Dedicated to helping doctors and their team have an office that is not only highly productive and fun but one that allows them to consistently exceed patient expectations.
It’s time to welcome Spring and your second quarter! (I am so looking forward to warmer weather and digging in the dirt again!)
Here are some marketing and practice growth tips and ideas for April 2023 to help you grow your dental practice, exceed your current and potential patients’ expectations, engage with the community, and have more fun as a team.
April 2023 Dental Practice Growth Tips & Ideas
April is National Garden Month
Theme: Spring Flowers
Focus:Spring into a Healthy & Beautiful Smile
Community Spirit Days (April 1-30) What a great opportunity to get your name out there in the community. Here are some ideas for you…
Neighborhood Spring Perennial Plant Exchange from the office parking lot.
Feature a local restaurant each week on your social media page encouraging people to visit their FB page and leave a review. Do a gift card raffle for each of the restaurants.
Find a local charity that you can support.
Make your office a donation drop-off site for items of need in the community (ie: non-perishable food items, books, etc.)
Patient and or Referral Appreciation Gift Idea
National Pretzel Day: April 26th – Give away individually wrapped pretzel snacks.
For Dental Office Tips and Ideas for Oral Cancer Awareness Month – Visit here
Practice Owners,I would love the opportunity to work along with you and your team to help you set and exceed your practice goals. If you would like to schedule a no-obligation, complimentary consultation to learn how our coaching program works, please email me at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com.
Social Media Post Content Ideasto Boost Engagement during the month of April
Vitamin C Day: 4th
National Fun at Work Day: 6th – Share a picture of the team having fun at work on your social media pages.
National Dolphin Day: 14th
National Garlic Day: 19
Earth Day: 22
National Superhero Day: 28
Wishing you all a fun, stress-free, and productive month!
Don’t miss out on any of the ideas that I share each month! Are you receiving my complimentary Practice Management and Marketing Ideas in your email inbox each month? If not, please start following us today. If you prefer, send me your email address at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com and I will send you an invitation to follow my blog.
Would you do something for me, pretty please? If you enjoy the ideas that I share or if they’ve been of help to you and your practice – I would love and truly appreciate it if you would please take a second and leave a review/recommendation for me on GOOGLE and/or FACEBOOK.Looking forward to hearing from you.Thank you!!!
Spring Cleaning and Organizing Tips for your Dental Practice
Hello Friends,
Is your office due or past-due for a good cleaning and organizing? Maybe even some remodeling or redecorating? It’s that time of year when many take advantage of the warmer weather to “spring clean” their homes. This is also a great time to spring clean your dental practice.
I encourage you to make a checklist of all the areas in your office that may need some cleaning. I’ll help you get started by showing you how to take advantage of using your 5 senses while cleaning your office. This is by no means an exhaustive cleaning list but it will give you ideas of where and what to clean.
Before you read on please remember that the patients’ (and potential patients’) perception of you, your team, the office, and the quality and safety of the care you provide is your reality. This means that everything that you do or don’t do…matters!
Even if you feel like you’re just too busy to tackle a project like this you’ll want to make the time; why? The long-term growth and success of your practice depend on it.
Sight, Smell, Sound, Touch, and Taste.
SIGHT
What do your patients and potential patients see?
Areas to “see” include;
Office Exterior (Curb Appeal)
Signage
Windows
Landscape/Weeds
Garbage/Debris
Safety Concerns/Handicap accessibility
Are you welcoming or turning people away?
Office Interior
Reception Room – Sit in your reception room, what do your patients see, touch, hear, smell, and taste? Look high and low. What do you see? Dirty carpeting/flooring? Outdated magazines & decor? Stained or worn chairs? Peeling wallpaper? Cobwebs? Dusty plants/floral arrangements? Light bulbs that are out? Look over at the front desk area, if you see a sliding glass window that is full of signs and papers telling your patients what to do and what not to do…remove them immediately. It’s very unwelcoming!
Restroom – Most if not all of your patients that visit your restroom WILL determine the quality and safety of your care from that experience. (Isn’t that true of you when you’re at a restaurant or any public restroom? No one wants the gas station bathroom experience…not even when you’re at a gas station.) Your restroom should be clean, nicely decorated, and well-stocked with quality paper products and soap.
