The primary reason practices underperform is staff non-compliance, which is a sign of poor leadership. Effective leadership is, in part, achieved by: 1. Having agreement among all your team members. 2. Having those agreements contained in your office policies.3. Referring staff to the policies when they have questions. 4. Seeing that the policies are fairly enforced. 5. Dismissing those who cannot or will not follow simple, useful policies.   Kevin Tighe, Cambridge Dental Consultants, Senior Consultant, got bitten hard by the business and marketing bug during long summer days working at his dad's Madison Avenue ad agency. After joining Cambridge as a...

What most practice owners are missing is not how to book an appointment but how to be effective leaders. The best systems in the world are useless if the staff do not comply. Good leaders know how to get staff to willingly follow through and comply. Agreement among all team members is key. Your written office policies should contain those agreements and should answer  most questions staff come up with. Doing so will save you much time and simplify the management of your practice. Staff non-compliance is a sure sign of poor leadership. The primary reason practices underperform is staff non-compliance. ...

The best systems in the world are useless if the staff members do not comply. An effective leader and executive knows how to get staff to willingly follow through and comply. Key systemds: 1. New patient phone call. This is the single most important function in a practice.  2. New patient experience. This includes NPs educated on how their specific insurance works so there are no surprises for the patient if they end up with a bill. 3. Insurance accurately and quickly submitted, followed up on and collected. This includes accurate accounts and on time statements. Also firm financial policy that...

Many people find change hard, and dental employees are no exception. Staff can complain about proposed changes. However, if you can get employees to be specific about their disagreement and discuss it, you will be surprised at how often the objections fo away. Most staff are hard working and want to do a good job however a barrier is an unwillingness by many practice owners to let go of a low producing employee even when it is obvious the employee is destructive and will not change. Typically a practice instantly increases efficiency when such an employee is dismissed even if the employee...