This will help the front and back office see eye to eye.

Want to improve your business and motivate employees? Patient Focus can help your dental clinic find success through dental recall. Contact Patient Focus now to get more appointments.

Remember These Key Principles

DO:

Set up conflict management procedures before a conflict arises

Step in early if a disagreement happens between dental team members

Get the team working together as quickly as possible

DON\’92T:

Assume that your dental team knows or agrees with its shared purpose, values or vision

Let conflicts fester or be left unattended

Move on from a disagreement without first talking to the team about the conflict

Ultimately, a unified dental team means a happy patient – which means a successful dental practice. Follow these simple guidelines to work towards your dental office functioning like a well-oiled machine with happy and satisfied team members.

Wondering how to deal with stress at your dental office? What it boils down to is not letting stress take control\’97learn how to control your stress. Here are 3 ways we like to highlight for how to deal with stress at the dental office.

Create a patient experience for your dental practice that gets the ‘wow’ response every time! Download Your Guide to the Ultimate Patient Experience today!

3 Reasons Why Your Dental Patients Don\’92t Come Back

The average dental practice loses 15-20% of their dental patients every single year. Why are you losing these patients? What is happening to your dental patients and where are they going? It\’92s important to uncover the why – to get to the root of the issue – to effectively take action and do something about it.

Like most business owners, dentists can have various blind-spots when it comes to weaknesses in their practice. Stop simply wondering why your dental patients aren\’92t returning and start uncovering the real reasons.

Here are 3 of the most common reasons why dental patients walk out the door and don\’92t come back.

Unbearably long wait times

Time is important to everyone. And that includes your dental patients. There is nothing worse than sitting in the reception area just watching the clock tick away slowing waiting for your name to be called. You expect your patients to be in your practice on time, and your dental patients have the same expectation of you. Your staff should schedule realistic appointment times and remember to avoid double booking patients. Of course there can be unexpected delays or emergencies that pop up causing a delay in wait time. If that is the case, make sure that the dental team clearly communicates to the patient. The pain in waiting often comes from the unknown. You\’92ve most likely experienced this feeling while sitting in traffic–not knowing what caused the traffic jam can drive you crazy! And the moment you\’92re aware of what the issue is, it immediately reassures you that it will soon come to an end. Then the wait doesn\’92t seem quite as unbearable! If there is a wait, simply communicating with the patient as to why and how long that wait will be can work wonders in building trust and making them feel valued.

Ready to discover the essential secrets to successfully filling your dental chairs? Download your checklist here!

You don\’92t ACT like you care

While we know you appreciate and care about your patients (you wouldn\’92t be in business if it weren\’92t for them!), it\’92s all-too common for dental patients to think that you don\’92t truly care about them personally. Since it\’92s incredibly easy to get caught up in the clinical side of what you\’92re doing, it also becomes incredibly easy to forget to take a moment to pause and pay proper attention to the patient. Let them understand that you are there for them and do what you can to ease their fear and discomfort when at all possible. No one likes feeling like they\’92re just another number.

Your staff is unfriendly

Having a friendly and helpful dental team is critical to patient satisfaction and retention. It will be easy for dental patients to jump ship if they don\’92t feel welcome and respected. Train the entire team to greet every single patient by name and always welcome them with a smile. Ensure everyone on your team knows how important their role is in patient retention, and the impact they can have in making your patients\’92 day. When dental patients feel valued and comfortable, they are much more likely to return.

A successful dental practice makes their highest priority providing exceptional patient care. Getting new dental patients is tough enough. It will be well worth the effort to keep them!

Are you ready to simplify and streamline your efforts to grow your dental practice? Follow this link to request a consultation with one of our call experts, or call us today at 888.978.2615 and get started in only three simple steps!

Learn How to Get Started

Take Full Advantage of Your Dental Recall System

Dental practices everywhere face one of the biggest challenges out there: scheduling overdue patients. If you are searching for an effective dental recall system to help streamline your practice and schedule overdue patients, you are definitely not alone.

Dental recall systems provide a solution to this all-too common problem of dental offices struggling to stay in contact with their patients. Recurring visits is the lifeline of a dental practice because it keeps existing patients coming back and keeps dental chairs full. These routine visits can also mean opportunity to identify dental complaints or conditions that patients need to take care of.