Front Desk Area – Clutter represents indecision. Make a decision to get rid of the clutter! (That includes any sticky notes attached to computer monitors, coats/sweaters hanging on the backs of chairs, and fast-food drink containers sitting out on the counters.) Purchase hot/cold beverage tumblers, preferably with your office logo on them for your team members to use at their workstations – this looks much nicer than your patients seeing soda bottles or coffee shop cups.
While you’re visiting the front office area, don’t forget about cleaning these areas too…
Current Protocols– Hygiene Continuing Care, Incomplete Treatment Reports, Confirmation, A/R-Collections, Greetings, Patient Hand-off, New Patient Welcomes, and Referral Thank you’s, etc.
Paper Communication Materials –Intake forms, Letterhead, HIPAA forms, Financial Policy & Postcards.
Job Responsibilities/Descriptions –Have every team member write down a detailed list of all of their job responsibilities. This is VERY helpful in determining more effective ways of doing things as well as finding out what is NOT being done.
Practice Owners – If you’re struggling to reach your goals each month or struggling to get your team on board with your vision for the practice maybe a coaching relationship is just what you need. Feel free to reach out to me to set up a complimentary 30-minute call to discuss how a customized coaching program will help you to reach/exceed your goals.
Moving on to other areas of the practice…
Operatories – Sit in the treatment room chairs. What do you see? What do you hear? What do you taste? What do you smell? How do you feel? Again, your patients don’t measure the quality of care, they measure the quality of their experience. Keep your patients loyal to your practice by making certain they consistently have great experiences.
Lab & Sterilization Area – What do these areas look like? Unorganized, Cluttered, and/or Dirty? From the CDC: “In dental health care settings, all instrument cleaning, disinfecting, and sterilizing should occur in a designated central processing area in order to more easily control quality and ensure safety. The instrument processing area should be physically divided into sections for 1) receiving, cleaning, and decontamination; 2) preparation and packaging; 3) sterilization; and 4) storage. This division is designed to contain contaminated items in an area designed specifically for cleaning, thus preventing contamination of the clean areas where packaging, sterilization, and storage of sterile items occurs. Reusable contaminated instruments and devices are received, sorted, and cleaned in the cleaning area. The packaging area is for inspecting, assembling, and packaging clean instruments in preparation for final processing. The sterilization and storage areas contain the sterilizers and related supplies, as well as incubators for analyzing spore tests, and can contain enclosed storage for sterile items and disposable (single-use) items. When it is not possible to have physical separation of these areas, clearly labeling each area (e.g., from contaminated to sterile) might be satisfactory if the personnel who process the instruments are trained in work practices to prevent contamination of clean areas. ” Here is a helpful article: IS YOUR DENTAL STERILIZATION AREA SETUP EFFICIENT — OR A BOTTLENECK?
Closets – Make an inventory checklist. Throw away any expired or outdated products, equipment, manuals, etc. While you’re at it, if there is anything that isn’t being used properly due to a lack of education or training, go ahead and schedule a time for continuing education/training.
Equipment/Technology – What needs repairs, upgrades or to be tossed? Computers, Software, Internet Speed & Access, Printers, Scanners, Copiers, Telephone Systems, TVs, Postage machines, including…dare I say, typewriters?
Employee breakroom(area) / staff lounge – don’t forget about the employee break area. Is it clean and organized? Check out the refrigerator, microwave, cabinets, counters, and tables. There is no reason for this room to be messy and/or dirty. While you’re at it freshen up the room decor and stock the cabinets/refrigerator with snacks and beverages for your team. SEE: https://bettyhaydenconsulting.com/2023/02/27/tips-for-sprucing-up-the-dental-office-break-room/
The Team – Appearance – Wear clothes that reflect the excellent care you give your patients. Professional, clean, and wrinkle-free clothes. Clean hair, nails & body). Attitudes – Remove any toxic attitudes.
Office Policies – Review and update employee benefits and expectations. If you don’t have an office manual and/or employee handbook please get one asap.
