The Patient Experience

The patient experience is everything from how the staff answers the phone to how comfortable the furniture is. When you have a positive experience you are more than likely to share that experience with friends and family. It works the same with patients. With good experience comes an increase in referrals. 

Positive Experiences

Positive patient experiences won't only bring in business, it will build trust in your team and increase case acceptance. 

To start, communication is key to building strong relationships with patients. Each and every interaction with a patient should put their needs first. On the phone patients should be greeted with a personal greeting, patients should hear a smile through the phone. If our front office is confirming appointments, encourage staff to be polite and friendly while speaking slowly and clearly. See these phone calls as opportunities to connect with patients. 

Making a point to use the patient’s name in the conversation goes a long way. It shows you care and attention to detail. Staff members should always be prepared to go above and beyond to make sure patients’ questions are heard and addressed. Complicated matters such as working with their insurance, appointment reminders, etc. No matter how insignificant it may be, if a patient voices a concern, address it with professionalism and honesty.

How office staff interact with patients is critical, but so is the visual impression of the office and team. It may seem minimal but having a dress code, uniforms, or logos for the practice can make an office look very put together. Staff should also remember to keep their work areas tidy and free from clutter. Ensure that areas where patients spend their time (waiting rooms, op rooms, or restrooms) are clean.

The atmosphere in your dental office should reflect your culture and your brand. Consider furniture and artwork that you're decorating with. They should tasteful, matching, and up to date. Consider having a spacious layout, the more spacious your waiting room is, the more relaxed your patients will be during their visit. They won't feel crammed into a small area with other people they don’t know. Be considerate of your patients' comfort, the more comfortable your patients are, the more enjoyable the experience will be for them.

Preventative Dental Care and Advice

The age old saying from Benjamin Franklin, "that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" is finally setting in with the general population. In other words, it's easier to stop something from happening in the first place than to repair the damage after it has happened. Nobody wants to get a filling, a crown, or a root canal, for that matter. Over time more patients are seeing the value in preventive options and being educated on how to maintain a healthy mouth and teeth. Rather than being in pain or spending time and money fixing the problem that could have been prevented. Educate your patients and offer them the best solutions to prevent these issues; show them how much their health means to you.

If you can provide happy patient experience, it will reflect in the way your patients interact with you and your team. Keeping them happy has to become a top priority if you want to build a loyal patient base while also attracting new patients. Every interaction is different, and patients experience your brand in different ways. While for some patients the best experience might be an easy resolution to an urgent issue, others may prefer a subtle acknowledgement of their continued patronage.

In the end…the comfort, care, and feelings of our patients should always be the top priority.

What is Holistic Dentistry?

A topic that keeps coming up all around the country from patients and professionals in the dental field is Holistic Dentistry.

What exactly is holistic dentistry and what makes it holistic?

We know that a diet high in sugar will ruin both your teeth and your overall nutrition.
We know that illnesses lower your immune system and increase the risk of infection.

A high level of bacteria in your mouth increases the chances that bacteria travels into your blood stream. Which can negatively affect your overall health. Shockingly, plaque in the mouth can even be an indicator of plaque in your arteries. Having an evaluation of the placement of your teeth could lead you on a path to easing chronic jaw pain and headaches. The human body is made of many unique parts that work together as a whole and in turn can affect each other greatly.

What is the difference between holistic dentistry and traditional dentistry?

The Center for Natural Dentistry says that traditional dentistry focuses only on the areas above the neck and is the practice of treating the symptoms in the teeth and gums and attempting to prevent such problems from reoccurring. While, holistic dentistry is a philosophical approach that treats the underlying problems that cause symptoms in the mouth, attempting to eliminate those problems to prevent the symptoms from reoccurring. All while ensuring the work done in the mouth does not have an adverse effect on one’s overall health.

A Holistic Dentist will not only focus on a patients mouth and teeth, but will look at their face, head, neck, digestion, and lifestyle; taking the entire body and individual habits into consideration upon examination. The word holistic actually comes from the word “whole.”

