Improving Practice Production by 10%

By Roger P. Levin, DDS

Dentists: would you believe me if I told you that you could increase your practice production by 10%? The strategy is relatively simple and even allows some practices to increase production by 30%–50% within three years. So, why doesn’t everyone do it?

How to improve practice production

The first question we often receive from practices that want to increase production is, “How do I do it?” Unfortunately, the word “how” is perhaps the most paralyzing word in the English language. First, if you knew how, you would’ve already done it.  Second, when you don’t know how to do it, it is easy to believe you can’t do it, and therefore you don’t take any action to make it happen. This is often called action paralysis and overcoming it will make the production improvement process less stressful and more fun.

Here are three examples of simple actions you can take to increase production by 10% or more:

1. Accelerated scheduling

You may assume that “accelerated scheduling” involves rushing around to treat patients, but don’t let the term fool you. Accelerated scheduling is easier, more efficient, and more productive than the scheduling model most practices currently follow. An accelerated schedule is mathematically calculated and requires you to delegate tasks more frequently to your assistants.

To maximize your schedule, you should be working two or three rooms, but you shouldn’t randomly jump between them. Each room has a mathematically determined goal aligned with the production percentage you want to accomplish in it for any given day. Unlike the model many dentists use — which often involves working one main room and using another room for “overflow” — a dentist who uses an accelerated schedule will quickly see higher production and lower fatigue. Their assistants (assuming they are trained on the system) do more of the treatment work and the front desk team makes sure chairs are always filled with the correct number of patients to meet the practice’s production goals — it is that simple.

2. Delegate work at the highest level

If you are not legally required to delegate more work to other team members, then you should encourage another member of your team to delegate instead. If your state board has determined that a member of your team is allowed to perform certain treatments and procedures, then you can confidently hold your team accountable to perform (or learn to perform) those functions.

In our work with clients, Levin Group consultants often find practitioners are doing dozens of activities that they can delegate to another team member (e.g., an assistant dentist, an office manager, etc.), but they don’t. Regardless, in any of those scenarios, practice production is mostly likely limited and growth is constrained. As a practice owner, you should strive to have the lowest-compensated employee carry out every job they are capable of handling; from there, you can move up the compensation ladder from team member to team member, maximizing their assigned tasks. You can increase production almost immediately if you understand the right way to delegate.

3. Reactivate your inactive patients

Levin Group defines an inactive patient as any patient that doesn’t have their next appointment scheduled. In an era of dentistry in which increasing practice profitability is of the utmost importance, it is more critical than ever to keep your patients actively scheduled. Every time a patient becomes inactive there’s always a risk that they may never come back. Measure patient longevity and set proactive strategies, such as automated appointment reminders, to maintain your patient base. This is how you increase production by 10% or more.

Remember: almost every practice can grow by 10% or more

It’s easy to fall into the trap of blaming outside influences (including dental insurance companies that rarely raise reimbursements, and in some cases, lower them) instead of recognizing that there are actions we can take internally to improve practice production. Systems that improve production and reduce stress are available and will work in almost any practice.

However, remember that the same systems you used to grow your practice early in your career will likely not work today. As you grow your practice, you should update or replace systems periodically. Today, we recommend that practice owners update or replace their systems approximately every 3–5 years, based on the rate of change in technology and practice management.

If you are wondering if you can grow by 10% or more, you certainly can — simply understand and implement  the basic concepts explained in this article, and you will be on your way. After all, why would you want to work the same hours with the same level of stress and fatigue without maximizing production, profit, and efficiency?

Don’t waste any more time. Start improving your production percentage today.

ROGER P. LEVIN, DDS

Roger P. Levin, DDS, is the CEO and Founder of Levin Group, a leading practice management consulting firm that has worked with over 30,000 practices to increase production. A recognized expert on dental practice management and marketing, he has written 67 books and over 4,000 articles and regularly presents seminars in the U.S. and around the world.

To contact Dr. Levin or to join the 40,000 dental professionals who receive his Practice Production Tip of the Day, visit www.levingroup.com or email rlevin@levingroup.com.