Recession Proof your Practice
by JoAnne Tanner, MBA

Align your team....a happy team equals a happy bottom line.
One good tool is a Forté Communication Style Profile for the doctor and each team member; then Forté Interaction Reports for everyone. Forté is a system based on individual strengths and how successful people and teams balance and adapt to one another.

When you think about it, we are all adapting to our work teams and patients throughout the day, so why not learn the best ways to increase efficiencies reduce misunderstandings and make your practice idea for your patients. Unique to the Forté process is that it is updated as often as every thirty days. So, as the practice grows, needs change, new people come on board all relationships continue to grow and patient care/growth remains positive and sustainable.

You can learn more at www.theforteinstitute.comand Forté will provide a complimentary
profile to readers of this article by emailing
your name and e-mail address to dentalservices@theforteinstitute.com. Once you have your own results you can judge the value to your practice yourself. Forté has validated top performing adapting styles for dental practices and actively consults with doctors on staff and hiring decisions.

Invite your existing patients to send their friends and family. One of the best ways to recruit new patients is by asking for referrals from your existing patients. For this to be successful it is imperative that the entire staff feels motivated and passionate about the practice so they feel comfortable in inviting your patients to refer.

“Mr. Jones, thank you for coming in. We have recently expanded our office, and we are welcoming new patients right now. If you know anyone who may need a dentist, please let them know about us, we’d love to see them.”
Schedule a staff meeting at least once a month to discuss your successes.

Maximize your hygiene department. As most people know, it is essential to maintain a full, productive hygiene schedule. Make sure that your scheduling coordinator understands his/her top priority is to keep the schedule full.

“Mr. Jones, we’d like to reserve your six month continuing care appointment now so that this way you are assured of getting a convenient time. I know that you like early morning appointments, and I can schedule you for 8 am on Tuesday, June 14th.”

“John, that crown looks great, (or the restorations…or what ever treatment they completed) and I want to help you get as many miles as possible, does that sound good to you? So, that means I need you to have excellent daily home care as well as seeing us every 6 months.” (Or what ever interval you recommend.)

Patient Retention calculate and improve your patient retention. It is very important to understand how many patients are leaving per month, and their reason for leaving. Ask your Office Manager to run a monthly report of inactivated patients to review with staff during the monthly staff meeting. Many software programs allow you to create inactivation codes with reasons- such as inactivated due to moving, inactivated due to billing issues etc. This will streamline the process of tracking the reasons for inactivation. If this is not possible ask the front office to keep a log of inactivations/reasons in order to have accurate information for the meeting. During the staff meeting discuss with the team which patients were inactivated and for what reason, then come up with solutions to avoid further problems. Understand that there will be reasons for inactivation that are unavoidable such as moving or switching to an insurance not accepted at your location. In these instances be sure to let the patient know that you enjoyed having them as a patient and that they (and family members) are always welcome back if the situation changes. Keeping your existing patients happy with your service is also essential. One successful office I know offers offer whitening specials around Holidays or hosts a patient appreciation night. Any way to keep your office on your patients’ mind (in a good way) will keep them coming back for more-and when their friend or neighbor complains about their dental visit they will have something to brag about.

Patient Activation. Prevent patients from being "lost in the files." Assign someone from the front office to do a chart audit at least once a year. The audit should include a list of patients past due for recall (and not scheduled), patients needing treatment, and a general overhaul of chart organization. After the list is complete the scheduling coordinator should use this list to get patients scheduled for their treatment and recalls. If you are still using paper chart and don’t already utilize “month and year” stickers for charts you should invest in them immediately. This makes identifying patients who have not been in very easy. Note a month and year on the chart for their next hygiene visit. Most software programs also have the ability to print reports of patients that are due and past due for routine visits which can also be utilized.

