By Julie Parker, Julie Parker Practice Success

Technology is a marvellous thing. Clinically it has transformed how dentistry is performed, and provides an amazing range of treatment options for patients. So too there have been great changes in how the tasks of reception are executed.

The introduction of computers and dental software has meant that practices now have the ability for detailed documenting and highly efficient processes for areas such as recalls and following up incomplete treatments.

When I had my practice between 2003 and 2013, I was also the receptionist-practice manager. With the amount of work I needed to complete on a daily basis, I was eager to utilise as many time-saving features of my Dental 4 Windows program that I could.

The software certainly saved time and improved efficiency in all areas that I applied it. However, I found that there were some tasks that were still best managed manually in order to achieve the desired outcome. These tasks centred on patient communication.

For example, consultation confirmations. Software supported confirmation via SMS, and completion of the task takes just seconds. But I always felt that more was achieved when I telephoned the confirmations. Often the call would extend to:

• clarification of time and length of consultation
• clarification of patient expectations of what was to occur at that days’ consultation
• reminder to patients to take antibiotic cover if needed
• reminder to patient to bring along OPG/grinding splint/other such items needed for treatment
• answer any queries that patient has.

Every conversation we have with a patient is another reason to strengthen the relationship with them. Stronger relationships mean deeper patient engagement. Engaged patients are more likely to keep consultation times, proceed with advised treatment and recommend family and friends to your practice.

My preference for management of these patient-communications was:

• consultation Confirmation – phone call
• Incomplete Treatment – printed postal mail including treatment plan, then phone call
• Recalls – printed postal mail
• Outstanding Accounts – printed postal mail, then phone call
• Thank You for Referral – printed postal mail or phone call

As I stated, technology is a marvellous thing. But I do encourage you to remind yourself what the outcome for each process is. If the only outcome is to get the task completed as quickly as possible, then investigate how your dental software can accomplish this.

“Alternatively, if the goal of the process extends beyond just efficiency, and is one of the many ways you extend great customer service, then choose function over efficiency!”

Elite is the health care industry design, build and fitout expert. With 30 years’ experience, the staff at Elite understand how to create dream practice environments that are aesthetically alluring and exceedingly functional. An intensive consultative process and precise planning translates your vision on schedule and on budget every time. Our project scope covers town planning, design, fitout, refit, retrofit and complete build. Elite can even assist you to find and develop the perfect property.

There is no cookie-cutter approach. Every project is unique and we approach each project with a high focus on listening and understanding your vision as well as the day-to-day practicalities of how you work. Our mantra is service, service, service. These factors, coupled with the incredible depth of expertise in our staff, has made Elite a leader in the healthcare fitout industry across the Australian Healthcare sector.

• The highly qualified and experienced staff at Elite is here to make the process streamlined and efficient. We understand specialist client workflow and functionality and merge that with cutting edge design to deliver your dream practice environment.
• Creating the ideal practice environment leads to increased revenue, greater productivity, higher client and staff retention and increased referrals. Not to mention the wow factor that will ensure both clients and staff enjoy the perfect environment you have created for years to come.
• We pride ourselves on scoping out your project so there are no unexpected or unwanted surprises.

Our specialty is practice design for:

• Dental Clinics
• Medical Clinics
• Veterinary Hospitals and Clinics
• Surgeries
• Sessional Suites
• Consulting Suites
• Operating Theatres
• Radiology Rooms
• Ophthalmology Clinics
• Laser and Skin Clinics
• Super Clinics

I learned early on in my time as a practice owner the importance of developing solutions to problems FAST.

A stumbling block to this process that I used to experience is one that I now see JPPS clients suffering. When a problem is caused by a staff members’ mistake, for some, there is a desire to bring that staff member to a space where they are noticeably remorseful, or feel deep regret. This may come from an ‘eye for an eye’ mindset where if you feel slighted, the person responsible should also feel upset, to even things out.

However let me assure you, to deal with problems in this way is destructive; destructive to your relationship with your staff, and destructive to the process of developing solutions.

You may think that focusing on the mistake is a way of making sure it doesn’t happen again, and that you are then perceived as dealing with the problem effectively. This is not the case. It is more likely that others will see you as petty and controlling.

