In my consulting practice, I always begin work with new clients by doing a comprehensive practice analysis. An important component of this analysis is reviewing key financial metrics. One of those is the “age” of pending insurance claim payments. Recently, I was astonished to discover that one of my new clients had over $300,000 in unpaid insurance claims—some of which were more than 15 months...Read More
Developing high-performing teams with deeply engaged employees is well worth the effort. A large Gallup workplace analysis concluded that business units with highly engaged employees resulted in 21% greater profitability. Even more impressive is that those departments with highly engaged teams had 59% less turnover and 41% reduction in absenteeism. They also found a 10% increase is customer...Read More
Do you and your staff interact exactly the same way with all of your patients? If so, then your dental practice is missing out on opportunities to improve patients’ connections and boost treatment acceptance rates. A 2016 study conducted at the University of New Mexico Dental School indicated that “determination of patient personality type results in better patient communication...Read More
Do you think that offering training opportunities to your dental practice employees is a waste of money that will only result in your staff moving on to other jobs? According to the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM), research has shown that the opposite is true—providing development opportunities for employees actually reduces staff turnover. SHRM goes on to say that “Employee...Read More
Simply filling the majority of your open dental appointment slots doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re achieving your full production and revenue potential. Like so many of our clients, you will likely be surprised by the impact effective scheduling strategies will have on your dental clinic’s bottom line. Even more surprising is that some of these practices can reduce stress and overtime,...Read More
When we think about excellent employees, most of us focus on skills, experience, and abilities. All of these are, of course, important. But the real game-changer in terms of employee performance is their mindset (i.e., outlook and attitude).
A well-known Stanford psychologist, Dr. Carol Dweck, studied student achievement for a couple of decades. She discovered that students fell into two...Read More
Weave a commitment to customer service into the fabric of your organizational culture
I recently read an article in Forbes magazine on customer service. The article notes that “Customer service is not a department. It is a philosophy to be embraced by every employee – from the CEO to the most recently hired.” We couldn’t agree more. All employees in your dental clinic should understand the...Read More
Many health care providers wince when they hear their patients described as customers. But, the bald truth is that dental patients are precisely that–consumers. And they have high expectations. Are you and all of your employees doing everything possible to provide stellar customer service to your patients? If not, a lack of emphasis in this area may be impacting your bottom line....Read More
Are you and your dental clinic staff thoroughly steeped in HIPAA compliance? If so, that’s terrific. You can rest easy knowing you’re not at risk for HIPAA violations—the fines for which can be frighteningly high.
If you’re unsure whether you’re totally on top of HIPAA compliance, see if you can answer the following questions correctly. Your success, or lack of success, will be a good...Read More