The biggest mistakes dentists make: Making decisions too slowly

Based on his extensive experience with dentists in the past 30 years, Dr. Roger P. Levin has authored a new book entitled The 31 Biggest Mistakes Dentists Make. His premise is simple. As he says in the introduction, “We can learn from our mistakes. But isn’t it better to learn from other people’s mistakes?”

Following is an excerpt from the book.

More mistakes: Living above your means

One of the key lessons I have learned from the nation’s top CEOs is that leadership decisions should be made quickly. Successful leaders gather information and then act on it without hesitation. They rarely change their minds. Instead, they commit to a path and work to make it successful.

Dentists typically act differently. Because of the amount of time they spend on patient care, they have very little room in the day for strategic thinking. The result? Dentists tend to make many nonclinical decisions slowly-to their own detriment.

Since 2009, a new dental economy has emerged in which 75 percent of practices have seen declines in production. Instead of adapting their practices to economic reality, many dentists have waited for the situation to improve.

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Practices that exhibit this behavior are now three, five or 10 years behind. They face an uphill battle to improve the practice quickly and catch up to the competition as other practices and dental support organizations open nearby. In addition, the demand for dental services is lower, especially for adult patients. This means practices have to do more with the patients they have to stay profitable.

In the past, deliberation caused little harm. Dentistry was a slow-changing field with a supply-and-demand ratio that allowed most doctors to achieve success.

The biggest mistakes dentists make: Not setting goals

Today, the game has changed. Dentistry has become a “real-world” business. Waiting to make decisions about improving the practice is a costly mistake that causes practice production to plateau and then, in most cases, decline.

The 31 Biggest Mistakes Dentists Makehas now been published and is available for just $59 at the Levin Group Store.

Save $50 on doctor tuition for Dr. Levin’s “Ignite Your Production” seminar in San Francisco on Feb. 11 or in Atlanta on Feb. 18. Use code DPM50 during sign-up to receive your savings.

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