Studies on human behaviour show that when we are called upon to solve a problem, certain parts of our brain become more active. Interestingly, it is also these very parts of the brain that become stifled when we feel badly about ourselves. Making someone feel guilty or blamed results in that person being LESS able to contribute to any kind of solution. On the other hand, helping someone feel empowered and valued makes these problem-solving parts of the brain active and alive.

Moving beyond unhelpful traits make us better leaders. I encourage you to reflect upon your reaction when people around you make a mistake. Do you get stuck in the problem in your attempt to garner remorse? Instead, choose to empower your staff and get to the solution FASTER!

By Rose Holdsworth and Kelli Dearlove, People In Practice

We live in a savvy world

As consumers become more aware about what they want and how they allocate their money they also demand that their provider be recognized as a star performer and worthy of those precious dollars. They take their choices seriously and will use what is often their discretionary investment in a considered and informed way. Long gone are the days that consumers see their medical and dental professionals as undisputed. They demand value for money from all walks of life.

Correlation between savviness and quality

Quality has long become an overused word. Its quality this and quality that. Someone is making millions out of that single – subjectively ambiguous word.

So what does it mean for your patients?

This is something that you should be assessing on a continuous basis. How to assess? Ask them – because people love to tell you what you could do better especially if what you do is costing them money. Some of the easy and effective ways to do this are through Patient Feedback Forms for your older and less technically inclined patients or a click on your website for the more advanced Gen X through to millennials who are much more likely to go straight to media. The problem lies in what to do once they have pointed out something that might need improvement?

By the way – the above paragraph is somewhat of a generalization – I am a baby boomer and quite happy to click and tick as opposed to continue using my handwriting skills honed into me by the Sisters of the well shod daughters. But I digress.

Be the practice of first choice

A more strategically viable way of defining what is quality and using that patient feedback is to go through the Accreditation Process and reassess your current practices and service standards.

You have heard about Dental Industry Accreditation. You registered in your mind that perhaps you better look into it when you get some time. How are we doing so far? Don’t worry you are more focused on your art of Dentistry. This paperwork stuff is a diversion right?

Your patients will love being able to say that they go to an accredited dental practice and you will as a practice reap the benefits of market share improvement in what has become a hugely competitive market sector. Accreditation gives you a point of difference compared to the 10 other practices in your 2 km radius.

What is Accreditation?

The Dental Practice Accreditation is currently voluntary at present. So you can go through the process in a manner where you can take your time and make haste slowly or wait until legislation makes it mandatory. In the latter case things get hectic as you try to run your practice and move through the process at someone else’s pace. As a practice owner the ideal is to maintain control of what gets done and more importantly when it gets done.

It involves in general terms making sure that your practice essentials are up-to-date, legal and efficient. The standards cover employee relations and benefits, health and safety, immunisation records, patient care, recording and storage of key information and management of policies and procedures. A key criteria for success is that not only do you end up with quality paperwork and processes but that you can actually prove that you are doing what you say you are doing. That all takes time and effort that practices do not necessarily have at their disposal in a busy environment.

Benefits?

As I have stated above, accreditation is not yet legislated but it will be in the near future. It has been a pattern in all professional and commercial sectors where they are going through their own enforced accreditation processes.

As government starts to provide stricter rules and regulations about work practices and service delivery standards these processes will graduate from voluntary involvement to ` must do’ in order to operate in your chosen market.

Like other sectors, Professional Indemnity, Professional Memberships and consumer awareness will all want to see the Practice accredited as a high quality, high standard and compliant operation before they decide to cover your liabilities or bring their families to your doorstep.

An added benefit for those of you who might be thinking of selling your Practice in the future and retiring to live out your life dreams. Being an ‘Accredited Practice’ will make your business more valuable to potential buyers when negotiating that end price.

People in Practice was founded specifically to service the increasing demand from dental practice owners for assistance with one of their biggest challenges — their people. Alongside that, the growing demand from government to push through Accreditation across the dental industry will mean that Practices will need to have their systems and processes up to date and compliant.

