Easy Tips for Practice Growth in Tough Times

Carol Tekavec, CDA, RDH, is the president of Stepping Stones to Success and her May 12th Dental Economics "Expert" Tips and Tricks has 8 great ideas for ensuring your dental practice continues to thrive. http://www.dentaleconomics.com/articles/article_display.html?id=361794&cmpid=EnlDentalTipsTricksMay122009
I would add three more tips: clean, maintain, and organize your office.

1. Maintain: Starting outside your building or in the building hallway entering your suite, look at the maintenance and ensure everything looks fresh outside and inside. Do touch up painting, repair any broken items or replace if too old and looking shabby.
2. Clean: If your carpets haven't been cleaned and vinyl floors stripped, cleaned, and resealed in two years it is PAST DUE. (Note: this is not the cleaning your team or janitor do weekly.) Patients are likely seeing the lack of detail while they wait in your reception area or operatory, this will effect your bottom line.
3. Organize: One place to start is getting the "things" that are stacked on the counters put away, where ever possible, to eliminate a dirty and disorganized appearance. The view below, before reorganizing, is fully visible to patients. Go through your office room-by-room and "see" what your patients see, then purge the counters. Once the counters are clean, look at open kneeholes-just like in the picture. Patients at the payment area can see the mess under the desk.
   

How will this keep you growing? Poorly maintained, unclean, and disorganized dental offices look unprofessional and reflect on the dentist's care. Patients are paying for a professional and these are very people who will be keeping your income at 2008 levels or growing them in 2009. Yes, really-growing them! How? Patients have a choice of where to spend their limited dental dollars and a well maintained, clean, and organized office will rise above the alternative. Give your current patients and potential patients incentive to come to your office-provide an environment they will feel comfortable in.

Economic REALITY in the dental industry...and it is a GOOD reality!

Top photo: AFTER mini-renovation
Right photo: Before renovation
Office of Robert Spreen, DDS; Bellevue, WA

It is time to get some positive information out on the dental industry because it is out there and we don't hear enough about it. In conversations with our dental clients again and again I hear how strong their earnings are, and even growing in this challenging economy. Comparison of their 2008 to 2007 income was strong and their 2009 year-to-date income against previous years looks good too. And, while orthodontic and prosthedontic practices are experiencing the impact of discretionary spending cuts our oral surgery, endodontic, and general dentistry practices are doing well, really well, and nearly without exception. And THAT is the REALITY!

These positive financial results are not accidental. The common thread between all of our client’s practices is that they invested in their office, in moderate ways, to create optimal functionality for their staff and a patient friendly aesthetic design. Their investments have ranged from micro-remodels (new carpet and paint), to mini-remodels (renovation of a poorly functioning room along with office finish updates) and even phased, operational renovations on a larger scale.

Does this really matter? Yes it does-because dental patient’s have a choice. Frequently practice-to-practice cost comparisons yield only a small difference in prices. So when a patient is investing their dental dollars, why not choose a nicer, nearby, up-to-date office and have a great experience if the cost difference is negligible? A fresh, current design with comfortable seating, warm colors, and an overall clean and organized appearance to the office makes a huge difference in the patient’s perception of a dental practice. And our client’s are utilizing their offices to attract new patients and enhance their existing patient’s experience in their office. The outcome? A return on investment they are literally taking to the bank!

If the financial situation in your practice is a declining then this is a great time to objectively evaluate your competitor’s offices and see where you stand. Is it time to differentiate yourself by improving your practice's environment in small, cost effective ways? While the overall economy is out of your control, your investment in your practice is one area you can control and gain a 20-30% return on your investment. Now, isn’t that is a much better reality?

Lighting Color Rendering for Dentistry

There is one other nugget of knowledge to add to lighting for dental offices (see March 12^th posting). Accurate color rendering is critical in dentistry. Whether placing a single crown or numerous veneers the goal is blend between the new and existing. The Color Rendering Index (CRI) of the fluorescent lighting in a dental operatory is critical to the success of your color matching!

In the operatory using a lamp with a CRI of 5500 degrees Kelvin creates the best “daylight” rendering available for color matching. To my knowledge Duro-Test is only manufacturer with a 5500 K lamp known as the “Vita-Lite” lamp. The lamp comes in 4’ lengths both with T-8 (energy efficient) and T-12 (non-efficient) sizes and replaces standard fluorescent lamping in your operatory troffers. (Note: Only troffers with T-8 electronic ballasts can efficiently run the T-8 lamps.)

