A Drive to Excellence Building a High-Performance, Patient-Centered Dental Practice Peter Gopal, PhD Hema Gopal, MBA, DMD
PREFACE We noticed early in our careers that it is most often the business side of dentistry that stresses out dentists and limits their success in the profession. It seems dentists are great clinicians, but they can t seem to put it all together when it comes to running the business. So we wrote this book to help dentists achieve excellence in practice management, gain tranquility, and attain financial success. This book provides a comprehensive look at practice management and addresses the thorny issues that dentists deal with in their practices. The content reflects the perspectives of two individuals the voice of a business person and the voice of a dentist. We ve drawn from the experience of our clients, from years of experience within our own dental practice, and from our backgrounds in the corporate world and business school. What s suggested here is a patient-centered, staff-driven approach. One can never lose sight of the fact that a practice is all about its patients. Patient satisfaction should be top priority. At the same time, it should be your staff that runs the practice, not you. You should be treating patients which is a formidable task in itself and letting your staff take care of everything else. The book s subtitle includes the phrase high performance. By high performance, we mean a practice that is in the top 10 percent for net income generated for the owner-dentist. We hope this book provides you the information and impetus to join the practices that are in the top 10 percent. A couple of notes about the book itself: To derive the most from this book, we suggest reading the chapters in order. To avoid awkwardness in ix
language from continually using he/she, we ve used he to represent the doctor and she to represent staff. No gender bias is intended. Now it s time for you to dive into the book. We hope it becomes a powerful tool to help you reach your practice goals. x
Praise for A Drive to Excellence Knowledgeable, practical, transformative. An essential resource for both the starting dentist and for the seasoned practitioner. Thomas J. Pizzolo, DDS Incredibly thorough resource for any dentist looking for practice growth, where foundational business principles meet the real world of private practice dentistry at its best. Len R. Ciuffreda, DDS Leaders in both the dental and business worlds. Peter and Hema show how to build a practice in a no-nonsense way. Less hype, more substance. Stewart I. Perim, DDS, MS Offers invaluable practice management advice for today s challenged general practitioner. Thomas F. Friscia, DDS, FAGD
Table of Contents Preface...ix Acknowledgments....xi Introduction...1 Chapter 1 Leadership Is Everything... 6 The Difference between Leadership and Management...7 Eight Steps Good Practice Leaders Must Take...10 Decision Making and Problem Solving: The Keys to Effective Leadership...20 Daily Management of Your Practice...24 Chapter 2 Systems & Processes: Create Predictability and Efficiency.... 32 The Story of Dr. Parker...32 What Is a System?...34 Essential Systems for Your Practice...36 How to Write Protocols....38 How to Implement Systems...40 Chapter 3 Human Resources: Get the Most from Your People.... 42 Recruitment...43 Training and Development...51 Job Descriptions...54
Compensation, Incentives, and Rewards... 56 Improving Employee Performance...59 Conflict Resolution....65 Retaining Employees...66 Chapter 4 Scheduling: Take Control of Your Time... 68 Schedule for Production...69 Identify Different Scheduling Systems....71 Add Capacity or Staff to Elevate Production...73 Bring Organization to Your Schedule...73 Create Efficiency in Your Schedule...77 Run on Time...80 Deal with Broken Appointments....82 Chapter 5 Insurance: Make Smart Decisions about PPO Participation....87 The Pros and Cons of PPO Participation...88 Definitions (Types of Offices)... 92 General Characteristics of Heavy PPO and FFS Offices....92 Comparative Assessment of Finances: PPO Office versus FFS Office...94 How to Operate Successfully with or without Extensive PPO Participation...96 Deciding Which PPOs to Leave...99 Dropping a PPO...100 Negotiating Fees with PPOs... 101 Common Mistakes....102 Chapter 6 Marketing: Attract More New Patients...105 Your Target Patient....106 Selling Points and Your Unique Value Proposition...109 The Funnel-and-Bucket Model...112
Internal Marketing....113 External Marketing...115 Budgeting...128 Tracking and Measuring Your Results...129 Chapter 7 Case Presentation: Get Patients to Say Yes to Treatment... 132 Today s Patient....133 Everyone on the team plays a role...135 Factors that Affect Case Acceptance...139 Case Presentation Protocol....143 How to Present Financial Options...146 Eight Steps to Increase Case Acceptance...147 Case Study...148 Chapter 8 Hygiene: Achieve Excellence and Profitability....156 Increase Hygiene Production...157 Monitor Hygiene Performance....163 Boost Doctor s Case Acceptance through Hygiene....165 Create Systems for the Hygienist...165 Hire and Train the Right Hygienist...170 Use a Hygiene Coordinator...175 Set Hygiene Compensation...177 Chapter 9 Service Mix: Make Services and Technology Decisions that Payoff...............181 Decide on Your Service Mix....182 Assess New Opportunities...184 Incorporate a New Procedure into Your Practice...185 Make Prudent Technology Decisions...186 Consider Various Technologies...190 Chapter 10 Making It Happen...192
Appendices...195 Appendix A How to Communicate Effectively With Your Team...195 Appendix B How to Delegate Correctly....200 Appendix C Benchmarks for a High-Performance Practice...202 Appendix D Effective Team Meetings...203 Appendix E Understand and Resolve Workplace Conflict...208 Appendix F What You Can Do to Retain Your Best Employees...213 Appendix G How to Succeed with Websites, AdWords, Direct Mail, and Billboards....217 Appendix H Resources from Visionary Management...223 About the Authors....225
DENTAL PRACTICE MANAGEMENT Fast Track Your Way to a Seven-Figure Dental Practice Does managing your practice seem like an uphill battle? Do you feel swamped by the 101 things you have to tackle every day? Have you dreamed of having a practice that runs itself? Reading this book is the first step to making that dream a reality. Full of valuable tips and proven approaches, A Drive to Excellence will help you make smart decisions, operate a low-stress practice, and achieve financial freedom. You ll learn how to: Develop systems that improve effectiveness and organization Attract more new patients without breaking the bank Get more patients to say Yes to comprehensive care Fill the holes in your schedule Thrive with or without insurance participation Recruit, train, and motivate your staff to higher levels of performance Powerful, perceptive, and sound advice. Use this book and profit. Dr. Jedidiah Janisse, Vermont The authors have created a step-by-step recipe for success. This book could very well be the best investment you ever make. The information contained here is hard-hitting, detailed and well outlined. After you finish reading it, I recommend you read it again. Dr. Robert Griggs, New Jersey Peter Gopal, PhD, & Hema Gopal, MBA, DMD With over two decades of Fortune 500 work, academic, and dental experience, the Gopals bring their unique blend of skills to dental practice management. They maintain a highly successful dental practice and their articles have been featured in national publications such as AGD Impact magazine. LEAD, MANAGE, AND MARKET YOUR WAY TO FINANCIAL SUCCESS IN DENTISTRY