We provide dynamic solutions, through our performance strategies, “accreditation ready” programs, employment contract / pay rate reviews, cost reduction for maximising asset value, and Fair Work employer representation services.

People in Practice is a one stop human resource management service to the dental industry that provides the essential backup to support our Practice Principals and dental business owners to increase “gross revenue and business value through smart people strategies that are realistic, achievable and cost effective”.

Together we bring a range of skills to partner with you, your Practice Manager and staff.

Please call us for a conversation at no cost to you.

Looking at purchasing your first practice or expanding your business? Let us do the hard work for you with Dental Prac Sales ‘Search & Select’.

Dental Prac Sales ‘Search & Select’ provides comprehensive suburb and dental practice reports, essential if you are looking at buying a practice in your chosen area or suburb. Simply contact us, complete our acquisition form stating the type of practice, size and location you are seeking and we will provide information on what the suburb looks like in terms of your likely competition, population demographic and number of chairs each practice has in the area.

Once targeted practices have been identified, our consultants make contact with the practice principals on your behalf to assess whether they are looking at selling their business or would consider a sale.

All our enquiries are made confidentially with complete anonymity given to you, the purchaser.

The best practices are rarely advertised publicly.

Such is the confidential nature of the sales process, most practices through a business broker are sold to their registered buyers. Much time is wasted by dentists viewing advertised practices for sale that are either not profitable or commercially viable.

The Cost

Search & Select – $1295

• Comprehensive practice and suburb report
• Direct enquiries made to practice principals for your targeted businesses
• Personal buying consultant
• Priority access to available and upcoming sales (12 months)
• Regular updates on the general dental marketplace (12 months)

Contact Alex Barritt on 1300 880 243 or email sales@dentalpracsales.com.au for further details on how we can get that practice you are looking for and deserve.

By Julie Parker, Julie Parker Practice Success

Over the years of being both an employee and employer, there here have been particular instances of employee unhappiness that have caused me to deliberate.

They have been times when the employer has been seen to do all the ‘right’ things. They pay above-award wages, are clear about all employee entitlements, create a supportive and caring work environment and personally acknowledge the efforts of the employee. But then something seemingly minor happens – for instance the employee requests time off that is outside what they are entitled to and the request is refused, or the employee starts arriving 10 minutes late most days and is spoken to respectfully by her superior to rectify it – and the employee exhibits feelings of disappointment, hurt and sometimes anger.

On the surface, the employer is complying with workplace laws and upholding business standards and fair work practices so it therefore seems unreasonable for the employee, in such situations, to get upset.

But there is upset. There is something I was not getting here. So I deliberated…

I came to the conclusion that the issue is the ‘currency of employment’. Let me explain.

The arrangement everyone agrees to is clear. The employer and employee agree to exchange money for performance. Problems arise when there is a perceived disparity in this trade.

Consider a square table separating an employer and an employee. The employer places a stack of money on the table, and slides it to the middle of the table. This is the employer’s currency. There is a definitive and finite value to it. If it is $1,000, then it is $1,000 – no more, no less. The employee, in return, places their performance on the table. They start to slide it in to the middle. They see their years of experience and know-how in this, their currency. They see their blood, sweat and tears, their triumphs, and their weaknesses. What value is there in this? If it’s not $1,000, then what is it?

While the employer is satisfied with the trade of money for service, the employees in the above examples are upset because they are trading their currency which has an infinite value. Yes, they are paid the money, but they are left expecting more. They are worth more, aren’t they?

So how do we work with this reality and all still be happy?

For starters, being aware of the underlying mindset is powerful in itself. But the solution is to reassure your employees that you ‘see’ their talent and commitment to your practice. Acknowledgement and praise are vital to ensure employees feel valued, and to ensure they know when they are meeting expectations. But during any situation where the employee feels they are treated unfairly when they consider how hard they work, discussing the value you see in them and highlighting what you see as their strengths goes a long way.

“The currency for employment is not just money for performance. It’s the human element too. It’s a package deal.”

Six non-competing supplier brochures to over 14,000 dentists and allied professionals at over 10,000 practices are sent every month.

