By Lauren Burns, Associate Editor
March 18, 2013
Are you looking to grow your practice in 2013? It can be done with four items: A digital camera, a sharpie, paper, and a printer.
- Commit to take digital photos on every patient in the practice (arches, smile, retracted smile, and full face).
- Print the photos that apply to their needs on copy paper.
- Use black sharpie to circle areas discussed (use common words to describe the problems).
- Send photos home with the patients.
- Repeat at every visit.
If you do not have computers in your treatment rooms, it shouldn't stop you from taking and printing photos. The old saying "A picture is worth a thousand words" has much truth to it.
-Hollie Bryant, Bryant Dental Consultants
-Alan Goldstein, Laser Dental Care
-Dr. Steven M. Katz, Smile Potential Dental Practice Coaching
-Dr. Kim Kutsch, Kutsch & Renyer Family & Cosmetic Dentistry
-Dr. Louis Malcmacher, Malcmacher Common Sense Dentistry, American Academy of Facial Esthetics
-Dr. William “Woody” Oakes, Excellence in Dentistry
-Dr. Roy S. Shelburne, Roy S. Shelburne, DDS
The lack of business education leaves many dentists vulnerable to estrangement from their staff and patients, erosion of their enthusiasm for dentistry, and, ultimately, economic loss. Straine services are specifically designed to close the gap in their education by assisting them to:
- Establish the clinical standards of their practice
- Define the clinical and administrative operating policies that their staff will follow
- Develop a training protocol to integrate the operating policies and job descriptions into a predictable process
- Establish economic goals with quantifiable performance expectations linked to the operating polices
-Olivia and Kerry Straine, Straine Dental Consulting
In 2012, we interviewed 12,410 dental patients. These were the top five answers patients gave us for how practices could improve:
- The receptionist should be a hostess and helper.
- [The practice had] poor public relations and it was obvious that they were money-hungry.
- The staff should do less, and doctors should do more.
- Doctors should be on time.
- The doctor shouldn’t talk and repeat himself so much.
These comments should prompt discussion and evaluation among your staff. Look at your practice – other people do!
-Larry Wintersteen, Wintersteen & Associates