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I recently interviewed Dr. Scott Olson, dental professional in Springfield, Missouri. I wanted to find out how he operates his practice and what has worked best for him in the field of staffing, finance, marketing and operations.
Staff
Q: What methods do you use to find competent employees ??
A: A strategy that has worked well for me is to recruit students from local colleges that require students to complete an internship program in the dental office as part of their studies. Intern program not only gives students hands-on experience, but it also gives me the opportunity to assess ability level and their passion for dentistry.
Q: What practice has their own way of doing things. How do you get staff acclimated to the philosophy of your company after it has been appointed?
A: Aside from the Dental Assistant program mentioned above, we provide all new employees with a detailed employee handbook, which are designed to read and write. The manual describes the specific policy best practices and methods for treating patients with caution.
Q: How often do you perform periodic reviews of your staff?
A: I am a firm believer in maintaining a dialogue with my staff. That’s why I do not just conduct an annual review with my staff. I also ask them to evaluate me and how I can improve. Feedback from bilateral discussion is amazing. It has helped to bring our practice to a higher level of care.
Financial
Q: You’ve made the decision to keep your costs low by leasing space in a strip center. Many other dentists have suffered heavy costs by locating in expensive buildings. Do you feel that you have come out ahead by adopting this strategy and have you thought about moving or adding other place?
A: While I have considered moving practice to a high-profile position, I’m glad I made the original decision to keep my costs to a minimum while still providing a comfortable environment for my patients. It has allowed me to save money and reduce a lot of stress on the lower volume periods. Dentists with high costs usually feel pinch of slower economic times.
Q: There are many ratios that dental professionals use to assess the results of their work. Which ones are most important to you?
A: The most important statistic to me is the number of new patients we treat every month because it is the foundation of our future growth. I always follow our success to determine the age, sex, and location of new patients that helps me better target marketing my efforts. Gallery-to-total-output ratio is one I keep my eye on. When this number is greater than one, I found out why.
Q: At the beginning of each year, you and your staff Set goals for the coming year in the field of revenues, profits, and the patient feel?
A: We shut down the office for one day in early January to discuss how we can improve efficiency, skill level and patient satisfaction. We believe that if we can improve procedures in the areas, revenue and profit will eventually follow.
Q: Do you usually rent or buy equipment and how often you upgrade?
A: To this point, I have bought all the equipment that I use at work. However, some exciting new technologies on the horizon that I am considering, such as a new generation of digital X-ray and crown fabrication. I probably lease new equipment that I have because of the many advantages of the form of financing.
Q: How do you set the tariffs and how does it compare to other practices in the area?
A: Our prices are not the cheapest in town, nor are they the most expensive. When I put the price, I look at the amount of time it takes me to complete each procedure as well as the associated labor, supplies, and overhead costs. I put the price to achieve what I believe to be a fair return on investment.
Marketing / Advertising:
Q: What advertising techniques do you use to reach new patients and who are more efficient?
A: We always ask each new patient how they heard of us that helps us to monitor the performance of all marketing efforts. Reference have been a big part of the new business in the past two years. We offer a rewards program where we provide refer the patient gift card and a new patient $ 50 off the cost of their first visit. This is a big reason why we’ve got more new business from word of mouth referrals than any other means. Yellow Pages have also been instrumental in getting new business.
Q: You have constantly upgrade your skills by attending courses and seminars that teach cutting edge technologies and methods. Do you focus on the new skills you have learned in marketing?
A: First download lessons and courses that teach new strategies energizes me tremendously. I’m always excited to come back and apply what I have learned. As for marketing, it is difficult to promote in the ad how continuing education can be beneficial. Therefore, I explain carefully newly learned techniques to the patient while they are in my office.
Features:
Q: There is a wide variation in the quality of dental supplies and solutions. How do you decide what products to use?
A: I’m very particular about what products I use and it is important to make sure that a sufficient amount of independent studies have been conducted. I bombarded with solicitations for all types of products and most of the “study” is from a company that is not good enough I just use what has been proven to work
Q: … When a patient checks in, they brought into the exam room quickly
A 😕 Our goal is to bring the patient to the examination room within five minutes after check in Needless to say, there are situations that arise that cause delays, but most of the time we reach the goal because we value the time of our patients
Q: .. When a patient comes in for a check up and you find problems outside of normal state hole that requires a lot of work, how articulate the problem for the patient without using a lot of jargon
A 😕 the phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words” certainly applies here. When I show pictures of how the patient cavity remaining untreated causes damage to the nerve, they get it. I do my best to make them understand what is likely to happen if they do nothing, as opposed to the result if they choose treatment.
Q: For those patients who are on a strict budget, you offer some kind of self-pay financing plan that will allow them to make monthly payments for a large balance?
A: We offer excellent self-pay program financing through Care Credit. One aspect of this program is to balance the interest if paid within one year. Payments can be stretched out to five years. We also offer in-house for 90 days same as cash option. We can usually find a way to make the financing process for our patients.
Q: Like any business, develop customer relationships is critical to long term success. What steps need to be taken to establish a dialogue with your patients?
A: It is a hot-button issue for me. Although our goal is to increase the amount, I refuse to compromise relationships with our patients. I make it a priority to spend a sufficient amount of time not only on treatment, but to address concerns of the patient, and educate them about the things they can do to improve their dental health.
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Source by Kent Harlan