$6,500 plus GST gets you all this marketing power to grow your sales and brand awareness.

1. One week prior to delivery of Dental Mailer the dentist receives an email showcasing the six advertisers. This email is designed to prime them for the delivery of your brochure and to introduce them to the product or service you are promoting.
2. Your brochure is delivered to the dentist.
3. One week after the delivery of Dental Mailer the dentist receives an email showcasing the six advertisers. This email is designed to remind them of the importance of contacting you to discuss the product or service you are promoting.

Printed material is still the most effective way to promote products and services. It is your silent salesforce. Large letter (C4) mailings offer more impact and convey more information via a tangible medium.

Emails sent in isolation are not as effective as when combined with physical information delivery. Both mediums have advantages and constraints. By linking them together you can get the best of both worlds.

However, increases in postage costs have made it increasingly expensive to use mail. Our DentalMailer Email and Printed Direct Mail Package solves this problem by using a shared envelope to reduce costs dramatically while providing the benefits of two media for the one low price of $0.65 +GST per unit.

For details and pricing please call Sam on 0425 226 239 or Toby on 0402 138 420 or email our marketing department marketing@thedentalreview.com.au.

PS. Don’t forget! With every Dental Mailer you participate in you will also get 2 email campaigns at no additional cost.

By Julie Parker, Julie Parker Practice Success

I’m going to tell you a story. It’s a story of a time that I am not proud of…but am grateful for. Grateful because it established in me a commitment to never repeat this behaviour.

It occurred about a year or so prior to me buying my dental practice in Brighton, Victoria. I was working with a great staff; High energy, happy and supportive. I was receptionist and one of my responsibilities was to arrange the monthly staff meetings. Every practice in Australia appreciates that it is quite a task. Getting all staff in the one place at the same time when there are different shifts and routines, I have since accepted and embraced, is often not an achievable outcome. But at this stage of my career I still possessed that young and incorrect perception that others should feel compelled to do what I ask…

One of the people I had worked with, Vivienne, (not her real name), was one of a kind. She hailed from Canada. So very polite, so very gracious. Vivienne never had a bad intention towards anyone, only love and support. She was so sweet that others upon meeting her would ask me, “Is she for real or is it an act?”

I approached Vivienne with the plans of the staff meeting. I was pleased as punch as everyone else had said they were able to attend. However Vivienne said she would not be available. I felt the frustration rise in me. I heard that young, misguided voice say out loud to Vivienne “Whatever Vivienne. Everyone else can come so the meeting is happening.”

BANG! Peaceful, loving, gentle Vivienne slammed her hand on the coffee table. I jumped. “You will NOT speak to me that way!”

Wow.

For Vivienne to react to my poor attitude in such an instant and obvious way told me that this had not been the first time that I spoke to her with disrespect. I was horrified, and became more horrified as the moments ticked by. In all my years working with Vivienne I had never heard her raise her voice or challenge anyone. I had let her sweet manner to mean that it didn’t matter how I treated her. And now she was reacting like this…because of me.

I apologised to Vivienne. I sat down with her and assured her that I knew I was wrong. That she did not deserve to be dealt with in such a flippant and hurtful way. And, because she is a beautiful person, Vivienne forgave me. It never happened again.

I reflected over my intentions when I responded so badly. What did I expect? For Vivienne to turn and say “Oh no, I didn’t think my absence would upset you Julie! I WILL BE THERE!”

As I stated, I am grateful for this experience. It is unfortunate that at times we need something dramatic in order for us to make fundamental change. I came away with a lesson that I still live by today, and will so forever.

LESSON: Regardless of what is happening, always address people with respect.

Taking this lesson through my practice ownership was imperative to my success. It is imperative to your success, too. Forcing people to do what you want them to do is a sign of bad leadership. As leaders – as staff members – we will be successful if we inspire. Inspire enthusiasm and participation in others. Work with people on solutions rather than forcing people to fall in line.

“There are many roads to Rome. Disrespecting those around you in any way is not one of them.”

MediLend was established primarily to offer the healthcare industry a finance alternative to the traditional lenders.

