Articles for AADOM - American Association of Dental Office Managers

Dr. Nancy Haller Dentist Coach McKenzie Management coach@ mckenziemgmt.com Printer Friendly Version Dr. Jill Sartin—Case Study #424 Mary was hired for the front office job one year ago. Her task-oriented focus was just what Dr. Jones needed for scheduling, recall and insurance billing. Detailed and self-assured with a strong work ethic, she was ...

Managing the ever-touchy issue of employee compensation is a challenge for virtually every dental team. Reward some people and you seemingly punish the rest. Reward all and you appear to value excellence no more than mediocrity. It’s a management minefield for most dentists who struggle with balancing the financial needs of the practice with the financial desires of the staff. How do you navigate this tricky issue? Manage expectations. Certainly, it’s imperative that employees understand ...

10/21/2008 Source: American Dental Association, Crest/Oral-B While eight of 10 Americans say taking care of one�s mouth, teeth and gums is "absolutely needed," only one-third of them say they do an "excellent" job taking care of them. This is one of many findings from a national public opinion survey on oral health careconducted by The American Dental Association in collaboration ...

Marketing to the mature consumer continues to be a mystery for many dentists. Often, a practice ad that generates record-breaking volume for a dental practice one month is repeated the following month and bombs. A campaign designed by the best dental marketing firm may elicit a mediocre response. The same item sells like hot-tamales after a short classified ad, with abominable grammar, appears on page 75 of an all advertising shopper tossed on the ...

Attitude Determines Altitude Isn't that a catchy title? I love that saying! However, I cannot take credit for coining it. One of the greatest motivational coaches of all times, Zig Ziglar actually created it. But isn't it so true? Obviously, the subject on all our minds these days, no matter what our position in life, is our failing economy. Regardless of who or where we are, we are probably feeling the effects. Although we are in the business of healthcare, we are not immune. It is no ...

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September 29, 2008 by Bill Blatchford, DDS For more on this topic, go to www.dentaleconomics.com and search using the following key words: simplify, lower overhead, efficiency, task analysis. How much thought, time, and training have you invested in making your business department more efficient and effective? We devote most of our attention to efficiency with our technical skills. Yet, what patients notice is your value of their time, especially in the businesss area of your practice. ...

September 29, 2008 Nine Steps to Calculating Your Overhead By Bill Blatchford, DDS Calculating your overhead per hour: Step 1 -- Subtract all of the dentist's benefits (salary, draws, dividends, insurance, auto, payment of loans, travel, etc.) from the gross income of the latest 12 months. Step 2 -- If you have an associate, remove that expense, also. Step 3 -- Subtract the laboratory bill as only some procedures have a laboratory bill. If you have CAD/ Cam ...

http://www.wdjournal.com/index.html October 13, 2008 Brighten the Future of Your Practice With Help From a Third Party By Michelle Riviello I have been in the collection industry for many years now and have had the opportunity to experience the trials women face from a personal perspective and from the perspective of women clients ...

October 13, 2008 By Carol Tekavec, CDA, RDH The ADA coding system undergoes updating and revision every two years. It is revised under the jurisdiction of the Code Revision Committee, which is composed of equal numbers of members of the dental profession and members of the insurance industry. The ADA publishes a "Current Dental Terminology" book every two years, and has also begun publishing a separate "companion" book with additional information. Both publications are sold for ...

October 13, 2008 By Amy Morgan, CEO, Pride Institute Does everybody recall the Wizard of Oz tale in which Dorothy had to follow the yellow brick road through a series of adventures only to discover that she had the capacity to go home from the very start? I find that story very similar to the dentist who believes that she has to go through a series of systems adventures to attract ...

October 16, 2008 Pink Ribbon Family of Dental Products from SmartPractice — SmartPractice has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to creating products with breast cancer awareness in mind. They have a pink prophy angle, white bibs with the pink breast cancer logo, pink gloves, and a translucent pink toothbrush. The gloves, available in both vinyl and latex, come in a box with the pink ribbons prominently displayed. There is a pink ribbon embossed on the head of the prophy angle. ...

October 14, 2008 By Rick Willeford, CPA, CFP, and Kate Willeford, CPA, CCPS There is hope! Uncertain times call for deliberate measures. The current financial crisis should have little long-term effect on your financial investments, if you are not planning to live off of your investments within the next few years. That being said, the current situation will have a short-term effect ...

As the Dental Leader, you are a significant key to the success or failure of your practice. You possess essential technical know-how. You control critical resources. You are accountable for business outcomes. But you don’t do it alone. You have to manage relationships with employees, patients, even vendors. How these individuals see you has a huge impact on your bottom line. Want to be a better leader? It’s time to do a 360. As the term implies, it means going full circle. Also known as ...

I like to buy locally. Many of us are partial to the local farmers’ market, the local restaurants and the local sports teams. Your area news media are always looking for the local angle in reporting the day’s events. After all, “local” is where you live and earn your livelihood. When it comes to hiring a practice management consultant, dentists sometimes want to “buy local.” Occasionally we hear dentists lament, “I need a practice management consultant in here once a month, and so I want ...

Up Front with Elaine How would you rate your team meetings....are they morale boosters, or morale busters? We have all attended both kinds of meetings, those that empower us, and those that shut us down. I have sat in on so called monthly “business” meetings where the first 30 minutes were spent eating lunch and chit chatting. The last 30 ...

It may appear that all great managers know the secret to improving an employees performance. Actually what they know is no secret at all: everything you need to know is actually contained in a few simple techniques that are certain to increase the efficiency of your practice. You cannot put a price or value on the reasons that make an employee perform the way they do. This is because most people remain with an ...

Years ago I heard it said that there are 3 kinds of people in life: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder what happened. This brings me once again to the subject of our failing economy. I don't intend to preach to you on all the conditions that have lead our country to where it is today. I for one do not have all the answers, not even most of them. What I do have however, is good old fashioned common sense, and this I fear is continually overlooked ...

Medical yellow pages: playing to win and here are some rules While 98 percent of doctors and dentists hate the Yellow Pages, the other 2 percent quietly laugh all the way to the bank. It's a zero-sum game, and some rules By Stewart Gandolf, Lonnie Hirsch It's like the line attributed to Mark Twain: "The reports of my death have been greatly ...

Avoid the 7 mistakes doctors make when getting their medical practice brochures created By Stewart Gandolf, Lonnie Hirsch 1. Unclear (or wrong) objectives. While most doctor brochures are simply a "consumable expense," professional practice brochures should be designed to attract patients, enhance your practice's reputation and bring more revenue into the practice. Remember, a practice brochure is not the same thing as patient education. Patient education ...