In dealing with problems that can develop in a practice, there are six basic maxims: 1 What you don't or can't control loses income. To the degree you are in control of these seven key areas of your practice, you will have a lower-stress, higher-income practice. To the degree you are out of control of these seven key areas of your practice you will have a higher-stress, lower-income practice. 2 Even a poorly run practice can earn enough money to get by on. This is true, but unfortunately it is more of a curse than a blessing as “just getting by” often takes so much of your time and energy that doctors wind up on a “work-a-day” treadmill with problematic and stressful practices. This adversely affects their quality of life and personal relationships and often causes production plateaus well below what their actual production levels would be were they better organized. 3 The real and only reason a practice stops growing or becomes stressful is because the practice owner has reached his or her level of management skill. There is no other reason. Socioeconomic and demographic factors (income per capita, population, number of competing doctors, local economy, etc.) are not the real reasons a practice stops growing or becomes stressful. Though it is true that these factors do have an impact on a practice, it is equally true that there is little, if anything, that an individual practice owner can do to control these factors. The obvious conclusion is: One should invest one’s time, effort, and resources into those things which one can control or have an impact on. 4 How good a doctor you are has nothing to do with how successful your career will be. It is common in any area of the U.S. and Canada to find brilliant doctors struggling to make ends meet while less skilled doctors in the same geographical area are making their fortunes. How well you hire and train your staff, do case presentation, handle your finances, do internal and external marketing, monitor and correct your staff, and the accuracy of your decisions as an executive, will be the primary factors in determining your career satisfaction and financial success. 5 In lieu of executive leadership, accurate job descriptions, office policies, and a strategic program to get them implemented, the staff will invent their own, usually based on whatever is most comfortable or easily done, not necessarily what is best for the practice. Often the command structure in this type of practice is relegated to a “social pecking order,” in which the more predominant staff personalities “rule the roost.” 6 A practice will either sink to the skill level of your staff, or you will bring the skill level of your staff up to meet the challenge of the practice. In short, your problems won’t just go away by themselves. Philosophically you have two choices. Either you'll be the effect of your environment, or you'll be at cause over your environment. It’s that simple.
You can't control the economy, but you can control your practice.
By: Ken DeRouchie
I have recently been interviewing doctors around the country regarding how the economy has been affecting their practice and what they have been doing to keep their practice financially viable. I have found that many of the doctors I've spoken to have simply shrugged their shoulders and accepted the down-turn in the economy. Many say there's nothing they can do about the economy and, because of that, are producing less and making much less money. At the same time, most of them who feel this way have done little to nothing in terms of making any changes in the management of their practice to combat the exterior forces that are impeding the growth and solvency of their business. This brings to mind an old saying: "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always gotten". Simply put, if everything is changing around you and you don't change and adapt with it, you will be unable to combat the external forces - very real forces - that are slowing or stopping your practice growth. It is imperative that if you want to continue growing in the economic environment that we are all experiencing, you must be able to adapt the management of your practice to the current state of your area, your local economy, the changing demographics of your area, etc. Most practice owners can grow in a booming economy. We've seen that during good economic times. But only those who are have management skills, either inherently or through training, can adapt successfully to difficult times. In August of 2007 I conducted a user poll on the Solutions Magazine web site in which 169 practice owners participated. The survey question was "The economy of the past 6 years has negatively affected my practice?". 51% of the doctors answered :yes". I decided to follow this up with another user poll in November of 2007. 171 practice owners participated. The topic of this was "When there are slow periods of the year, I …". 46% of the doctors replied that [they] "live with it until it picks up again" 24% of the doctors replied that [they] "do extra marketing/promotion to make sure we don't lose money" 16% of the doctors replied that [they] "schedule vacations at that time" 4% of the doctors replied that [they] "have a hard time making payroll" 11% of the doctors replied that [they] "wish there was something I could do to counter this" You can see that only 24% of the doctors surveyed were actually doing something proactive to handle the slow periods! Obviously, you aren't in a position to change the country's economy, but you can , if you know how, make effective changes in your practice to combat slow periods. Realize that the above surveys' were conducted prior to the recent economic collapse. I therefore conducted a third survey in the last few months in which 71 practice owners took part. Since effective marketing of a practice is essential during poor economic periods, I decided to ask the question "On your new patient/client forms, when you ask the question "How did you find out about our practice", what do you do with the answers?" 65% said [they] "Do Nothing" 1% said [they] "Enter it into a data base then nothing" 20% said [they] "Send a thank you card" 2% said [they] "Too busy to do anything with it." 11% said [they] "Use this info for future marketing campaigns" As you can see, only 11% were doing something useful with this vital data! From these 3 surveys I conclude that:
Many practices across the country are hurting from the effects of the economy. Most of them aren't doing anything about it. When they are getting new patients in they don't even bother to strengthen or further the actions that got those new patients in.