TIP: Make a cleaning schedule – including the who, what & when. When will the parking lot, restrooms & reception room be checked & cleaned? This should be done several times throughout the day. Do not wait for the “cleaning person” to take care of those areas. If the flooring needs to be vacuumed… vacuum it. If the glass on the windows/doors has fingerprints…clean them. If the restroom toilet and sink are dirty… clean them. Make a promise as a team that if you see it (and you know you do) clean it.
Online Presence – What do your potential patients “see” when looking for a dentist in your area? Remember to spring clean your online presence too. Your website, Google My Business listing, and Social Media Pages. See: Dental Office First Impressions – Online Presence
SMELL
Get rid of the dreaded dental office smell. There are products out there that will eliminate that smell without aggravating patients with allergies. Bake chocolate chip cookies if necessary. Be cautious when using scented candles, air fresheners, and essential oils – you’ll want to make sure that they are mild and won’t aggravate those with allergies.
SOUND
Keep the noise down! Patients want to be put at ease; they don’t want to hear the latest office gossip or a TV that is too loud. Avoid using patients’ full names or complaining about patients when you can be heard from the reception room or treatment chair.
Music – Consider playing music in the reception and treatment rooms. Wireless headphones will allow patients’ to listen to music or the TV while in the chair.
Telephone Greetings/Messages – What do your patients and potential patients’ “hear” when calling the office? Be sure that what they hear is a reflection of your goals and vision. See How To Effectively Answer The Dental Office Telephone
TASTE
Beverage Station in the reception room. Complimentary coffee, tea, cold bottled water, juice, etc. See this Pinterest board for beverage station design ideas.
Snacks – Offer snacks such as fresh fruit, granola bars, etc. This is especially nice for patients that may have been in for a lengthy appointment and need a little boost in energy.
Allow patients to rinse with mouthwash before and after the appointment.
Offer pre-pasted toothbrushes for patients that didn’t have time to or forgot to brush their teeth before their appointment.
TOUCH
Reception Room – Is it comfortable & welcoming? (If you emptied the reception room of all comfort and distraction items because of COVID you probably can start returning these items. Just be sure to frequently clean high-touch/traffic surfaces.)
Reading Material – Have a variety of magazines and books for patients to read.
Temperature – Keep the temperature in the reception room at a comfortable setting.
Lighting – Be sure that the sunlight from the windows isn’t blinding some of your patients during the day.
Treatment Rooms – Be sure that your patients are comfortable during their visit. Your treatment rooms should be exceptionally clean from top to bottom. Get rid of any clutter sitting out on the counters, floor, or shelves.
Massage Pads on Chairs
Blankets (If you have a patient that is always cold, pop the blanket in the dryer for them right before appt). Consider offering a weighted blanket during treatment to help reduce anxiety.
Distractions – (Movies, Music, Digital Aquarium, Etc.)
Give Painless Injections…always.
Put your patients at ease by talking with them before you start looking in their mouth.
Free Stuff – Give away items imprinted with your office name, website, and phone number to each patient at their appointment. Such as; toothbrushes, hand sanitizer, calendars, pens, and lip balm.
Using your 5 senses, look closely at yourself, your team, the exterior, and interior of your building, all office systems, your lab, sterilization procedures, website & social media sites, marketing materials, marketing programs, and the patient experience.
Your goal should be to find ways to consistently exceed your patients’ expectations, attract more new patients and remove anything that is hindering you from reaching that goal. You and your team need and deserve to enjoy a nice, clean, and welcoming work environment.
If you appreciate the ideas that I share or if they’ve been of help to you and your practice – I would love it if you would please take just a second and leave a review/recommendation for me on GOOGLE and/or FACEBOOK.Looking forward to hearing from you.Thank you!!!
Are you receiving my complimentary Practice Management and Marketing Ideas in your email inbox each month? If not, please start following us today. If you prefer, send me your email address at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com and I will send you an invitation to follow my blog.
Would you like to see an increase in production and office collections? Would you like to decrease the amount of time and money being spent on chasing past-due patient and insurance balances? Great news, I can help you!
What do your past-due accounts receivable look like? The accounts receivable (A/R) balance is the amount owed to your office for services already provided (and paid for by you!), but not yet collected from the insurance company and/or patient.
