IMPORTANT   Some states allow you to thank a referring patient after the fact of the referral with a nominal gift ($10.00 - $25.00) however, the referring patient cannot have an expectation of the reward.  A personally signed thank you card or note, ideally from the doctor, is smart and good manners. You can offer a credit to new patients. The amount can be $50.00 or $100.00 or more. You can also offer a free cleaning or exam or nothing at all. It’s totally up to you but, most find a dollar value works best.   If you offer a dollar amount still submit your usual...

The Achilles' heel of many a dental practice owner is to avoid dealing with unpleasant staff situations. A good example is a recent new client of mine.  I found him to be very congenial, so I had a hard time believing this guy was the "dental devil incarnate” described by the majority of his staff. I asked each of the staff members in his practice the same question: "Has anyone in the practice been treated unjustly?” All fingers pointed to one person—we'll call her Sally. Sally had apparently been going around telling other staff members about how the practice owner was...

Base pay plus commission seems to be the best and most popular system. This protects the hygienist if the front desk drops the ball on the schedule, but also gives the hygienist a reason to go the extra mile. Always use adjusted production or actual collections when calculating a hygienist’s bonus because this is the amount that can actually be collected. The general rule of thumb is that any commission kicks in when production (or collection) exceeds three times the hygienist’s base pay. Also, if the day does fall apart or there's an open hour, the hygienist on base pay can...

In a general practice, a hygienist can see 8-10 patients per day with operative also seeing 8-10 patients plus consultations, impressions, etc. Variables can include the type of dentistry being done (including SRPs), number of ops and whether there is some form of  assisted hygiene in use Regularly moving patients like this is a no-no. It wastes time and and pisses patients off. If this isn't a "laziness" issue then you, the practice owner and the hygienists need to come up with a scheduling plan to accommodate the 90 minute appointments without having to change other patient's appointments. Assisted hygiene might...