Management
And that's why you shouldn't cross the line with your patients
May 30th 2012You want to be friendly with your patients, to build a rapport that helps keep them loyal to you and your practice. What you don’t want to do is become too familiar or so comfortable with your patients that you end up taking it too far, and saying something that leaves them feeling uncomfortable and maybe even looking for a new practice.
From the Office Manager's Desk: Managing the schedule
May 12th 2012One of the most critical responsibilities an office manager has is to manage the schedule. The dentist wants it to be productive. The hygienists want it to be full. The assistants want it to have enough time to turn over rooms and catch up on cleaning instruments. The secretaries are busy trying to fill the schedule when it has holes and confirm and take care of patients when it’s full.
From the Office Manager's Desk: How to appreciate your vendors
April 10th 2012Do you have some great vendors that support your dental practice? Perhaps your computer technician does a great job coordinating all the technology in the dental office plus he’s saved the day in an emergency once or twice? Has your dental supply vendor rushed an order for you or given you a product out of her own personal stash when you were in a pinch?
Make your resolution a reality
March 21st 2012The new year brings many of us face to face with a daunting set of wish lists. We call them “resolutions” or even “goals.” We look at what we want to accomplish personally and professionally and-having written them down-proceed to ignore them and work in ways that manage to bring about somewhat opposite results. How does that happen?
Ask Amy: Looking for a few good co-pilots
March 21st 2012If I took an educated[1] guess on what topics the majority of The Pride Institute’s phone calls for “help” were based on, I would have to say half of the calls are from hygienists who feel under appreciated, undervalued and underused, while the other half come from dentists who are, quite frankly, a little anxious about their relationship with their hygienist(s). Considering the No. 1 secret to succeeding in these challenging times is a modern, interactive hygiene experience, we need to get to the bottom of what seems to cause frustration for the key players involved in continuing care.
Handling the patient complaint
March 21st 2012“You’re wrong!” A patient complaint is as powerful as a slap in the face. The words sting and when they come from a patient it most certainly feels like a threat to your integrity. Most people are tempted to show how they cannot possibly be wrong. Most people want to prove not only that they are in the right, but that the other person-in this case, the patient-is wrong.
Seven factors that influence performance shortfall
March 21st 2012How many times have you woken from a sound sleep, with an employee’s performance issue weighing on you? As your heart races, you think dark thoughts-She hates me! He needs a therapist! There’s nothing I can do! I’ll just have to live with the problem until I sell the practice! This is an example of “stinking thinking” because it doesn’t give the leader any options to upgrade performance and doesn’t allow the team member the benefit of being coached to new levels of success.
Ask Amy: Looking for a few good co-pilots
March 21st 2012If I took an educated guess on what topics the majority of The Pride Institute’s phone calls for “help” were based on, I would have to say half of the calls are from hygienists who feel under appreciated, undervalued and underused, while the other half come from dentists who are, quite frankly, a little anxious about their relationship with their hygienist(s). Considering the No. 1 secret to succeeding in these challenging times is a modern, interactive hygiene experience, we need to get to the bottom of what seems to cause frustration for the key players involved in continuing care.
Practically Speaking | Avoid recruitment nightmares
March 21st 2012This is a cautionary tale for anyone who is, was, or will be recruiting for new team members…my intent is that we include everyone, so that none of you become the next cautionary tale…It could be a very expensive mistake! Let’s start at the beginning. Recruiting and hiring new talent is not a job for the timid. This job is mission-critical and will require exceptional perceptive and investigative skill along with great tenacity and focus.
Leveraging your time for fun and profit
March 21st 2012You strive to deliver to your patients the best possible oral health care in a safe, friendly and professional environment. At the same time, you owe it to yourself and your team to smoothly juggle the many components of a professional business: personnel, marketing, accounts payable, risk management and more. Oh, you also hope to reserve some time for family, community and personal interests.
New Solutions to Solving the Age-Old Challenges of Finding Temporary Staffing for Dental Offices
March 21st 2012Twenty years of managing people and dealing with HR issues for number of large IT organizations prepared me surprisingly well for my first-hand work in the front end of a two-doctor dental office. The lessons learned carry over to address some of the challenges of running a successful practice.
Dismissing patients from your practice
March 21st 2012One of the most frequent calls we get on our Hotline at Pride Institute is the dentist or team member asking when and how to dismiss a patient from the practice. There is usually a long story involved and lots of confusion. Typically, they have waited far too long to take this action and have endured a lot of stress as a result. True, it can be uncomfortable. And true, it is easier to hope the patient just goes away. But that rarely happens. Dismissal protocol
The myth of the perfect new patient
March 21st 2012Most dentists I talk to have an image in their heads of the ideal new patient. Not only does this person come in to the practice needing extensive care, he or she also understands the value of dentistry and has therefore budgeted the money to start comprehensive treatment right away. On the surface, this seems to make sense-after all, patients with high need and a high dental IQ offer the best opportunity for revenue, right? Not quite.
Does franchise dentistry make sense in this economy?
March 21st 2012It’s difficult to discuss dental franchises or corporately managed dental practices without inciting passionate opinions from all sides. The independent, sole practitioner model seems so ingrained in the dental industry psyche that those offering alternative models are often subject to, at worst, demonization as dental “mills” focused on profits instead of patients.
Raise the bar on customer service
March 21st 2012Every dental practice engages in some degree of customer service in order to stay in business. However, in some offices the focus on customer service takes a back seat to the focus on clinical skill. The thinking might go something like this: “Patients come here to get dental work, not to talk about how their weekend went.”
Do you know an award-worthy RDH?
August 15th 2011Crest Oral-B is accepting nominations for its second annual Pros in the Profession awards program. Pros in the Profession recognizes six dental hygienists who have demonstrated a true passion for making a difference in the lives of their patients. Do you work with an inspiring dental hygienist? Nominate him or her! Read the full press release below...