Patient recall systems can take on many different forms. The most commonly used include:

Text messages
Emails
Dental patient recall postcards
And now, with Patient Focus, live calls

While the concept of patient recall is simple, actually executing a patient recall effort can be daunting and time consuming. While automated text reminders and emails are good, there are extremely time consuming and need to be supplemented first with Patient Focus\’92 services.

Thankfully, Patient Focus offers these extraordinary services to help identify the patients for you. Live patient recall services make bringing your patients back easier than ever\’97you\’92ll never have to pick up the phone again.

Don\’92t Miss Out on Patients

Want to know what the best route is to get your dental chairs filled and keeping them filled? It\’92s a practice that has stood the test of time and ensures human interaction for the best outcome possible: phone calls. If you aren\’92t doing this, then you\’92re missing out on lots of patients. This is where Patient Focus steps in.

If you\’92re ready to realize increased revenues, discover what this Tempe Dental Practice saw from implementing Patient Focus\’92 services in only one short year. These results could be yours!

We understand that you and your staff have your hands full every day and will not always have time to spend calling patients to let them know that they need to make an appointment. And automated calls can be so impersonal. No one wants to have to talk to a robot, and automated phone systems can be inefficient because the patient needs to listen to a never-ending series of options before they can complete the desired action.

Patient Focus guarantees you that there will always be a live caller. That\’92s right! A real, live human will be on the other end of that phone call communicating with your patients in real time. Making connections and scheduling patients. Your patients will respond better to a live caller than a robot\’97guaranteed.

Take Full Advantage Of Your Recall System

No more existing patients falling through the cracks. If you\’92ve been trying to narrow down which patient recall system would work best for your dental practice and be the most effective, consider our top notch patient recall program. It is one of the most important systems that you can have in your practice.

Are you ready to simplify and streamline your efforts to grow you dental practice? Follow this link to request a consultation with one of our call experts, or call us today at 888.978.2615 and get started in only three simple steps!

Create a Sensational Dental Patient Experience in 3 Simple Steps

patient-experience

We\’92ve all at some point in our lives experienced a lack of customer service. Has an experience with poor customer service left you asking yourself, \’93Do they not want my business?\’94 It can be one of the most frustrating things when a business treats you as if they couldn\’92t care less. That is why exceptional customer service is so valuable. Providing this positive patient experience helps to set you apart from competitors who are too stressed, too busy or just plain oblivious to providing a superior patient experience to their patients.

Always do everything you can do to exceed the patient\’92s expectations and stand out in their minds for excellent customer service.

Here are 3 simple steps to create a sensational dental patient experience.

Give Patients Some Control

A lot of times, dental patients feel like they have no control when they are with their dentist. Before you begin the exam, sit down and take the time to talk with them about how you can help, listen to their problems, fears, and concerns. Then, explain in detail what you will be doing to help them to make sure they fully understand the procedures you will be performing.

Project Enthusiasm

Team members should always exude friendliness whether answering phones, welcoming patients at the front desk or during treatment. A good rule of thumb is to treat patients like you would an old friend, instead of an interruption in your busy day.

Follow Up

Dental patient contact shouldn\’92t end after they leave your clinic. A quality patient experience involves ongoing communication. When you reach out after the initial patient visit, you show attentiveness and build and strengthen solid relationships that keep patients coming back.

Strive to set yourself apart from the rest. Creating the best environment possible in your dental office enhances the patient experience. Use these tips to keep your patients coming back.

Want more dentist reviews? Improve patient satisfaction with these 3 tips!

4 Powerful Tips to an Effective Dental Recall Appointment

recall-appointment

We all know that a full schedule is vital to a successful dental practice. Patients need to be rescheduled or you risk losing in many ways. One key to keeping that schedule full to the brim is an effective dental recall appointment. Having worked with many dental offices to help them find effective ways of scheduling overdue patients, we\’92ve discovered various techniques to make dental recalls effective to the max.

Here are some powerful tips to an effective dental recall appointment.

Get Personal

Don\’92t detour from human-to-human interaction when it comes to setting a recall appointment. People respond well to a personal touch. Everyone loves to hear their own name\’97use it in your interaction at least twice.