Offering a unique market approach by delivering to the market a range of finance options, from our wholesale mortgage products to your traditional bank and non-bank loan products. This provides our clients with a diverse range of finance options for mortgages and loan products. We ensure our clients diversify their risk by not delivering only one product brand from one bank or lender.

We service a wide industry client base in medical, dental, accounting and engineering but our main strength is in dental.

Our primary focus is to provide creative finance solutions by using innovative ideas, structures and obtaining the most competitive interest rate for our clients.

Our accounting & finance background provides our people & associates with the knowledge and know how to deliver our clients a complete range of loan products, from high LVR (90%-100% of purchase price) home and investment loans without LMI to 90-100% commercial loan products to property advice, income-tax, investment structures and planning.

Contact Medilend on 1300 633 536 or info@medilend.com.au.

Most dentists are losing $100,000’s in productivity from poorly performing hygiene programs. Are you one of them?

For those of you who don’t currently have a hygiene department, or are toying with the idea of creating one, the potential revenue is much higher than this figure.

When managed well, a hygiene department not only can be a highly profitable income centre, but can drastically improve the health and wellbeing of your patients. The hygiene department is not just there to “move cleans off the dentist…”

There are many factors that contribute to the poor performance of a hygiene department. In this article we are going to take a look at one of those reasons: downtime.

Unfilled hours, failure to attend, cancellations and patients “avoiding” regular “recalls”, are just some of the common frustrations we hear from dentists who contact us for help with their hygiene programs.

So what is it costing you to have only 4 hours downtime per week over a year in your hygiene department?

Approximately $154,768. Click here to find out how those figures were derived.

What actually causes downtime?

Unfortunately downtime in your hygiene department (and even your dental practice) isn’t caused by your patients repeatedly having car issues, being sick or having to suddenly go to work. While some of these reasons are valid, downtime that equates to, on average, 1 hour per 2 days of hygiene is considered to be a serious “leaky bucket” in your hygiene program.

The real reasons why you have downtime

1. The dental team is not singing the same message of hygiene importance.

Patient: I’d like to cancel my session 
Receptionist: Sure not a problem. Thanks for letting us know. Would you like to come in another time?
Patient: I will get back to you when……

Dentist treatment area common scenario

Dentist: “You should probably have a clean as well….” (often mentioned at the end of the restorative treatment plan…)

If hygiene is seen as an “add on”…it will be considered as an optional extra and perceived as a low priority.

2. The patient does not see the value or urgency in committing to preventative care or a periodontal care program.

Put yourself in your patient’s shoes. If you do not see the value in something would you commit to regularly paying the fee for what you consider to be an unnecessary treatment?

People need to know “why…what’s in it for me?” We often take it for granted and believe that the patient understands and accepts the need for a clean.

If the message has not been communicated in a way that the patient can grasp easily, take ownership of the process and see the dollar value inherent in the treatment, then how can we expect them to value hygiene?

Even if your hygienist spends the entire hygiene session scaling, don’t confuse this with the patient’s perception of value!

3. The hygienist did not check in to ensure that the patient understood what was going on.

Don’t take a “yep” or a nod as confirmation that the patient understands or accepts what you are saying. Building trust, rapport and well-orchestrated communication will provide an environment where the patient feels comfortable to share with you the necessary insight to their knowledge and understanding.

4. Systems and processes that create an inconsistent patient experience.

Consistency is the foundation of trust. If the way the service is delivered from the moment the patient calls the practice to the moment they leave are leaving seeds of doubt in their confidence in you and your team, then there will be inconsistencies in the patient’s commitment to attending.

Downtime is costing your practice in lost productivity and peripheral revenue that comes from the hygiene department.

So where do you start? Want a deeper insight into your hygiene department? Here are your action steps:

1. Start tracking statistics – you’ll get to see exactly how much downtime is in your hygiene department. Click here for a simple hygiene tracker to get you started.

2. Download the 8 questions that patients must be able to answer when they leave your hygiene department to know that they have been well educated and understand the value of their hygiene treatment.

Have you ever wondered whether your hygiene department is performing as well as others in a similar situation? To take part in this research, and receive the collated results, click here.

