Anita Jupp Dental Practice Management Articles


Are You Afraid of Your Staff?
Written by: Anita Jupp
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Yes, this is a strange topic but it amazes me how often this fear of staff occurs in a dental office. This fear can take many forms including a simple hesitation to cross the staff member or ask them to do tasks because of their outspoken manner. It can also include an unwillingness to regulate the offending staff member for fear of their belligerent reaction or perhaps it's panic that the offending staff member is so indispensible that they should not be bothered too much in case they quit. Sometimes this fear of staff can result in a reluctance to even go to work. It's normal to feel apprehension if there is conflict in the practice but as the dentist, you are the leader and you are the one who is responsible for setting the tone and the policies in practice. Leadership abilities and strong communication skills need to be worked on and developed, just like any other skills.

I urge dentists to take control of their practices and realize they are the only ones who are truly indispensable in the practice. It's important to understand that difficult staff really can be replaced by more positive and productive people! Often dentists feel intimidated by some people in their office. I met a dentist who left work early and took time off because he was so stressed and intimidated by the office manager. I was shocked at the way she spoke to him. There was absolutely no respect; she was rude, obnoxious and all of her comments were negative. The dentist's wife was too afraid to even go into the office on her own as the office manager would say to her, "What are you doing here?" How did this situation get so out of control? The dentist is one of the nicest people I have ever met and the patients absolutely loved him. His focus was 100% on patient care and he completely relied on his office manager to run the business - which she did through intimidation. Dentists need to focus on the business side of the practice as well. It's great to be so patient focused but this is your business and you need to have one hand on the business side and the other on the clinical area.

Dentists need to set and implement policies, protocols and systems so they are aware of what is happening in their practice. They need to fully train their team and make sure people are cross trained so that if someone leaves, they do not feel helpless. The dentist above was convinced that if his office manager left, the business would fail. But from my objective perspective, I could see that the opposite would happen - the practice would improve and be more productive and happy without her. Dentists need to surround themselves with a team that takes pride in working for the success of the practice. Dentists need to hire people who enjoy coming to work and are happy. "Hire for attitude and train for skills" should be your new hiring motto! Key areas that dentists need to know about and be in control of:
  1. The day end audit is done and the bank deposit balances to the day's receipts. I am amazed at how often this is not done in many offices. This is your business team's responsibility and it should be done daily, to your satisfaction.
  2. Recare patients should be pre-appointed and someone needs to be accountable for the hygiene schedule. Calling hygiene patients is usually at the bottom of the list of things to do and as a result, the hygiene departments are often ineffective.
  3. Accounts receivable should be current and there is no need to have any "over 60 days" accounts outstanding. A dentist recently told me his A/R was great because his receptionist told him it was; in fact the amount outstanding was $66,000 but 70% was over 120 days - very difficult to collect at that point.
  4. There should be contact lists for treatment incomplete and prompt follow-up to schedule these patients. Often there are no contacts lists and if there are, no-one makes an effort to call.
My concern is that dentists are told by their team that everything is good and under control when in fact, that may not be the case. Dentists need to step up and verify what is going on in the practice. And yes, of course there are some practices that have an amazing team and excellent systems where people and patients are happy! However, there are an equal number of sad practice situation that could easily be rectified if the dentist is willing to regain control of his practice. Life is too short to be unhappy.

If you feel your practice is out of control, we are only a phone call away.