But wait! Impact the light quality in the rest of your office by relamping other existing fluorescent fixtures with 3500 degree Kelvin lamps. They come in all sorts of types and sizes and enhance and warm the interior colors in your office while creating natural, healthy looking skin tones! No more unhealthy greenish cast from those 2700 degree Kelvin lamps.

So, where does one find these lamps?

• In Seattle our Home Depot stores stock 4’ long 3500 K fluorescent lamps.
• Or, you can order any lamp type through Pacific Lamps (206) 767-5334; they ship by UPS anywhere in the country.
• For Duro-Test, order direct at 800-289-3876 or http://www.duro-test.com

Still not sure? Call me at 206-706-2820 or email me pictures of your practice’s lighting at Janice@SEIseattle.com and I will point you in the right direction!

Dental Office Energy Efficiency

Kevin Henry's article in March's Dental Economics lends a great perspective on small ways that dental practices can reduce waste by recycling and save energy by using compact fluorescent lamping (light bulbs). Kevin hit on some key benefits, here are two more to consider.

Most dental operatories have fluorescent troffers to provide a high light level at the chair and minimize the contrast between the bright oral cavity and surrounding room. A troffers looks like a large rectangular box and can either be recessed into the ceiling or mounted on the surface. Older troffers use 40 watt T-12 lamps, which are not energy efficient and, in addition, generate a lot of heat output. This output will add to the heat of the Doctor, Assistant, and Patient physical proximity. And, if you are in a warmer climate your older fluorescent lighting can be a large driver of increased energy costs by requiring much more cooling.

Retrofitting an existing troffer with new electronic ballasts and 32 watt T-8 fluorescent lamps will create large savings. As Osram, a major US fluorescent lamp manufacturer, notes on their web site:

“T8 Lamps Improve Efficiency: …A 32-watt OCTRON® T8 lamp, for example, uses 20 percent less energy to provide the same light output as a 40- watt T12 lamp…In addition, T8 lamps provide optimum system efficiency when used with electronic ballasts. This combination provides such dramatic savings in energy costs that billions of dollars are being spent each year to retrofit existing T12 installations with more efficient T8 technology.”

Essentially by retrofitting, or better yet, replacing your old fixtures with new electronic ballasted troffers and lamping you will realize significant savings and return on your investment! In this economy that is a win-win for your bottom line, the economy, and your carbon footprint.

If you have questions please contact me, I am here to help!

Unthank On Dental Office Design

There are times when a fellow dental expert covers a topic and creates a great launch pad. The February 2009 Dental Economics article by Dr. Michael Unthank is case and point. The article touches on items I so frequently discuss with clients that I thought I would share the link here:
http://online.qmags.com/DE0209/Default.aspx?sessionID=41668696BEC941441D200BD2D&cid=1057376&eid=13998 In the center choose "Index" and scroll down to Pages 84 and 86

My favorites points:

Hire a dental planning expert.

Our expertise is providing options for our clients to make educated decisions, to maximize their office's function and aesthetic impact, and deliver the finished project in budget and exceeding their goals.

Programming.

When you hire an expert they ask the programming questions. Dental planning is our expertise and we use a 30 page questionnaire, completed in discussion with you to create your "treatment plan". Ideally programming is followed up with a detailed, room-by-room inventory of any equipment for reuse and a site observation of how you and your team practice.

Avoid repeating design flaws...hire an expert.

Using the programming your planner will create a highly functional office whether you are building new, doing a complete renovation, or taking small bites in a mini-remodel approach to your office. Ideally the new environment maximizes functionality, minimizes steps, and allows your team to focus on creating the most positive and memorable patient experience. The patient's experience is what will bring them back again and they will share their experience with friends and family creating a strong word-of-mouth referral base for you.

Cost.

Building a dental office is a significant investment regardless of the “designer”. Investing in an experienced dental planner's services is a relatively small cost in the scope of a project. It pales in comparison to many years of working in a new, poorly functioning, but costly office.

Dental Design Seminar.

As a tool to become a better educated consumer a seminar is a great way to learn the questions to ask when interviewing. As Dr. Unthank's point #1 emphasizes, hire an experienced dental planner. No money will be better invested!

In this challenging economy the efficiency and visual impact of your office's environment can either increase treatment acceptance or drive patients to find a new dentist. Even small changes create a positive impact and can make the difference between declining profits or year-over-year increases.