Nancy McNutt Dental Practice Management Articles


So You're A Dentist, Now What?
Written by: Nancy McNutt
© Copyright. ADEI. All rights reserved.


Congratulations to all those dentists who have graduated and have earned the right to now formally be called 'Doctor'. After you take a much needed break from your studies and the pressures of exams, you are ready to 'get started'. You are a D.D.S. and want to set up your own practice and start building that wonderful dental relationship with your new patients; patients who will still be with you 25 years from now. Patients whose children will eventually come to see you and eventually their children. You have scouted out your location. You have researched other practices and know the demographics of their practice. You have found the perfect location to set up your practice. You know where you want to go, but don't know how to get there.

Perhaps you graduated 3 or 4 years ago and have associated with a dental office and are ready to take that proverbial next step. You are leaving home. You are going to give up your 'percentage' and take on 'overhead', BUT it will be your own practice. You have GREAT ideas of what you want and know you can make it work. You can set up your new practice the way you want it. You will have a consultation room and a team meeting room. You will have lots of room for your charts and new equipment. You can get that Intra Oral Camera you have always wanted, the laser you have begged for and maybe even digital xrays. After all, you have paid off those student loans. As with the new 'grad', you know where you want to go, but don't know how to get there.

Maybe you have already practiced for years in an office with multiple dentists. Your visions have grown in different directions and you would much rather be in a smaller setting where you can concentrate on a preferred type of dentistry. Perhaps concentrate on implants. Whatever the direction you want to pursue you need to be in your 'own space'. No different than the new 'grad' or the young associate dentist venturing out on his/her own, you too know where you want to go but don't know how to get there.

Possibly you are a 'seasoned' dentist (partner or associate) who is happy with the practice you are part of but with a couple of days available to you, you would like to open a 'second' office that you can call your own. Your intention is to stay where you are but have a second location that will be operated in the manner you want. As the first practice grew, some of the policies may have changed. Perhaps the owners' vision is quite different than your own. You want a more structured practice with concrete policies. The first practice won't bring in a treatment coordinator; “it's fine how we're doing it”. You see things differently and may see the necessity. Maybe the clinical team or business team has a different outlook than you have on the operations of the practice. Whatever your reasons, you recognize a need to have a place to 'call your own'. Whether you're the new grad, the young associate, the dentist who wants to specialize or the seasoned dentist who needs a change, you know where you want to go, but don't know how to get there.

As with a lot of dentists, the administration department of dentistry is not their forte. Give them a drill and they can create a masterpiece. Ask them to set up the business end of the practice and they don't know where to start. If you 'Fail to Plan than Plan to Fail'.

To start you off, below you will find listed 28 areas that need to be addressed BEFORE you open your doors to patients.

Organization and competency are paramount in creating a successful practice, it doesn't just happen.
  1. Order your charts and forms required. Safeguard are the best in my opinion (Mike Gommerman 1 800 263-5203)
  2. Prepare PIPEDA form.
  3. Template of Time Units needed for each procedure and protocol for specialist referrals. (need one for each doctor)
  4. Phone book advertisement.
  5. Newspaper advertisement and opening announcement.
  6. Order appointment cards/business cards and post cards. Keep a consistent logo for everything. (your ad, your letterhead etc.)
  7. Order letterhead and envelopes. (window and full)
  8. Order manilla envelopes to accommodate the size of panorex xrays and regular office supplies. (Rolodex, sticky notes, paper)
  9. Order your 'verification' stamp. (Sterling 1 800 667-0020)
  10. Setup account with bank and purchase your Visa/Master Card and debit machine.
  11. Contact your computer company to set up columns and provider codes. Have extra columns, you'll use them.
  12. CDA net set up for EDI transmission. (1 800 267-9701 [or I-trans])
  13. Order name tags for team with logo on them.
  14. Order uniforms for team.
  15. Establish hours you will be working.
  16. Purchase a 'reservation' book for appointments until you have a computer in place. (Be booked on opening day)
  17. Order educational materials. Aurum Labs has nice pamphlets on whitening, implants etc. for internal marketing.
  18. Prepare binder for Hygiene Certificates, Proof of Inspections, X-ray proofs, Standing orders, CPR certificates, Harp Certifications etc.
  19. Set up Care Credit – (www.carecredit.ca)
  20. Prepare an 'office policy' manual in regards to booking procedures, payment policies, cancellation policies, etc.
  21. Prepare an 'employee policy' manual in regards to promptness, overtime, holidays, benefits, etc.
  22. Prepare a Web Site. (more people seek a dentist online than they do in the phone book).
  23. Prepare an 'office portfolio' to be mailed in advance to New Patients or given to them if time is an issue.
  24. Set up your consultation room with pamphlets, models, viewbox,
  25. Order 'Thank you' cards for referring patients.
  26. Check list for business team when answering the phone.
  27. Set up a binder to hold clinical team diplomas, dates of inspections and record of certifications. (CPR, WHMIS)
  28. Create Employee files to maintain evaluation dates, letters of commendation (or warnings), record of holidays etc..
New patients will pick up on organization and competency. Your team must be well versed in every aspect of your practice. The clinical team must be aware of the business policies. A patient must hear consistency. They need to be told the same thing 'at the back' as they are being told 'at the front'. Create trust with your patients. The entire business team must answer the phone in the same manner. They must ask the same questions and collect the proper information for the clinical team. Use a checklist so that the entire team is consistent with their collection of information. Have a trial run BEFORE the first patient calls or passes through your doors. Practice makes perfect.

When patients feel welcome and are treated with 'respect and genuine care' they will become great patients. They will refer other great patients. After all, good news travels fast but bad news spreads like wild fire.

You have always known what you want, now you know how to get there.