Don\’92t Rush

If a dental patient feels rushed into scheduling an appointment, they may schedule but will be less inclined to keep the appointment or even come back at all. The patient experience starts with the call to schedule the appointment. Slow down and take your time to make sure your patient is excited to visit your practice once again.

Be Trustworthy

Your patients want to feel like you truly care for them and want the best for their dental health. Be honest, trustworthy and always keep the patients\’92 best interest in mind. In doing this, your patients will be more inclined to keep coming back and recommend you to their friends and family.

Don\’92t Overlook Outsourcing

Boost efficiency and simplify the appointment reminder process by using a professional call center. Patient Focus makes live calls to your existing patients to schedule continuing care appointments. Even, better we have one caller that is assigned to your office\’97Patient Focus then becomes an integrated extension of your practice. Taking these appointment reminder calls off of your plate will save your staff time while still providing high quality service for your patients. Patient Focus offers innovative solutions making it seamless for dental providers to manage relationships with active and inactive patients.

Having a rock-solid dental recall appointment system in place is critical. Patient Focus is a proven dental recall system that will give your dental practice success. With over 12 years of appointment-scheduling experience. With one caller assigned to your office, Patient Focus will become an integrated extension of your practice. We make live calls to your existing patients to effectively schedule continuing care appointments.

Patient Recall Service Comparison. If you\’92re ready to realize increased revenues, discover what this Tempe Dental Practice saw from implementing Patient Focus\’92 services in only one short year. These results could be yours!

Are you ready to simplify and streamline your efforts to grow you dental practice? Follow this link to request a consultation with one of our call experts, or call us today at 888.978.2615 and get started in only three simple steps!

How to Get New Patients Into Your Dental Practice

how-to-get-new-patients

Is the door to your dental practice collecting dust and are the hinges getting rusty? Stuck in a slump with no new dental patients coming in or struggling with a low retention rate? It\’92s time to change things up. Discover how to get new patients into your dental practice and keep them there. The great news? It\’92s not as expensive or difficult as you may think.

How to Get New Patients Into Your Dental Practice\’97And Keep Them There!

Creating the best experience possible for patients will not only ensure new patients find their way through your doors, it will help to skyrocket your retention rates. Follow these three rules of a successful dental practice and you\’92ll quickly find your schedule filling up!

Survey Your Surroundings

Take a look around your dental practice and ask yourself these questions:

Is the d\’e9cor attractive?
It is clean?
Is there plenty of space?
Is there entertainment for patients while they wait?
Is it comfortable?

If you answered no to any of these questions, it\’92s time to redecorate and reorganize. Your office and waiting area should be a place you wouldn\’92t mind hanging out in for a little bit.

Consider these 6 things when creating the best dental office design ergonomics to make your patients feel right at home.

Slap on a Smile

A genuine smile goes a long way. Do you see smiling faces when looking at your staff? Do you find yourself too busy thinking about what you need to do next instead of being in the moment and smiling during your day? A smiley and friendly dental staff that greets patients as soon as they walk through the door will make all the difference in the world. If your patients don\’92t feel welcomed, you can bet they won\’92t be coming back. Always hire a calm, pleasant and positive office staff to guarantee that happiness radiates all the way to the patient. After all, happiness is contagious!

Target Inactive Patients

You should always maintain a recurring relationship with all of your patients\’97active or inactive. If you don\’92t keep communication strong, how can you ever solidify any sort of valuable relationship? If you\’92ve been considering a patient recall system, you want it to be as effective as possible, because it is one of the most important systems that you can have in your practice. Don\’92t let your existing patients fall through the cracks! Keep them coming with a top notch patient recall program.

Stop scratching your head and worrying how to get new patients into your dental practice. Follow these helpful tips and quickly see an increase in your new and returning patient visits!

Are you ready to simplify and streamline your efforts to grow you dental practice? Follow this link to request a consultation with one of our call experts, or call us today at 888.978.2615 and get started in only three simple steps!

