Our go-to solution for more practice profitability is usually “do more dentistry”. To do that, we need to perform more procedures, which means getting more patients, which means doing more marketing, which means spending our profits. But perhaps we should be thinking about it differently. Instead of always trying to do more, we should be focusing on the root cause of what can make us more profitable: accountability. As a dentist, you don’t want to micro-manage your team. But with a few simple-to-use tools in Dentrix, you can help your team work smarter and become more profitable by holding them accountable.
Accountability Actions
Which actions do you need to be holding your team accountable for? Well, just think about the questions you ask them on a daily basis:
- Why did that patient cancel? = Filling holes in the schedule
- Who referred Mrs. Jones? = New patient tracking and management
- Did Mrs. Jones schedule for that crown? = Case acceptance
- There were only 3 insurance checks in the deposit today? = Insurance tracking
- Why is the hygiene schedule so light? = Hygiene pre-booking and continuing care call
- Why was production so low this month? = Meeting production goals
- Why was collections so low this month? = Meeting collection goals
Use Dentrix Tools for Practice Profitability
Now that we know the actions, how do you hold the team accountable? You maximize the Daily Huddle Report and the Practice Advisor Report.
The Daily Huddle Report is beneficial to use even if you don’t have a daily meeting. For example, the first page of the report covers the business of dentistry, and it is also the page you will use to hold team members accountable for contributing to practice profitability. The report shows you information such as actual production, scheduled production, collection percentage, case acceptance and a new patient summary.
The Practice Advisor Report also gives you a lot of the same information, plus A/R, insurance aging, and continuing care details. Reviewing both of these reports with the team on a routine basis will help you implement accountability. This accountability also has two beneficial side effects. One, you start becoming more aware of what is happening in your practice; and two, you begin to measure your numbers. And when you can be more aware and better use your numbers, you are on the path to more accountability and more practice profitability.
Learn More
If you found these ideas helpful, you may be interested in learning more about the Dentrix Profitability Coaching Program, where these, and many other great concepts, strategies and ideas are taught to you and your team by one of our highly skilled and experienced profitability coaches. To find out more about Dentrix Profitability Coaching, CLICK HERE.