Retention

One of the key elements of a successful practice is the ability to turn new patients into "returning patients." Just as a saving account grows exponentially with time due to compound interest, a practice grows exponentially as patients return year after years as patients return and refer their family and friends to the practice. The cost of maintaining a patient is minor compared with those associated with getting a new patient, but unfortunately is seems that most dental practices pay more attention to prospecting than to maintaining. This is short sighted indeed.

A worth while project for a staff meeting would be to review the list of new patients from the previous mouth and evaluate the services that you provided for each of them to determine if you have done everything that you possibly could have to insure that all of those new patients will be returning to your office in six months. This exercise could have some interesting results. If your find that most have not completed the recommended dental work, you might want to look at your case presentation and office procedures. If your are doing a good job of selling necessary work, perhaps your billing procedures are deterring patients from completing work or perhaps you your credit policies are too stringent. An other possibility could be that your communication lines between the front and back office are so muddled that you are not instilling confidence in the patients. If the work was completed, has the billing been handled properly? Was the patient preappointed for their next hygiene appointment? Were post operative concerns resolved satisfactorially?

By completing the above procedure for several months, you will be able to increases the percentage of those new patients who return again year after year. One of the real pleasure of a dental practice is the having the opportunity of seeing patients year after year as the are converted from "new patients' into "returning patients' and ultimately into "friends."

The Doctor's Brush Picks

Every once in a while I run across a product that makes me wonder, "Why didn't I think of that?" I was visiting a friend recently and she shared one of her "toothpicks" with me. Wow what a great little tool. I loved the ease at which I could clean the interproximal root surfaces. I am sure everyone has patients who would benefit from an interproximal brush but we all know what a hassle they can be to use. Before recommending a interproximal brush I always have to make sure the space is adequately large for the brush. These nifty little brushes are small enough for most spaces and do a great job of cleaning. They are available on line or in the dental section of larger grocery stores. If you haven't tried them, you really should give them a try.

The New Beginning

This week our nation celebrated a historic event as Barak Obama was sworn is as our first black president. I view the inauguration activities with renewed interest and pride. While I may not agree with many of President Obama's political views, I personally have felt a sense of patriotism as we have witnessed his rise to the achieved the highest political office in our nation. For many President's Obama symbolizes a new beginning. To some degree perhaps they are right in that many barriers have been broken. No longer will the high political office be seen as unattainable by certain groups within our country. Not only do I wish him well because the stakes are so high and the costs so enormous if he fails but because in him we should all have a sense of hope in the possibilities for each of us as we work to face our individual challenges.

I always look forward to the beginning of a new year because it offers an opportunity to evaluate where I am, where I am going and how well I am doing on the journey. If you haven't done so already, I would encourage you to have a close look at your practice. How well are you doing? Do the numbers look good? It isn't too late to set some goals for 2009. Monitor your numbers and see what a difference a little extra attention can make on your productivity for the year. We are all monitoring President Obama's numbers to evaluate his competency as our nation's leader, should we do no less for our own practices.