Bringing the Front Office & Back Office Together for a Unified Office

unified-office

If there is turmoil or trouble brewing between the front and the back office you can count on your patients feeling it. Patients can sense any frustration or see it on your face if you\’92re disappointed in one of your team members. A division in the dental office is a recipe for disaster. Is there a great divide between your front and back office? These questions may help you figure that out if you are unsure:

Do your dental team members only perform a specific function within the practice and hardly, if ever, venture past the boundaries detailed in their job descriptions?
Do your front and back offices rarely communicate?

If you answered yes to one or both of these questions, your practice most likely is not a unified office. When each department works independently, it leaves gaps in customer service, efficiency and profitability.

Every single team member\’92s actions will directly affect the patient experience and ultimately can improve office productivity and profitability.

Discover how you can create a powerful dental patient experience in this blog post.

Without a unified office, a dental team will unravel and can miss many potential income opportunities. A team that is unified results in happy patients and a successful dental practice\’97work together to create goals, develop plans and increase communication and make patients happy.

It\’92s time to bridge the gap between the front and back office for a unified office. A unified dental team improves the work flow and information that is vital for both a positive patient experience and your practice\’92s bottom line.

3 Steps to a Unified Office

Make Communication the Cornerstone of Your Practice. Effective communication enables team members to work together while providing optimal care for your patients. Excellent communication will help to build a strong network that is the glue that holds a practice closely together. Utilize technology and face-to-face conversations to improve communication between all team members.

Establish Attainable Goals. Create goals with the team that everyone can work towards together. Goals help to provide a common focal point and focus to bring everyone closer to reaching them. When we hit goals, morale goes up, we celebrate more often, team members are happier and everyone is further inspired to try setting new goals in different areas\’97\’91always improving\’92 becomes the common mindset. Goals should be realistic and well defined.

Hire Passionate People. A unified office means likeminded people who work there. Your dental team should be made up of people who are passionate about providing quality dental care. While skills are very important, you cannot always instill enthusiasm in a team member.

Working as a unified office results in happy patients and a successful dental practice. Set standards in your office so patients are always walking away feeling like your office is a well-oiled machine.

Wondering how to deal with stress at your dental office? What it boils down to is not letting stress take control\’97learn how to control your stress. Here are 3 ways we like to highlight for how to deal with stress at the dental office.

4 Traits Every Dental Practice Manager Should Possess

dental-practice-manager

A dental practice manager is a very unique position since it often stems from a wide variety of backgrounds. Perhaps you started out chairside, or maybe you got your start working as a receptionist and moved your way up. You may have managed other types of professional offices or companies aside from a dental practice or hold a business degree. Wherever your career path started out, there are some essential traits that every dental practice manager should possess. Do you have them?

Dental Practice Manager Trait Checklist

Are you\’85

Flexible & Understanding?

You need to be able to stay calm in a fast-paced environment and keep your head in the game with multiple projects and responsibilities happening all at once. Having an understanding of operations and extensive knowledge to perform any task at a dental practice is crucial. Whether it is appointment scheduling, data entry or dental patient interaction, you should be able to do it all and with ease.

A Good Communicator?

The ability to effectively communicate is so important to the success of your dental office. As a dental practice manager, you will need to be able to communicate with team members, department heads, dentists and patients. You will have to be able to relay vital information honestly, concisely and constructively. A dental practice manager is also easy to talk to\’97 for both staff and patients alike.

One important aspect of being a good communicator is listening. Make sure you\’92re actively listening and using these 3 important listening skills every day.

An Advocate of Teamwork?

Teamwork is often as crucial as having a dental practice manager to begin with. Front staff and clinical staff need to have continuous and open communication. As a manager, this should be one of your top priorities. By encouraging teamwork in the dental office, you are able to proactively address any issues that may arise and create a better plan for solutions and the results best for the clinic and dental team.

A Leader?

An effective dental practice manager is able to provide direction and guidance while supporting the team in their attempt to accomplish objectives and build constructive professional relationships.

Recognize any of these characteristics in yourself? Possessing these dental practice manager characteristics will skyrocket both your professional success and the success of the practice in which you work.

Stress-be-gone with these 3 remedies for stress relief at work! These tips will help you to go forth and conquer your workday with these tips in your back pocket.

It can be extremely stressful if there are empty dental chairs at your office. Download our 5-Point Checklist to Achieving a Full Schedule here. The essential secrets to successfully filling your dental chairs await!