The ultimate result of all of this is most practice owners that are completely the effect of the economic environment and not in control of their practice.
If this in any way sounds somewhat or a lot like what you are going through, read on. . Things that you CAN control: The following list includes links to articles written about specific areas in your practice that YOU DO have control over. If you are feeling a negative impact from the economy, I highly recommend that you hunker down and dig in. There's a lot of ground to cover here but you will find this time well spent.. You do NOT just have to shrug your shoulders and "live with it", you CAN take back control of your practice! These articles and others in this issue of Solutions can help you. - Your appointment schedule - Cancellations/No-shows-rescheduled appointments
Researchers Use A Patient's Own Bone To Accelerate Orthodontics Description
Researchers at the University of Southern California School of Dentistry say they have improved upon a surgical procedure developed by periodontist Tom Wilcko that rapidly straightens teeth, delivering a healthy bite and attractive smile in months instead of years.
Newswise — Researchers at the University of Southern California School of Dentistry say they have improved upon a surgical procedure developed by periodontist Tom Wilcko that rapidly straightens teeth, delivering a healthy bite and attractive smile in months instead of years. Led by Hessam Nowzari DDS, PhD, Director of the USC School of Dentistry and Advanced Education in Periodontology program, the researchers have published the first case study of the successful use of a patient’s own bone material for the grafting necessary in the accelerated orthodontic surgical procedure. The report appears in the May 2008 issue of the Compendium of Continuing Education in Dentistry. Accelerated orthodontics is gaining popularity as a way for patients, particularly adults with mature bones, to speed up the time it takes to straighten misaligned bites and fix crowded teeth. Wilcko, who operates a practice in Erie, Penn., offers courses in the procedure, trademarked as “Wilckodontics.” USC dentists used a procedure known as PAOO, short for Periodontally Accelerated Osteogenic Orthodontics. With this technique, a periodontist or oral surgeon uses special instruments to score the bone that holds the teeth in place and then applies bone graft material over the grooves. The procedure is done under local anesthetic in the dental office operatory. As the bone begins to heal, it softens slightly, allowing teeth to be moved into alignment with dental braces in a matter of months, rather than the years required with traditional orthodontics. The cost for accelerated orthodontics typically ranges from $10,000 to $15,000, depending on the course of treatment. Prior to the USC study, the bone graft material used for this procedure was bovine bone and bioactive glass particles to help the bone strengthen as it healed. Nowzari says that his team believed they could improve the technique by using the patient’s own bone instead of the artificial or bovine graft. “Given a choice for grafts, nothing is better than a patient’s own tissue,” Nowzari explains. “It encourages new, healthy bone formation in the grafted area. It’s very safe and eliminates the risk of any disease transmission.”
Contact Information Angelica Urquijo (213) 740-6568 office (213) 271-4189 cell
Lake Oswego, OR – Silkin Management Group (http://www.silkinmanagementgroup.com), a 25 year old health care practice management firm, saves dental practices in the toughest economic times since the 1930s with recommendations most failing practices ignore. Many very good and talented dentists are making the wrong business decisions and end up losing their practice.
