A New Year, A New Journey
The end of the year is always so hectic! Closing out the year, running all the reports, collecting data, making spreadsheets, and so on.
After everything is completed and the dust settles, we take a deep breath and start a new year… a new journey.
2023 is just waiting for us to make this the best year yet! This is the time to implement new ideas you have or the ones that you discovered on the AADOM website, conferences you have attended, or something that you have read and tucked away in the back of your mind to try “someday.” Well, guess what? It’s someday right now!
I think that sometimes as practice managers, we’re leery of trying something new because it has always worked the way we did it in the past.
I am encouraging you to research the new idea; if you find that it has been a success for other offices and truly seems like it would be an improvement for your practice, then take the step of faith and implement it. If you find that it isn’t a good fit for your practice, no big deal, you learn from it and go on.
I realize that sometimes it is not us but the doctors that may have the reservations. This is where your research can back you up. Present it to the doctor and be ready to explain why you feel it would be a step forward for the practice. Hopefully, the doctor has enough faith in you, as the practice manager, to trust your instincts and go for it.
It’s not always easy or comfortable to make changes, but it is possible. Don’t give up on your goal by thinking that the team may not like the change or that it’s such a hassle to change our routines.
Your new idea may be the one thing that makes the 2023 journey the best yet for your practice!
About the Author
As a little girl, Kay used to play “dentist” with her dolls, using her mother’s kitchen utensils as her “instruments.” After completing the Dental Assistant Program at St. Louis Community College in Kirkwood, MO, Kay worked as an assistant for 20 years. She went on to become a Practice Administrator, a role she has now held for over a decade.
Kay is a lifetime AADOM member and earned her fellowship designation (FAADOM) in 2020. She is currently completing the requirements for her mastership designation (MAADOM). Away from the practice, she loves riding motorcycles and ATVs with her husband and spending lots of time with their daughters and six grandchildren.