Holistic dentists are problem-solvers who want to treat overall health, nutrition, and wellbeing. In other words, they don't only treat oral health, but it's considered a component of health for the rest of the body.

Many aspects of a holistic dentist, may feel familiar, but are significantly different. Here are a few areas that are very different from the traditional dentist.

Most dentists have a realization of the adverse effects dental problems can have a person’s overall health. Holistic dentistry is an alternative approach that focuses on using non-toxic restorative materials. It is not just a procedure, it is looking at the entire perspective.

When people are looking for a dentist, it is important that they find a dentist whose philosophies match their own.

What is your philosophy and how do you portray your perspective to your patients?

Building Women Leaders in the Dental Practice

Building leaders out of the women in your dental practice! Proven to maximize team camaraderie, decrease stress in the dental practice and increase case acceptance.

As we know it, most front office team members are women. Most hygienist are women. Most assistants are woman. While there are certainly more male dentist, more and more female dentist are stepping into that role year after year.

Considering the fact women are so incredibly relevant in dentistry today (as they have been for years) there is a continued struggle with a positive work dynamic. A positive work dynamic means healthy relationships among co-workers. An environment is sometimes forgotten and destroyed by women tearing each other down.

This is a huge challenge when there is not a strong since of leadership in the practice.

There are of course offices where this culture does not exist and let's not forget that men are guilty of it too.

In offices where women do have a toxic culture, what can you do to help change? Who in the practice, wants to step up and be a leader in an office that is lacking that role?

Break this culture by collaborating, sharing, and mentoring team members. Leaders reciprocate, leaders have open courageous conversations that include honesty. Lastly leaders are open to truly listening and making changes in their own behaviors as a result of a courageous conversation.

If you are a woman that has less competitive tendencies, are open to bridging the gap between employees that create a culture where gossip is the norm. You can stand up and make a change at any time.

An office where this culture does not exist is such a nice place to be. Decrease the distraction and increase the support while being challenged. You can even drive each other to be better versions of themselves.

A Call To Leadership within the Dental Industry

Jeffery Cole, President fo the ADA addressed the House of Delegates on Oct 22nd challenging the dental industry. Asking, "What difference will you make?" Cole feels that the future of dentistry is bright, but also acknowledges the many changes that our profession is facing.

Cole explains:

"...That the business and practice of dentistry is changing dramatically, from advances in science to increased technology, from economic pressure to professional uncertainty, from outside influences to what has been referred to as not only the commoditization of dentistry but really all of health care,"

Jeffrey Cole went on to discuss changes to Kodak and Blockbuster and their inability to adapt, stating "[These companies] send an ominous warning to those of us concerned with advancing an organization, and perhaps an even more dire message for those of us concerned with advancing a profession: adapt to disruption, or risk losing everything…We cannot pretend that disruptors don't exist, if we intend on advancing our profession in the most positive manner…We cannot delay uncomfortable but necessary discussions about how to address these forces."

His reminder about change/disruption, bringing opportunity and motivation resonated. As we often coach our AMP clients on how to be open and accepting to change. Essentially how to become comfortable with being uncomfortable. While change can be scary it is also often the catalyst to reaching a new level in life you never envisioned possible.

Change brings with it many hurdles at times but if you are willing to play full out and get through the hurdles then with that comes transformation. That transformation is accompanied with an astounding level of peace and hope. This is our wish for all our clients and it is a privilege to be part of that process as a dental coach.

Not only in your dental practice, but in your personal life. What difference will you make? Will you teach your children perseverance and grit? The next time you step into an exam with a patient think your self "What difference will I make?" Jeffrey Cole is ready to do what it takes to advance dentistry, are you?

"Together we can deliver not only what our members and our patients need today, but also what they can't even imagine they will need tomorrow. We can all take pride in charting a positive future of our profession. Together we will advance dentistry"

Different Levels of Success

The topic of growth has come into play many times recently with our offices. Specifically growth as it relates to different levels of success. This has driven passionate conversation from many perspectives, hence a chance to talk about it here.