A healthy dental office will have an accounts-receivable ratio of 1.0, meaning your total accounts receivable are equal to your average monthly production. What does your A/R ratio look like?
How about your 90-day Collection Percentage on both Gross and Net Production? How much of your production are you collecting and how much are you writing off?
Sadly, I far too often see dentists working harder than ever with very little to show for their work. During my in-office coaching visits, we quickly discover that in most cases solid collection protocols are lacking.
Today, I’ll share with you a few tips to help you increase office collections and clean up unhealthy accounts receivable.
See the true value of dentistry – With each day and each patient you and your team have the privilege and opportunity to potentially change someone’s life or at the very least, help them smile healthier. A healthy smile is part of a healthy body, healthy smiles and bodies create healthy communities. The entire team must believe this. The entire team must also wholly believe that you’re providing the best quality care. Having full confidence in the doctors’ and hygienists’ ability to provide quality care and create beautiful and healthy smiles is a must. Give every patient the opportunity to say yes or no to your very best care!
Be confident with fees – The entire team should role play presenting small and large treatment plans and financial arrangements until everyone is comfortable saying the dollar amounts out loud and with pride.
Financial Guidelines & Expectations – Have written financial guidelines that are kindly reviewed with the patient at their first appt. Have them sign and take a copy with them. For your existing patients, review with them any changes to your financial expectations, have them sign, and give them a copy to take home.
Avoid assumptions and judgment – Don’t make decisions for the patient as to whether they can afford the treatment based on your assumptions or reality. Always offer the best treatment and flexible payment options and allow the patient to decide what they want to accept or not.
No surprises! – Present the patient’s treatment plan and estimated financial portion before treatment is started. If you accept and/or participate with their insurance, have up-to-date eligibility, a breakdown of benefits, and the insurance fee schedule on file for the patient and enter into your practice management software.
Payment is due before or on the day of service – No billing the patient for co-pays or payment for services. (Hint: Collecting prior to appt. will reduce cancellations and no-shows. Another Hint: If you didn’t collect at the time of scheduling, collect their portion before the patient goes back for treatment, especially if they’re having a lengthy or difficult appt.)
Make it easy for them to pay – In addition to accepting cash, check, and charge cards, offer third-party financing. Avoid in-office payment plans!
Offer online payment options– allow your patients the convenience to make payments online. (This way, while you and your team are sleeping you’re collecting payments from your night-owl patients 😉 )
Dealing with forgetful patients – When a patient says they forgot to bring money…they can either call the payment in over the phone when they get home or give them an envelope with a payment due date for them to mail in a check. Call the patient if payment isn’t received by the due date. Better yet, send them a text/email to pay link so they can easily and quickly take care of the balance online.
When Insurance is involved – Always give the full treatment fee, the estimated insurance amount, and the patient’s estimated portion that is due today. Let the patient know you’ll send in the claim and inform them if anything changes with the estimated insurance portion. Reminder: Collecting co-pays on the day of service is an insurance requirement. Tip: Watch your insurance aging report closely. Promptly follow up on any unpaid claims, insurance rejections, and requests for add’l information.
There you have it, 10 tips to successfully collect payment before or at the time of service.
Once you plan to consistently collect payments before or at the time of service and hold your team accountable to follow through with that plan, you’ll wish you started it sooner. Don’t wait, start today to implement these changes.
Here are a few more tips to help make this a true success for you and enjoy healthy accounts receivable.
Daily, Weekly, and Monthly monitor your patient and insurance accounts receivable, collection, and credit reports. (Carefully review write-offs, discounts, credits, charges, and payments.)
Avoid “Statement Groundhog Day” – Stop sending statement after statement to patients that are past due on making a payment. They ignore them and it costs you a lot of money. Get collection letters out and make some calls.
ALWAYS send out clean insurance claims! If your administrative team needs any training in this ever-changing insurance world with how to estimate co-pays, send out claims (daily), and post insurance payments, and adjustments…get them the proper training asap!
Insurance Claims Aging Report – Run your insurance aging report and start from the oldest and work down to the current claims… how old are some of those claims? What is the status of the claims? Where is your money? Now is a great time to clean up that report.
Don’t assume… know by who, when, what, and how your money is being handled. It’s important for the entire team to understand why this information is necessary.
