Money Matters Issue #43

The more things change, the more they remain the same! So you are just done with a certificate/diploma/degree level course in dental practice/health care management. A lot of knowledge of best management practices under your belt and you are ready for implementation in your private clinic. Then routine kicks in, change appears daunting, so it's back to your default settings as you work with what and who you had before the course. Your thinking has changed. You can defend best management practice like a professor. However your staff remain the same - they have not bought into the new theories. You need to induct them into the new Standard Operating Procedures. Do you have enough staff doing the right thing at the right time and taking the admin and finance load load off your shoulders? It is hard work contorting your spine and neck with or without loupes or an operating microscope as you get the best birds eye view of your operating area. Let admin and finance run smoothly as you provide essential oversight. Let others craft patients' payment plans, let others schedule patients so that you can concentrate on your core business which is treating patients by diagnosing and doing procedures.

When are you going to hire the right people to do all the non clinical jobs in your clinic? You could also automate many of these functions but you are likely to lose the human touch that patients who are already stressed out, crave. Automate some things but put a human member of your team in sensitive areas.

Staffing and customer experience are mutually dependent. Staff cost the practice, so you want to place staff salaries and benefits well within your budget for administrative costs. On the subject of staff who does the following Insurance related tasks at your clinic?

-Claims verification before dispatch.

-Staff training on handling insurance billing and patient verification.

-Payments Reconciliation

-Payment follow up from?insurance companies.

Need help in these areas, especially if your payer base is skewed toward the Insurance Industry? Click here and type in Insurance claims for more information.

A Dental Practice Manager is more than a dental assistant or receptionist with additional duties. Ensure that a Practice Manager exits in your dental clinic, commit to their continuous professional development and pay them well

Offers

1. Join my Aligning for success in the dental industry program for dentists. For more information type in AFS4 after clicking here.

2. I am a poet and economical with words. To have your Bio/Profile edited type in Bio after clicking here

3. Planning to start or grow your clinic? You will need a feasibility study. For more information type in FS after clicking here

4. Do you want to sell or buy an existing dental clinic? What is it worth? For more information type in Valuation after clicking here

5. It sometimes gets lonely in private dental practice. To schedule a free 15 minute discovery call type in Discovery call after clicking here

The views expressed in this newsletter are the opinions of the author. If you found this issue interesting and informative, please do one, two or all of the following: subscribe, comment, like, share, follow and connect with me