Many people of course have difference ideas and/or definitions of what success means to them; however, whatever your idea and/or definition of success is there is one thread common in reaching different levels of success. The need to change your routine along with your path to create what is needed to drive you to get to where you want to be.

There are lots of examples of this. For example an athlete, there are routines and a series of events that allows someone to get to a monumental win or personal best.

What will get them to their next monumental win or personal best?

Will it be the exact same routine or will they have to challenge themselves to think differently and act differently?

Will they think differently about internal motivation, changes that will positively influence the body/mind and what altercations need to be made to a training routine to be even more fit, strong and healthy?

These are just examples of a few things that need to change to continue to grow and reach different levels of success for an athlete.

If you have reached your first, second or third level of success in dentistry there is always room for more, you just need to challenge your routine and talk to your coach about how to achieve what's next in your mind.

Crazy Rapid Growth and How to Maintain it!

Rapid Growth is waiting for every business. Especially the dental industry. 

Just as there is a pattern in the seasons with winter, spring, summer, and fall the same can be seen in your business. When does the winter season come into your business and how do you plan to deal with it? What about spring when there is crazy rapid growth? The real key to long term business success is anticipation; how can you anticipate what is coming and have a plan around it? The key is in the ability to recognize your season in business, forecast the next one coming, and become more systematic in anticipating them in order to be prepared.

One such season is known as crazy rapid growth which can be a great outcome from increased productivity yet it also brings its own set of challenges. Are you prepared? Do you know which pattern to prepare for? Since there is no such thing as a perfect system, crazy rapid growth can be similar to playing a game of whack a mole leaving you looking for the next bottle neck in the system. While that growth is excellent from an owner’s perspective it can also be challenging in putting strain on your practice and employees.

Fortunately, AMP specializes in predicting these patterns and preparing for the next mole that comes up needing to be whacked. We want to ensure you sleep well at night when the different seasons occur and can ride the wave instead of drowning in it. One area that we commonly help our clients create a plan for is with the different seasons of cash flow. For instance, when looking at crazy rapid grow one pattern that occurs is a large influx of cash flow.

While it may be tempting to take that large influx and pay off huge debt, fund retirement, etc. it can then create the same problem of being cash poor again which then costs you good sleep at night! As we believe cash is king we work with our clients in strategic management of paying bills, getting out of debt and never getting back into it, funding retirement, etc. Reach out to your coach to ensure you recognize every season in your practice and have a plan in place to anticipate any crazy rapid changes that take place.

The Power of the DISC Assessment

Here at AMP we have found a lot of value in understanding our team members and have found the DISC assessment to be a very powerful tool. DISC helps us understand the dynamics and relationships of people within dental practices.  At first a lot of team members may think "Am I taking a test to test my general knowledge in a certain area? Am I taking a test that will determine my skill level in a certain area? Am I taking a test that will calculate some metric that I don’t even understand?" 

The answer to all of those things is No.

The DISC assessment was designed to strengthen working relationships and support professional growth by helping people understand their co-workers better. We've found it as a beneficial way to not only learn about your co-workers; however, a excellent way to learn more about yourself. Understanding the strengths and challenges of your behavioral style and what kind of written and informal conversation styles work best for you can be beneficial not only at home but in your professional space as well. At AMP we talk a lot about what makes us each successful as individuals and we have found that being self aware of how we each communicate is critical in helping us understand what makes us each successful. Not only does this allow you to see what drives you; however, it also helps you see what is possibly holding you back from success.

What is DISC?

If you are wondering what the D, I, S and C stand for here is a quick review.  The assessment examines how you rank in different areas of behavior; for example, Dominance, Inducement, Submission and Compliance.  Also, the assessment will show us if we are people focused (people that have traits of Inducement and Submission), passive (people that have traits of compliance and submission), active (people with traits of dominance and inducement) or task focused (people with traits of dominance and compliance). 

The DISC assessment has helped people all over the world understand what their weaknesses are and have encouraged them to be addressed. This process is not necessarily an easy process to go thought yet it has certainly helped people grow in not only professional relationships but also personal relationships.

