Practice Management

North Carolina is at the front line in a national struggle over dental management companies.

February 2009 | Dental Products Report 10 Questions: A dialogue with industry leaders to discuss what's next in dentistry     Q+A Stanley Bergman Chairman & CEO of Henry Schein   "During an economic downturn, serving customers is about more than just discounting prices." 01 What impact do you see the recession having on dentistry?

Clichés often come from a kernel of truth, so while there might be some room to argue over how many words it actually takes to equal a picture, there’s no doubt that images are valuable communication aids.

Featuring data covering material use and restoration trends in American dental laboratories, the 2012 U.S. Dental Laboratory Market Assessment and Trends Report was recently released by The Key Group. With data compiled from more than 300 U.S. laboratories, the report covers crown & bridge trends, digital technology adoption, implants, dentures and outsourcing.

Dr. Mark Colonna lives and practices in Whitefish, Mo., a small community of 6,300 only a few minutes’ drive from stunning Glacier National Park. The park encompasses 1,013,572 acres of alpine forest, snow-capped peaks and 37 glaciers. Despite the ruggedness of the land, Dr. Colonna’s practice is anything but rustic. He is a strong advocate of laser dentistry, being the first dentist to use only a laser to prep a crown, and he uses the cloud to manage his practice.

Health in Reach announced earlier this week that it would be merging with its largest competitor, PriceDoc. Both services offer an online platform where consumers can go to compare prices on dental services. Both companies will now operate under the Health in Reach corporate brand, and Health in Reach CEO Scott Sangster will remain in the top executive role.

Google Places is out. The search engine giant announced Wednesday that it has updated its local search platform with Google Plus Local, which will interface with Zagat, in efforts to encourage interaction on their social network Google+.

You 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.

It all started with a scared little girl who found comfort in a puppy. The little girl, Maya, came to Dr. Allan Pike’s pediatric dentistry practice in Portland for a pulpotomy, a procedure they needed to get done right away. But things weren’t going well, at least not until dental assistant Julie Dubansky offered to bring in her puppy, Madison. That seemed to calm Maya down, and was the beginning of what some of Dr. Pike’s patients drive as many as three hours to experience: Dog day at the dental office.

Jane Pak, CEO of the National Association of Women Business Owners, spoke with Dr. Mark Hyman and Dr. Bill Dorfman to put together a top 10 list of the most useful small business tips for dental practices.

Sometimes it’s worth the risk. That’s what a Wisconsin-based dentist decided when one of his patients asked him out. He wasn’t sure if it was a good idea at first, but after talking with her more and realizing how much they had in common, he changed his mind. “I thought about it for awhile before I responded to her interest in me,” he said. “I was hesitant because I was worried that if it didn’t work out, I would lose her as a patient and there could be some negative ramifications.”

The recent merger between Health in Reach and PriceDoc will allow dentists and prospective patients to connect and for those prospective patients to compare prices on dental care before booking an appointment. The online platform allows dentists to offer cost-saving deals to consumers who are paying for dental care out-of-pocket.

During the TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2012 event earlier this week, ZocDoc CEO Cyrus Massoumi talked about the professional online booking platform for doctors and the focus point of its success: providing a solution for health care professionals.

Internet use worldwide is continually expanding as more social media sites pop up, and companies continue to expand their presence on the Web. Smartphones are getting smarter, and many people have opted to purchase tablets such as the iPad, all of which allow instant access to the Internet and a universe of Web-based apps. This activity creates opportunities but can create a multitude of challenges for those who have websites.

For a practice to run smoothly, we office managers need to know how our dentists feel about the following types of questions and we need to be clear on what the dentist’s guidelines are for the practice. So Doctor, what is your office policy for financial arrangements? When do you feel it’s appropriate to send an account to a collections agency? How do you want your emergency patients scheduled?

Would you like to know how much other dentists in your area are charging for a crown? For an extraction? For a cleaning?

Your most valuable patient is not the the one who wants to shout his or her love for you and your services from the rooftops. Your most valuable patient is the one who left your practice dissatisfied and vowing never to return. According to Ron Hurley, consumer advocate and author of the book Unscrewed: The Consumer’s Guide to Getting What You Paid For, disenchanted customers can tell you, as no one else can, where you are utterly failing.

In this video interview, legal analyst Michael Sacopulos offers tips on how you can protect your practice from online attacks. Sacopulos is the author of the Dental Products Report web series: Ask the Lawyer, which provides an opportunity for dentists to have their questions answered with in-depth and helpful information on how to solve legal issues.

If a patient leaves your dental office annoyed, that patient likely isn't coming back. Your patients want to feel safe and comfortable throughout their stay at your practice.

Featuring before and after photographs on your dental practice website, especially if you offer cosmetic dental care procedures, is extremely important to attract new patients. Your website not only allows patients to schedule appointments, submit questions and acts as a referral program, it also shows off the dental work you have done. Research shows that there are 11 million Internet searches for dentists within a given month.

Today, the consumer is always looking for, and sometimes even expecting, a good deal when it comes to purchasing products and services. This mindset has helped to fuel the growth of companies such as Groupon (social coupons) and LivingSocial (social commerce). Currently, Groupon totes over 50 million subscribers with close to half of those being in North America, while LivingSocial has a total user base of nearly 46 million with 34 million of those in the United States. 

As skilled with a paint brush as with a drill, retired dentist Richard Schilling has found inspiration for his watercolor paintings from a variety of places he has visited while on dental missions including the prairies of Nebraska, the plains of the Serengeti, the Royal Palace of Monaco, and the snow swept landscape of Siberia.

In this CDA 2012 video interview, Laurel Lubin from Henry Schein Practice Solutions talks about the latest release from Dentrix, the Dentrix G5 practice management software. "G5 brings improved efficiency and enhanced security," said Lubin. "We are very excited about a new partner program that we have created. It will allow third-party vendors to have integrated tools to create G5-friendly software."

America undeniably loves the Internet. More than 180 million Americans use the Internet at least once a month. Close to 80 percent of Americans use the Internet to search for health information, and among them, 54 percent specifically look for healthcare providers. Given these statistics, it’s no surprise that there are over 11 million Internet searches for dentists within a given month. 1. Your Practice is Open to the World 24/7, 365 Days a Year

The technologies you use in your personal life can benefit your professional life as well. We have talked with dental professionals who have already put the latest technologies to work in their practices.

The TI-Max Z95L dental handpiece from NSK Dental is a durable, high performance, titanium-bodied electric handpiece. It features a small head and slim neck dimensions allowing operational visibility like never before. Very Quiet: It performs at a remarkably low noise level with virtually no vibration to aid the clinician’s focus and to enhance patient comfort.

DPR editors have compiled a list of must-read books with your dental practice's management goals in mind. The concepts and ideas conveyed through each book can easily translate into your dental practice, among your staff and even your patients. Linda Steeves is a HygieneFusion consultant, coach and mentor. Steeves works as a clinical hygienist and also assists dental offices and dental hygienists to achieve a higher potential.

In this video interview, DPR legal analyst Michael Sacopulos offers tips on how you should handle e-mails from your dental patients. Sacopulos is the author of the Dental Products Report online series: Ask the Lawyer, which provides an opportunity for dentists to have their legal questions answered with in-depth and helpful information.

One 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.

No dental professional sets out to become Gordon Christensen - not even Dr. Christensen himself. And while today he is able to fill conference rooms, influence product development, and help direct attention to key trends and causes, it wasn’t something that happened overnight.