Practice Management

Praise your team. If you create a positive environment in your practice, your patients will notice. They pick up on whatever vibe you and your team members give out, and no one wants to feel tension or negativity during their visit to the dentist. Keep a positive attitude and your staff members will follow suit.

CBCT imaging can be a difference maker with endodontic cases.

The largest benefit of a paperless practice is the ease of which you can protect your practice’s data. That may sound a bit odd with all of the technology scare stories out there, but it really is true.

We go through leading small business journals and websites so you don't have to. Check out this week's best small business links... What's Your Competitive Advantage?

Make a payment plan. Allowing patients to pay whenever they want is no way to run a business. All too often they’ll find excuses not to pay, from I forgot my checkbook to I don’t carry a credit card.

Interview with Mark Hollis, CEO of MacPractice.

We go through leading small business journals and websites so you don't have to. Check out this week's best small business links... What your brand can learn from political rhetoric

Keep it positive. If you or any of your staff members have a negative attitude or if there’s tension on the team, it’s safe to say your patients have noticed.

Dental Products Report editors have compiled a list of must-read books with your dental practice in mind. The concepts and ideas conveyed through each book can easily translate into your dental practice, among your staff and even your patients.

As the current year starts to come to a close, many companies begin the process of planning and budgeting for the coming year. The fourth quarter often sets the sales momentum for the next year, and many companies alter their current plan to allow them to introduce new products and services to existing and prospective customers.

Don’t let them leave without a statement. Customers like to have receipts for services rendered. Yet, in the thousands of offices Penny Reed Limoli, owner of the Reed Limoli Group, has visited, few of them make sure the patient leaves with a walk-out statement.  ?

Remember it’s not always about money. Sure, cost is typically a factor when a patient says no to treatment, but you shouldn’t assume that’s always the reason patients don’t want to proceed, said Kathleen O’Donnell, director of consulting at Jameson Management.

The Eco-Dentistry Association's  former Director Susan Beck discusses the ways paperless systems are not only beneficial to a dental practice's bottom line, but also to the planet. Going paperless provides a way for practices to improve efficiencies and also become more friendly to the environment through a variety of high-tech ways.

We go through leading small business journals and websites so you don't have to. Check out this week's best small business links...

Have you seen these best-read web exclusives? Here are the top articles your dental peers are reading this week.

You’re good at what you do. Your staff and patients love you. You’re at the top of your game and feeling good about your career-no one can stop you.

Recently the New York Times reported that President Obama is threatening to strip the insurance industries’ exemption to the antitrust laws because the insurance industry is using “deceptive and dishonest” advertisements to derail his health insurance reform. At the same time, the Senate Judiciary Committee is conducting hearings on the antitrust exemption for insurance companies. Senate Bill S.1681 has been introduced in the Senate to prevent insurance industry price fixing, bid rigging and market allocation. 

This morning, 11 dentists received a special delivery letter that changed their lives forever. It began, “Dear Doctor: We represent your patient Jane Doe and demand that within the next 10 days, you submit your entire records and x-rays for her treatment.”

The practicing dentist works diligently to accumulate assets and income. He or she has little time or inclination to consider that someone may attempt to take those assets or income by starting litigation. Maybe the thought of a potential lawsuit has not entered the dentist’s mind. Why should it? The dentist may think “What could I possibly do to cause someone to sue me?”

Your hands are your livelihood. In a flash, a career that took decades to achieve can come to an end. Meanwhile, the monthly bills keep rolling in and financial obligations mount as you’re out of work. This is an unpleasant but important topic for all dentists.

Well known author and expert on relationships, Alan Cohen, said, “In our culture, presence in many relationships has been reduced to a trickle. In our fascination with labor-saving devices, mass production, lightening speed dental technology and unprecedented busyness, the human factor is often relegated to a low priority.

Tell them what’s in it for them. Want to improve patient case acceptance in your practice? Make sure you’re using benefit statements when you present treatment, said Lois Banta of Banta Consulting.  

We go through leading small business journals and websites so you don't have to. Check out this week's best small business links...  

The second installment to Dental Products Report's Paperless Video Series highlights the practical benefits associated with going paperless. While paperless workflows create large, big picture benefits for a dental practice, this portion of the series dials back to the simpler, more practical advantages.  

Get them thinking long term. Your patients have plenty of short-term reasons why they can’t go through with treatment, from it’s too expensive to they just don’t think it’s necessary, and that’s why it’s important for you to talk with them about their long-term goals.

Parents and patients don’t intend to be less committed to their appointments during the “lazy days of summer” but let’s face it…if anyone makes them a better offer than going to the dentist, off they go, which means your scheduling coordinator works at top speed to keep the changes in the schedule filled. Not to mention the stress involved with the confirmed patient “no-shows.”

The Paperless Video Series is a guide to help you make the right purchases for the right reasons when it comes to technology and methods as you make your traditional dental practice paperless.

It is 1962 and Dr. Jones has an air compressor installed with air lines to all the treatment rooms running to units with highspeed air turbine handpieces, yet he continues to use the old belt driven dental drill because he just doesn’t trust the new system. That seems silly today, but it is the same situation many dentists find themselves in 50 years later with regards to paperless dental records.

Marketing isn’t a bad word. The thought of it may make you feel uncomfortable or even a little anxious, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore what a good marketing plan can do for your practice. And while most of you already know you need to market your practice to survive, 54% of you said dental marketing is bad for the profession, according to a survey from The Wealthy Dentist.

Don't be neutral. When a patient calls to cancel or re-schedule an appointment at the last minute, make sure that patient understands what that means for your schedule.? ?