“If there is a rare quality in life, it’s self-awareness. Self-awareness of the difference between you and your patterns and the impact of your patterns on those around you” - Tony Robbins

Take the assessment yourself! 

Profit Sharing in the Dental Practice

Profit sharing is a great model that drives profit to the business and inspires employees to perform effectively. In a nutshell, it is when a company contributes part of its profits into a pool that is distributed among eligible employees. It can be dependent on salary, hours, and can even be used as a supplement to an existing benefit plan. How you choose to do profit sharing in your practice can go in many different directions and needs to be what suits you and your team best.

Very often dentists feel compelled to give raises or bonuses to their employees, but doing so without any growth means they end up taking the money out of their own pockets. Ever had a year when your production was down, yet you still gave your staff an end of year bonus? Many dentists feel obligated to continue these practices, simply because the staff expects it. Since staff compensation is the highest overhead expense of the practice, it pays to pay wisely. Dentists typically lack a system for determining pay increases. Instead they pull figures out of a hat, often at the expense of their own compensation.

Start by looking at annual revenue and profit growth in the practice, set a benchmark on your break even, and be open to sharing this with your team. It is important that your team understands how profitability plays such an important role in business ownership. Have conversations with them about the overall health of the business and together come up with a profit margin. It’s okay for them to understand that the doctor makes more than the employees, after all, you provide them with a job.

Staff raises and bonuses should be based on increased revenue growth and profits. If the practice has no revenue or profit growth, it might be wise to delay raises. Boundaries should be placed for re-evaluation every year, you cannot pay out when you do less, and team members should know upfront that raises or bonuses are dependent upon the practice meeting or exceeding projected revenue and profit goals. This gives the employees ‘skin in the game’ and enables them to have control over their own compensation. Keep in mind, it is the Doctor’s responsibility to help the staff recognize their overall contribution to the practice`s goals that affect their salaries.

The positive impact of profit sharing is that it gives all of the employees the sense that they are working together on the same team. The employees then have the same goals and are rewarded equally. This, in turn, is passed on to the patients by enhancing the overall patient experience in the practice. Employees who know that they will receive financial rewards if the company does well are more likely to be motivated to help the company succeed because they have a vested interest in the company's success.

Dental Team Conflict

Conflicts amongst team members and with managers often are the leading cause of why many staff end up leaving their jobs. Not to mention that, the loss of a staff member can have serious ramifications for your practice. In fact, research indicates that frequent turnover has a negative impact on employee morale, productivity, and company revenue because recruiting and training a new employee requires staff time and additional money. The cost of employee turnover alone is reason enough to ensure you’re prepared for inner office conflict when it arises, and conflict is generally considered to be inevitable so there’s no avoiding it, it will occur.

Believe it or not, leadership and conflict go hand-in-hand and if you are not willing to address conflict in a healthy, productive fashion, your leadership role could be in jeopardy. While you may try to avoid conflict, you cannot escape it because it will find you whether you look for it or not. Conflict rarely resolves itself, in fact, it normally escalates if it’s not dealt with proactively and properly. It is not uncommon to see what could have been a non-event become a massive problem if it is not resolved early on. Leaders who don’t deal with conflict will eventually watch their good talent walk out the door in search of a healthier work environment. While conflict is a normal part of any social and professional setting, the challenge of it lies in how we choose to deal with it. Thus, developing effective conflict resolution skill sets are essential to being a great leader and building a sustainable work environment.

There can be many underlying motives of conflict, such as performance issues, power struggles, compensation concerns, or just the fact that someone is simply having a bad day. The list can go on and on, but if we focus in on what the true problem is, there are really only two major causes of conflict – poor communication and not being able to control one’s emotions. Being able to recognize these causes will serve you well as the leader of your team. Knowing that a conflict exists, while being able to identify the nature of the problem, and then having the ability to bring it to a swift and just resolution is an opportunity for positive change, growth, and improvement.

Here are some strategies to help maximize your ability to smooth over any stumbling blocks you may encounter within your practice:

Describe specific instances instead of generalizing. Say “When this happens …” instead of “When you do …”.