“In recessionary times such as these, we see dentist/owner of stand alone practices tighten their belts in unhealthy ways. By this we mean that they get very worried and reduce their promotion,” reports Fred King, CEO of Silkin Management Group. “They may start letting go of staff and making do with fewer personnel.”
Current economic conditions seem to demand that dentists cut corners but this causes lower standards of service and patient care. When the quality of service goes down patients become unhappy and start looking for another dentist. Most patients already have some aversion to going to the dentist which magnifies the effects for this category of health care provider.
“This situation makes it a perfect time for dentists making the correct management decisions to capture more market share and increase their productivity,” explains King. “We help dental practices know exactly what to do to in each economic cycle so they are making correct management decisions that continually grow their practice.”
For those dentists wanting to take advantage of these tough economic times but who don’t want to start with any financial investment, Silkin Management Group offers a 2 hour practice analysis at no-charge. All the dentists’ questions are answered by a veteran senior analyst. Silkin analysts have worked with dental practices in every part of the country. They have a wealth of experience and an understanding of the issues dental practices have to deal with on a daily basis.
Silkin Management Group was established in Portland, Oregon in 1983. Since that time the company has focused on delivering consulting and training services to doctors in private practice. Now an international leader in practice management, Silkin has a long standing track record of providing assistance to its clientele that consistently exceeds their expectations. For more information about Silkin Management Group visit http://www.silkinmanagementgroup.com/offers/analysis.html or call toll free: 800-695-0257.
LAKE OSWEGO, OR, December 09, 2008 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Silkin Management Group http://www.silkinmanagementgroup.com), a 25 year old health care practice management firm, rescue Veterinary practices in the what is being called the worse economic times in 50 years with recommendations most faltering practices neglect. The great majority of veterinarians are held in the highest esteem by their clients, whether a small pet owner, equestrian professional or farmer, due to their medical expertise. Yet, many make poor business decisions and are losing their practice.
"In economic turn downs, such as the ones we are experiencing now, we see veterinary practices tighten their belts in unhealthy ways. By this we mean that they get very worried and reduce their promotion," reports Fred King, CEO of Silkin Management Group. "They may start letting go of staff and making do with fewer personnel."
Current economic conditions seem to demand that veterinarians cut corners but this causes lower standards of service and patient care. When the quality of service goes down clients become unhappy with their pet or animal's care and start looking for another vet. That clients demand good animal health care is demonstrated by a 2006 survey of 50,000 pet owners that revealed almost all pet owners feel a strong human-animal bond. About 49.7 percent of survey respondents consider pets to be family, and 48.2 percent consider pets to be companions.
"This situation makes it an excellent time for veterinarians making the correct management decisions to capture more market share and increase their productivity," explains King. "We help veterinary practices know exactly what to do to in each economic cycle so they are making correct management decisions that continually grow their practice."
For those veterinarians wanting to take advantage of these tough economic times but who don't want to start with any financial investment, Silkin Management Group offers a 2 hour practice analysis at no-charge. All the veterinarians' questions are answered by a veteran senior analyst. Silkin analysts have worked with veterinary practices in every part of the country. They have a wealth of experience and an understanding of the issues veterinary practices face on a daily basis. For more information about Silkin Management Group visit http://www.silkinmanagementgroup.com/offers/analysis.html or call toll free: 800-695-0257.
Silkin Management Group was established in Portland, Oregon in 1983. Since that time the company has focused on delivering consulting and training services to doctors in private practice. Now an international leader in practice management, Silkin has a long standing track record of providing assistance to its clientele that consistently exceeds their expectations. For more information about Silkin Management Group visit http://www.silkinmanagementgroup.com/offers/analysis.html or call toll free: 800-695-0257.
Silkin Management Group 18010 SW McEwan Road Lake Oswego, OR 97035 Phone: 503-726-1810 Toll Free: 800-695-0257 Fax: 503-726-1719
About Silkin Management Group
Silkin Management Group was established in Portland, Oregon in 1983. Since that time the company has focused on delivering consulting and training services to doctors in private practice. Now an international leader in practice management, Silkin has a long standing track record of providing assistance to its clientele that consistently exceeds their expectations.
