Take the Lid Off of Your Practice by Taking the Lid Off of Your Thinking
It would seem that increasing the productivity of your practice will take some gigantic undertaking. However, it is the summation of many small things that, ultimately, can make a huge difference in the productivity and profitability of the practice. Calculate your breakeven point. Set a goal to reach that breakeven point on a daily, monthly and yearly basis. Have your practice analyzed to determine where you are now. Determine where you want to go—and where you intend to go. Then, design a plan of action (a strategic plan) of how you are going to get there.
Take the lid off of your thinking and let the success and abundance that can be yours, flow to you.
The average practice is open for business 200 days per year. (You may be open more, maybe less), but that is the average. If you produce $500 more per day for those 200 days, that is $100,000 more per year. If you are hitting breakeven consistently and now you add $100,000, about 20% of those additional monies go to increased overhead of lab and supplies. But the fixed overhead stays the same. So of the additional production, about $20,000 is overhead and about $80,000 drops to the bottom line. And so on up the scale.
At a recent lecture I did in Cabo San Lucas(yes, a tough place to go in the winter!!) this brilliant and dynamic group of doctors and team members, generated the following list of 10 things they believed they could do to increase production by $500 per day (that was $100 per day per hygienist for a practice who had 2 hygienists and $300 for the doctor and assistant).
1. Reduce one broken appointment per day or fill one void.
2. Increase case acceptance by one patient per day.
3. One tooth whitening
4. One mouth guard
5. Schedule efficiently—not too much time, not too little time.
6. Delegate appropriately. Maximize everyone’s time and talent.
7. Have hygienists and assistants, as well we doctor, use cameras to educate patients about:
- Areas of concern since last appointment
- Dentistry diagnosed but incomplete
- Periodontal concerns
- Possibilities with advanced restorative care
- Cosmetic opportunities
8. Add new services, such as Invisalign, CFAST, Diagnodent, adult fluoride, etc.
9. Be more efficient and effective with everyone’s time. Focus on the 20% of job responsibilities that account for 80% of productive activities. Refine every system in order to become more effective, efficient and productive.
10. Be able to communicate financially with patients in a better way for the purpose of overcoming the barrier of cost—for even one patient per day.
Now, they were reflecting many of the ideas presented in the lecture—but this was great. They could see that what we were studying could be made concrete in their own practices.
Do the same thing in your practices: In an open discussion with your team, identify 10 things that you can do to increase production by $500 per day. Then: DO IT!!!! Implement! JUST DO IT!!
An additional $500 per day x 200 days per year equals $100,000. $1000 per day X 200 days per year equals $200,000 per year—and so one. It is the small things that you will do—that you compile each day—that add up to make a substantial difference. $1500 per day X 200 equals $300,000 per year and so on!!! Over a quarter of a million dollars per year—and mostly profit!!
This is, as Malcolm Gladwell would say, the “tipping point”.