Set goals, share with your team what your production and collection goals are and how it benefits them to all work together as a team to reach or exceed these goals. Consider offering a small bonus or incentive when these goals are reached.
Benchmarks – Do you and your team know what healthy benchmarks they’re striving for? If not, establish those benchmarks and get everyone on the same page.
Print out these tips and suggestions and review them at your next team meeting.
Do you appreciate the ideas and content that I share each month? If you do, would you kindly leave me a review/recommendation on Google or Facebook, please? Simply click the following links: GOOGLE and/or FACEBOOKThank you so much!
Friends, if your office is struggling with collections or out-of-control accounts receivable please don’t wait to seek help. The longer that money sits out there the less you collect. You deserve to be paid for the amazing dental care you provide.If you’re unsure where or how to get started – feel free to reach out to me for a complimentary 30-minute consultation at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com
Are you receiving my complimentary Practice Growth Tips & Ideas in your email each month? If not, please start following us today. If you prefer, send me your email address (to bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com) and I will send you an invitation to follow my blog.
Yours for Greater Success,
~Betty – Dental Coach
Before you go – would you kindly leave me a review/recommendation on Google or Facebook, please? Simply click the following links: GOOGLE and/or FACEBOOKThank you so much!
December is going to be a busy time for you, your patients, and your employees. Take some time now to plan how you all will keep a full and productive schedule all month long without any extra stress.
Here are some ideas to get you started.
Management Tips & Reminders for December…
Watch the Schedule – Be alert to any patients that are coming in with the doctor or hygienist and have incomplete treatment or are due in hygiene. If the schedule allows, encourage them to take care of both at the same time. This means carefully reviewing all charts in advance of the appointment.
SocialMedia – In advance, schedule your social media posts for the last 2 weeks of December and the first week of January. One less thing to stress you out during the crazy times. 😉
Appointment/Retention Incentive – It can be challenging to get patients to keep their dental appointments during the holidays – consider having a drawing for a gift basket or gift card to a local business that your patients can enter to win when they come in for their dental appointment before December 23rd.
Homecare Products – December is a great time for Special offers on Electric Toothbrushes and Waterpiks
Gift Certificates – Remember, Gift Certificates/Cards for Teeth Whitening, Ortho, or Wellness visits should always be available for your patients to purchase as gifts for their loved ones.
Travel Toothbrush Bags – Many of your patients travel during the holidays – Surprise them with a small gift for their travels. Put together toothbrush bags that include a toothbrush, floss, toothpaste, and a “what to do in a dental emergency” handout. You could also include other travel-sized items such as lotion, Advil, lip balm, etc.
If you’re looking for marketing & additional practice growth tips and ideas for December 2022 – please check them out here: December 2022 Marketing Ideas
Do you appreciate the ideas and content that I share each month? If you do, would you kindly leave me a review/recommendation on Google or Facebook, please? Simply click the following links: GOOGLE and/or FACEBOOKThank you so much!
Leadership & Team Building/Appreciation Ideas…
“Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” – John Wooden
Review the performance for 2022 – What worked well? What did not work well or requires change? What are your ideas for Improvement? What are your plans for implementation? Remember, change what needs changing, and control what you can control.
Doctors, if you would like to grow and improve your dental practice and have wondered what it might be like to work with me and what coaching is all about… please feel free to reach out to me to schedule a complimentary, no-obligation coaching call at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com.
National Sock Day: December 4th – Purchase some silly socks for the team and take a picture of everyone wearing the socks and post it to your office Facebook/Instagram pages and Google My Business listing.
National Chocolate Day: December 28-29th – Surprise your doctor(s) and/or team with a chocolatey “I appreciate you” treat.
Have you signed up to receive my complimentary dental marketing and practice management ideas that are sent right to your email inbox each month? If not, take a second and sign up. Or send me your email address to bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com and I will send you an invite to follow. This way, you won’t miss a single idea.
Wishing you a fabulous and productive month!
Yours for Greater Success,
~Betty (Dental Coach)
Would you kindly leave me a review/recommendation on Google or Facebook, please? Simply click the following links: GOOGLE and/or FACEBOOKThank you so much! – Looking forward to hearing from you!!