5 more tips to increase production by $200,000

By Roger P. Levin, DDSCLICK HERE to read the first five tips to increase production by $200,000.As the economy begins to rebound, are you ready to get the most out of the recovery?These five tips can help you ramp up practice production, drive growth, and enjoy what you do even more. Remember, doing just one thing isn’t going to magically transform your practice — it’s only by making multiple systemic improvements, even small ones, that you can reach your practice potential and jumpstart production by $200,000 or more!1. Ask for patient testimonials. Encourage patients to send letters and e-mails to your office with their feedback. Positive words from current patients build credibility for your services. Testimonials persuade current patients to stay with the practice long-term and encourage new patients to commit to the practice. Be sure that when you do receive positive letters from patients to ask their permission to display those testimonials in your office or on your practice’s Web site.2. Spend your money wisely. The best way to develop an effective budget is to analyze past performance and evaluate how it relates to your practice’s future potential. Simply put, budgeting requires financial decisions to be made after careful analysis of all the positive and negative financial consequences for each action. Thinking of the finances of your practice in this manner ensures that you make the best use of practice resources and attain maximum profitability. 3. Be more efficient. Many practices are still using 15-minute units for their schedules. Inaccurate scheduling can cost a practice approximately 12 to 15 days of lost treatment time every year. By shifting to 10-minute increments, practices can schedule patients more accurately. For example, some patients may only require a 20-minute follow-up appointment instead of 30 minutes. In schedules that use 15-minute units, a 20-minute appointment must either be under-scheduled or over-scheduled.4. Make it affordable. The standard options of cash, check, or credit card are no longer sufficient. More and more Americans need some type of financing to afford appropriate dental care. As part of the Four Financial Options^™, Levin Group teaches clients not only to have patient financing available, but also to offer it to every patient. You never know who can and cannot afford care, and patients will rarely tell you. If they do not know financing is available, many patients will hesitate to accept treatment.5. Survey patients. Your patients will give you valuable insight into how your practice is perceived, if you ask them. You can also gauge your patient’s level of knowledge about services. Soliciting patient feedback can give you a good idea of areas where your practice needs to improve. Surveys should be limited to 10 questions and take only two minutes to fill out.Reprinted with permission from Levin Group.Author bioRoger P. Levin, DDS, is chairman and CEO of Levin Group, a leading dental management consulting firm that is dedicated to improving the lives of dentists through a diverse portfolio of lifetime services and solutions. Levin Group may be reached at (888) 973-0000, or www.levingroupgp.com.