Contact Fiona on (03) 9042 4899 or via info@peakhygieneperformance.com.au to discuss.

Laurentide Medical Equipment & Vehicle Finance make it our business to support your business. If you need more equipment to grow or keep things running smoothly, call us. Our customised financial solutions are fast and cost-effective, allowing you to plan for the future.

What can we finance?

We’ll help finance just about any item that you use in your business – whether it is new or second hand.

• Medical equipment
• Dental clinic commercial fitouts
• Motor vehicles
• IT hardware, software and office equipment
• Boats and Aircraft
• Energy assets

You find the item and negotiate your price, then we’ll take it from there.

Why choose Laurentide?

Laurentide is one of Australia’s largest and most trusted vehicle and equipment finance brokerages. We’ve been building relationships with major banks and lenders, and customising competitive asset finance solutions for clients in a broad range of industries since 1988.

Key benefits

• Accredited with most financiers – we know their criteria, saving you time and money
• No restrictions on age or type of goods – we finance all income-producing assets
• Flexible credit criteria – low doc loans are available on selected vehicles and equipment
• Loans approved first time – no need for you to search around

Call Andrew Clark today on 0404 435 345 or (02) 9954 5044 for a no obligation finance quote or pre-approval. Andrew can also be reached via email andrew.clark@laurentide.com.au. Learn more at www.laurentide.com.au.

By Carl Burroughs, Integrated Dental Marketing

When you really impress a patient you often find out about it as they may have written you a note or sent you some flowers or a bottle of something nice or left you a good feedback. Equally, if someone is really unhappy the chances are you will already be aware of this. But most of your patients are somewhere in the middle of these two extremes, and what this group of people think about the services that you are providing is the true test of how healthy your practice is.

Surveying your patients has always been a great idea, but before digital platforms came along conducting surveys was a cumbersome process. Today however, it is as easy as automating an e-mail to be sent directly to every patient after they have attended an appointment with you.

Creating a patient survey is now easy to organise, but in order for this exercise to give you meaningful data, it needs to be the right survey. I think we have all experienced completing a ‘dumb’ on-line survey where all the questions are weighted to give the answers the company conducting the survey wants to receive. When Bill Gates was busy building Microsoft, he was famous for starting every team meeting by just asking for the bad news and problems, as it was his belief that you only build a world class company by working on the issues and not wallowing in the glory of your successes. Your practice surveys should take from this approach.

Don’t get me wrong, it is fantastic to receive great feedback as it confirms the things you are doing well and allows you to congratulate outstanding staff members. However, it is the negative feedback that you receive which truly allows you to improve the services you provide whilst also enabling you to future proof your businesses.

Gaining meaningful feedback also creates opportunities to expand and adds additional income streams. For example, if 30% of your patients state that they would like weekend appointments, it allows you to expand your hours with the knowledge that there is a demand for these additional hours. A favorable response to a question such as ‘would you like to see us add anti-wrinkle treatments to our suite of services?’, means you can add these services with confidence and they will be successful.

Adding a survey function to your marketing is a simple yet effective way of improving your customer service as the public likes having a way of providing feedback that is easy, discreet and at a time that suits them. Also, no patient will be upset if you ask them for their opinion. They will either delete the e-mail if they don’t have time or don’t want to participate, or will undertake the survey in the same way we all do.

So the key is to have an easy to use platform, which asks meaningful questions, is intuitive and not too long.

The team at IDM have been working with one of the major survey providers to create such a platform. The platform had been developed specifically for the Australian and New Zealand dental sectors with the questions developed by a practice management expert in conjunction with a psychologist. Not only are the core questions developed to give you the information you need, but the platform is intuitive, meaning it will ask the additional questions you might want to know from a particular answer to a question. The IDM survey is also totally customisable allowing you to add specific questions that you want to know the answers to.

The platform allows you to login at will to see the results and the IDM service also comes with the option of having the results analysed by a prominent practice management expert, should you want.

If you would like a free demonstration of the IDM dental survey platform, simply email surveydemo@idm.com.au or call Sonia on 02 9211 1477. You can also visit www.idm.com.au to know more about the services offered by IDM.