Actively listen to both parties, avoid interrupting, and ask questions to clarify your understanding. Put yourself in their position to get a true sense of what has motivated the issue.

Ask the people involved to name a time when it would be convenient to meet and arrange to meet in a place where you won't be interrupted.

 Discuss which areas of conflict are most important to resolve and start with the most important issue. Focus on moving forward and set up future meeting times to continue your discussions.

Address it head-on before it escalates.

It’s sometimes not possible to resolve a conflict, so it’s crucial to stick to the facts and ensure that no personal feelings or agendas enter into the equation.

What would you do differently next time? What can you learn from this particular situation? How can the business benefit from the issues raised?

Leading by example, sharing your ‘why’ you do what you do, and stating your expectations will help you to recruit and retain like-minded employees.

Happy employees will make your practice flourish! Treat all staff fairly, with dignity, respect, and transparency.

As the leader, if you employ these strategies with sincerity, you can overcome the immediate tension and move the communication toward a more productive phase. Congratulate everyone involved when progress is made, even if it’s just a small step. Your hard work will pay off when discussions eventually will give way to ongoing, friendly relationships.

There’s no way to avoid conflict altogether, but if you are capable of carefully directing and resolving the friction, you’ll find you can improve progress for yourself, your staff, and the overall practice. In turn, your business will thrive and together as a team you will all deliver the results you aim for.

Spouses in the Dental Practice

The topic concerning the realities of having a spouse working by your side in the dental office can be a difficult conversation to have. Opinions about the conveniences and drawbacks with this type of agreement vary considerably and seem to generally be based on the quality of the marriage partnership along with the personalities, competence, mindset, and dedication of everyone on the team.

There are many excellent tips to help guide a spousal business partnership in the right direction. For starters, do not take business issues personally, always have confidence in one another's abilities, and keep in mind that there is a progression that occurs as a business relationship matures. The success of a dental spouse team is primarily dependent on whether or not they have a solid relationship, generally get along, enjoy being around each other often, are team oriented, have the same values and goals, have great communication, and have clear rules about one another’s roles in the practice. Some positive aspects that can be derived from these types of situations are: having the spouse serve as a cushion between the staff and the dentist; each person understands and appreciates the hard work and the stresses of the other; and the combined help allows for improved function of the practice and even extra down time for the doctor.

Some employees’ opinions are that having two bosses in a practice creates distraction, frustration, and animosity for staff when there are conflicts or differences within the office. Employee pushback can be expected, that’s why it is imperative that the dentist support his or her spouse. It is best for dental teams to open their minds to how they think about the spouse in the office. As employees may have a cynical conclusion about the spouse’s role, many dentists discuss the positivity and financial benefits of being able to trust their spouse/business partner more than any other employee when it comes to protecting the best interests of the business and having the patients’ best interest at heart.

It is greatly beneficial to do your best to separate work from home life. This means not “taking work home with you”, and even more importantly not bringing marital conflict into the office. Even couples who are very good at working through their problems, trust each other, and are always well-intentioned still find it difficult at times to “leave it at home”. Many times, doctors consult their spouses for advice, especially if they have a history of struggling. Sooner or later they reach a point where almost everything must be okayed by the spouse first. Typically, this is the beginnings of a business being out of control (business running the doctor), ultimately caused by a doctor not taking responsibility for their career and using their spouse’s shoulder to cry on more often than is really needed. Over time, this can decrease a spouse’s respect for the doctor, confidence in them, and even reduce physical attraction. This is why keeping your home life separate from your office life makes sense and is good dental practice advice. When you need to talk to someone about struggles you are having, talk with an adviser, a close friend, or another dentist you know and trust rather sharing your issues with your spouse.

Essentially, being “in” the office really means working “on” the business. Whether physically present in the office or as a supportive role from outside, the structure will depend on what the business needs are and what the spouse and doctor have agreed upon. Focusing on the business and business philosophy will help a spousal team to think about what they are doing and why they are doing it. Plan the business with intention, keeping in mind that being reactive is depleting, but being proactive is exhilarating.