Are you still treatment planning like your first year in practice? I hope not if you have been in the profession for a while. Learning does not end with our graduation from dental school. Great dentists continue to expand their skills.
Keeping excited about your office and work can be a lot easier if you are still a student of the art of dentistry.
The profession is expanding at an amazing pace. Keeping up with the new alternatives and treatments takes time but is worth the extra effort.
Learning for the sake of expanding your skills is exciting!
Dr. Corey Gold
President - Advanced Continuing Education Systems
www.aces4ce.com
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Private Practice vs Group Practice
There was a time when all physicians were private practitioners, today most doctors work in groups to be cost effective. Is this same phenomenon headed towards dentistry?
Today you see more and more dental groups. Often these groups contain a few general practitioners working as a collective. More recently you start to see dental groups that include a few specialists with many general dentists.
The trend is that there are and will be fewer single dental offices and there will be more groups and mega-groups in the future. The economics of dentistry is driving this model at warp speed.
Why would a single dentist want to rent 2,000 square feet and put in 5 dental chairs when a team of five dentist can use 3,000 square feet and 10 chairs. By grouping the dentist in the group is only paying for 600 square feet and 2 chairs - but has access to everything.
Why would a single dentist want to hire 4 staff members when a group can function with 10 staff members - thus paying for only 2 staff members?
Why would the Brits want to have live phone hours 40 hours a week when the group phone will be manned 70 hours a week?
With the complexities of insurance continually increasing, the group can afford to hire a t quality person to handle this area.
Dental groups is the direction that delivery of dentistry is heading. It is not a better direction or a worse direction - it is just the more economically feasible system.
Sad but the day of the sole practitioner is going the way of dial up Internet and fax machines - they will still be around and work but you will see less of them each year.
Dr. Corey Gold
President - Advanced Continuing Education Systems
www.aces4ce.com
Today you see more and more dental groups. Often these groups contain a few general practitioners working as a collective. More recently you start to see dental groups that include a few specialists with many general dentists.
The trend is that there are and will be fewer single dental offices and there will be more groups and mega-groups in the future. The economics of dentistry is driving this model at warp speed.
Why would a single dentist want to rent 2,000 square feet and put in 5 dental chairs when a team of five dentist can use 3,000 square feet and 10 chairs. By grouping the dentist in the group is only paying for 600 square feet and 2 chairs - but has access to everything.
Why would a single dentist want to hire 4 staff members when a group can function with 10 staff members - thus paying for only 2 staff members?
Why would the Brits want to have live phone hours 40 hours a week when the group phone will be manned 70 hours a week?
With the complexities of insurance continually increasing, the group can afford to hire a t quality person to handle this area.
Dental groups is the direction that delivery of dentistry is heading. It is not a better direction or a worse direction - it is just the more economically feasible system.
Sad but the day of the sole practitioner is going the way of dial up Internet and fax machines - they will still be around and work but you will see less of them each year.
Dr. Corey Gold
President - Advanced Continuing Education Systems
www.aces4ce.com
Monday, May 7, 2012
Get Excited
As the leader of your office, you set the tone. If you are not excited about your mission and goals, why should anyone else be. If you are fired up and excited abut making each day and case great then your staff will follow your lead.
Come in with energy and passion each day. Ask your staff to be their best. Try to do your best work each patient.
I see so many offices that appear to be zombie land. Everyone is just going through the motions. Ground Hog Day offices that aren't passionate about their work.
I would want to be treated by a doctor and staff that are highly motivated to do their best work. I would refer patients to an office that I thought was devoted to their craft.
Patients are more likely to accept your treatment plan when they believe you are really giving it your best.
You owe it to yourself, staff and patients to lead with your enthusiasm, energy and passion.
Dr. Corey Gold
President - Advanced Continuing Education Systems
www.aces4ce.com
Come in with energy and passion each day. Ask your staff to be their best. Try to do your best work each patient.
I see so many offices that appear to be zombie land. Everyone is just going through the motions. Ground Hog Day offices that aren't passionate about their work.
I would want to be treated by a doctor and staff that are highly motivated to do their best work. I would refer patients to an office that I thought was devoted to their craft.
Patients are more likely to accept your treatment plan when they believe you are really giving it your best.
You owe it to yourself, staff and patients to lead with your enthusiasm, energy and passion.
Dr. Corey Gold
President - Advanced Continuing Education Systems
www.aces4ce.com
Thursday, April 19, 2012
The walls have ears
Every staff member needs to be aware that patients can most often hear what staff members are saying in other parts of the office.
Private conversations between staff or staff and patients can be overheard by people throughout the office.
Now that everyone has cell phones, private conversations are also heard by patients as well.
Your patients need to see the office as being professional and trustworthy. Make sure your staff fully understands that what they see is heard by others. That their behavior is being judged all the time.
I had my staff members sit in the operatories when I made a phone call from the break room and they all heard the call. My staff now goes out back if the have to make a call that they would not want being overheard by others.
Just be aware, the walls have ears.
Dr. Corey Gold
President - Advanced Continuing Education Systems
www.aces4ce.com
Private conversations between staff or staff and patients can be overheard by people throughout the office.
Now that everyone has cell phones, private conversations are also heard by patients as well.
Your patients need to see the office as being professional and trustworthy. Make sure your staff fully understands that what they see is heard by others. That their behavior is being judged all the time.
I had my staff members sit in the operatories when I made a phone call from the break room and they all heard the call. My staff now goes out back if the have to make a call that they would not want being overheard by others.
Just be aware, the walls have ears.
Dr. Corey Gold
President - Advanced Continuing Education Systems
www.aces4ce.com
Monday, April 16, 2012
Firing Patients
I used to have a rule in my office that each full-time staff member had the ability to 'fire' one patient a year. While that option was rarely ever used by any staff member, it did occur on a few occasions.
Every blue moon a patient will enter your office that is high offensive or will make overt passes at your staff members. Some patients will sexually bother your staff or make them very uncomfortable.
My staff like that they could call a staff meeting and ask to fire a patient. They would tell the staff why they wanted to fire the patient and that was that - there was no vote. They could ask for their one prt year firing.
To be fair to the patient we would finish the active work on that patient and then simply ask them to seek future treatment elsewhere. We only had this 'firing' occur a few times over a dozen or so years, so it was not a big deal.
What this 'firing' option did was allow my staff to feel comfortable that if someone was bothering them that they could deal with the problem. It was a vote of confidence for my staff and gave them some power. It said that I trusted them and looked out for them.
Allow your staff to have the option to fire one patient a year.
Dr. Corey Gold
President - Advanced Continuing Education Systems
www.aces4ce.com
Every blue moon a patient will enter your office that is high offensive or will make overt passes at your staff members. Some patients will sexually bother your staff or make them very uncomfortable.
My staff like that they could call a staff meeting and ask to fire a patient. They would tell the staff why they wanted to fire the patient and that was that - there was no vote. They could ask for their one prt year firing.
To be fair to the patient we would finish the active work on that patient and then simply ask them to seek future treatment elsewhere. We only had this 'firing' occur a few times over a dozen or so years, so it was not a big deal.
What this 'firing' option did was allow my staff to feel comfortable that if someone was bothering them that they could deal with the problem. It was a vote of confidence for my staff and gave them some power. It said that I trusted them and looked out for them.
Allow your staff to have the option to fire one patient a year.
Dr. Corey Gold
President - Advanced Continuing Education Systems
www.aces4ce.com
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