Dentaltown February 2022 - 48

Try these different ideas out and see what
works best in your office-I guarantee that
your daily production will increase if you
make a big push for same-day production.
4. Train your team.
In Eliyahu Goldratt's book The Goal, he
explains how in every business, every process
has one step that is the slowest. This step
is the " rate-limiting step. " In our practices,
ideally, the rate-limiting step should be the
dentist, which would mean the dentist is
being used as efficiently as possible. For
example, if a dentist had to work out of only
one operatory, she couldn't jump straight
from one patient to another, because she
has to wait for the room to be turned over
and set up for the next procedure. In that
case, the single operatory would be the
rate-limiting step.
The same thing happens all the time
in a different way. Dentists often perform
treatment that could easily be done by other
team members. We have dental assistants
and hygienists so they can perform tasks
that will allow us to do more productive
things. We could take impressions and
X-rays, make temporary crowns and turn
over rooms ourselves, but that would be a
poor use of our time.
Use your employees as much as possible.
Most dentists don't take advantage of the
opportunities that are right in front of them;
the two most common objections are that
they're afraid to allow their team members
to do more and that they don't have the
time to train them.
If you're concerned about your team
members' abilities to perform tasks to a
specific competency level, think back to
where you started. What did your first
crown prep look like? Your first surgical
extraction? Obviously, your team members
won't be doing those procedures, but I
bring those up to show that we all have to
start somewhere. It won't be perfect in the
beginning, but we can all learn, improve
48 FEBRUARY 2022 // dentaltown.com
and grow. And if you have a team member
who is given the opportunity and can't take
on more, it is possible that they aren't the
right team member.
Some will say that there's not enough
time to train your staff. I would say it's the
opposite. If there's not enough time, this
means we need to focus on things that are
going to free up your time! Every minute
that you spend training your staff on clinical
skills will pay back dividends over and over
in the future. By allowing them to take on
more responsibility, you have more time to
do more procedures.
I am in Texas, a state where we have no
expanded-function assistants and hygienists
are still not allowed to administer anesthesia.
I can only imagine the increase in productivity
if we could do some of the things that
are available in other states! Maximize as
much as possible. Learn the limitations in
your state and spend time with your team,
training them to be the best that they can be.
5. Raise your fees.
When you read " raise your fees, " I know
many of you thought, " Well, duh. " But very
few dentists know where their fees lie as far
as percentile. Many don't remember the
last time they raised their fees. Go to Fair
Health's website (fairhealthconsumer.org),
click " Dental " and look up a few of your most
common procedure codes. The search engine
will tell you what the 80th percentile is. In
general, shoot to be in the 80th percentile
or higher across the board as far as your
UCR fees go.
INSURANCE
There are entire books written about
insurance participation, reimbursements,
claims, etc. There is no one right way to
do things. You can be a poor dentist who
is fee-for-service, a rich dentist who accepts
every insurance under the sun or vice-versa.
Don't get hung up on trying to do what
other dentists are doing or what you think
you should do based on what you've been
told. Weigh out all your options, make a
decision and move forward.
If you are in-network with insurances,
find an exceptional company to negotiate
or renegotiate your fees for you. You should
almost never accept the first fee schedule
they send you.
A great insurance negotiating company
is going to get substantial results that are
better than you could get on your own. Ask
around and find the best one for you and
start the process. Once this is done and you
get an increase in fees, you pocket the money
from that increase and your overhead stays
the same. So if your fees get bumped up
5% on a practice that does $1 million per
year, that's an extra $50,000 for you that
you had to do no extra work for.
6. Hire expert help.
One of the biggest factors that separate
those who lead an industry instead of just
keeping up is a willingness to hire experts to
help you get ahead. When you look at the top
athletes in any sport, you'll find dedicated
trainers and coaches. Those top athletes
prioritize getting the best help and support
out there. It's no different in business and in
dentistry. The highest-performing dentists I
know all use coaches, consultants and experts
to help them get to where they want to be.
They know that they'll get there faster than if
they were to try and figure it out on their own.
Conclusion
Many dentists look at their schedules
and production and get frustrated because
they're not what they want them to look
like. This is understandable. But where
dentists fall short is in thinking they have
very little control.
In reality, the opposite is true. By implementing
the steps above, you'll find that
the more involved you are in the process,
the more you'll consistently see growth in
your productivity. n
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Dentaltown February 2022

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