Maximize your current patient base. Develop and implement a system to follow up on patients who need treatment that have not schedule. I strongly believe that each patient should be contacted three times for follow up before being retired back to the shelf. Allow your scheduling coordinator or treatment coordinator to decide their best method to keep track of these patients. Such options may be to keep a list of patients needing follow ups, create a “memo” in the computer if available, or create a calendar and place the patients name and treatment needed on a day then follow up as needed. Additionally, assign a team member to print a report of the previous month’s treatment plans (or pull up written records) and review to see who has not scheduled and make sure they have received their follow up calls.

• Provide an ongoing call list to assist you when filling the schedule.

  When scheduling a patient, ask your scheduling coordinator to let patients know he/she will call them with any openings that become available sooner. A list should be created for treatment patients and hygiene patients with patients’ preferred day/time, provider they prefer to see, and how many contacts have been made. Additionally, if you have a patient who has had to re-schedule an appointment more than twice it would be advisable to offer to place them on a call list instead of reappointing.

• Provide a caring form of follow-up for our patients that shows we care.

  If your scheduling coordinator has attempted to contact a patient three times by phone and has not received a response have him/her send a reactivation letter informing the patient that you miss seeing them and to contact your office. A treatment reminder letter may also be appropriate to send to patients who need necessary treatment outlining the benefits to having work done. On a lighter note, birthday cards and referral appreciation gifts are a great way to show you truly appreciate your patients.

• Have the entire team involved in increasing patient flow.

  Review appropriate verbiage with your team on how to ask for referrals. Encourage everyone to come up with a great way to discuss this with patients so they feel comfortable. Some offices create team competitions or individual competitions for asking for referrals, or you may opt to reward the group as a whole for reaching a set goal of new patients/referrals per month. Always remember to thank existing patients who refer new patients to your practice.

Create payment options so that you are convenient to buy from without putting yourself at risk. www.CareCredit.com. During challenging economic times your patients will greatly appreciate your office’s ability to be flexible with payment options. If you do not already offer a cash/check discount you may want to consider doing so for patients who pay in full for treatment. It also may be helpful to offer a couple in-house payment options such as paying in two to three payments not exceeding three months, especially for your patients who have been with you for a long time. If you are not comfortable with extending payment options in-house there are several companies such as Care Credit, Capital One, and Citi Card that all offer financing plans that are easy to use both by the provider and the patient. Research which option you most feel comfortable with and begin having your financial coordinator offer these opportunities to your patients.

Creative marketing ideas for max ROI

As the old adage says “birds of a feather flock together”, and I believe this also rings true for patients. In order to attract great patients it would be wise to single out those patients who you really enjoy-they show up for appointments, pay on time, and are appreciative of you and your team and market to them and their friends/co-workers. One great way to do this is to take lunch to your patients at their work place to share with co-workers. Be sure to include marketing materials such as mugs and business cards. Another creative idea is to send something special to a patient for completion of treatment. Say you have a patient who completed all her crowns in a timely fashion with great results. Send her a beautiful bouquet of flowers or a cookie bouquet to her office (or home) and it will attract the attention of her co-workers. Suddenly you have a patient feeling appreciated and pampered, and co-workers seeing how great you are! Win Win! Marketing tactics such as these are very inexpensive and will attract great patients to your office.

Internet positioning The yellow pages are so 1980. The internet is 21st century. www.Page1solutions.com.

JoAnne Tanner, MBA, brings compelling insights to dental practice management from her more than twenty-five years of experience in the dental profession. Her ability to provide dental professionals with management skills needed to maintain control, create an environment for achievement and instill enthusiasm in the entire dental team has made her a strong asset to the dental profession. JoAnne holds a Master in Business Administration with an emphasis on Strategic Planning and a BS in Marketing Management. For more information, contact JoAnne Tanner, MBA at (916) 791-2720 or visit her website at www.joannetanner.com.

4120 Douglas Boulevard (Suite 306-274) Granite Bay, CA 95746 Voice: (916) 791-2720 Fax: (916) 791-5091 Email: Joanne@joannetanner.com

 

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