The Best Practices Show with Kirk Behrendt

661: 5 Quick and Easy Ways to End the Year Strong - Ariel JudayLooking to ensure you finish the year strong and have a great December? We have the treatment plan for you! Find out how to wrap up 2023 and use this 5 step process well into 2024 too. Learn more in Episode 661 of The Best Practices Show!Episode Resources:Subscribe to The Best Practices Show podcast https://the-best-practices-show.captivate.fm/listenJoin ACT’s To The Top Study Club https://www.actdental.com/tttSee ACT’s Live Events Schedule https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/act-dental-live-workshops-306239Get The Best Practices Magazine for free! https://www.actdental.com/magazineWrite a review on iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-best-practices-show/id1223838218Links Mentioned in This Episode:To the Top study club:  https://www.actdental.com/tttMain Takeaways:Tip #1: Fill the schedule with patients who are already scheduled.Tip #2: Remind patients to use their FSA or HSA and how they can use the funds. Tip #3: Think outside the box and be flexible as a team. Create a holiday call list. Tip #4: Take time to celebrate with your team. Tip #5: Take time to care for yourself and your health.Quotes:“I like to just say what are some quick easy ways that we can do…because we all know momentum is easier than motivation. So we if we can get the momentum going into the new year, the energy is even better and stronger when our team is excited.” - Ariel (1:50—2:10)“#1…Fill [the schedule] with patients that are already scheduled. You have lots of opportunity in the schedule already. You just have to look for it. For example, how many hygiene patients are in the schedule that have unscheduled treatment? Can we go ahead and get them done on the same day? Or vice versa. Is there someone coming in for an emergency and they haven’t had a cleaning in a while? Is that something that we can go ahead and just utilize those patients that are already walking in the door.” - Ariel (3:15—3:46)“Same day dentistry does not mean right now. So if they have a hygiene service and they need to go and do something for an hour, a lot of patients will come back…So don’t think it has to be done right now because you don’t ever want to hinder the schedule of currently scheduled patients, but there are lots of opportunities, you just have to be open to looking for it.” - Ariel (5:53—6:20)“#2…We all know there are a lot of insurance and flexible spending accounts that at the end of the year, those funds expire…That is money your patients have put aside and put away for that they’re just going to lose, so we want to remind them. And sometimes they don’t even know they can use it at their office.” - Ariel (6:35—7:07)“#3…The easiest way [to think outside the box and be flexible as a team] is just set the expectation. Tell the team ‘Hey, for this month we’re going to be a little flexible. We are going to think of solutions.’...You get that deadline of December 31st. You know that your office is closed that week. I hear a lot of admin team members answer the phone and say ‘Sorry. We’re booked.’ …These patients are currently motivated and they are wanting to come in, so at the very least can we put them on a short call list? A priority list? Is there a way utilize a different column or chair? How can we get them in while they are motivated to get their dental care done.” - Ariel (8:50—9:53)“A team work column…you take the name -  teamwork - and you know that if a patient is in this column it's going to be…we don’t have a specific provider assigned to them and it’s going to take a team effort to get this patient taken care of.” - Ariel (10:16—10:31)“It’s not an open [team work] column that we can just fill whomever in. It’s very strategic. A couple per day, maybe 2 in the morning. And everyone knows and the patient knows as well that we are working you in and it might take a little longer, but as long as you’re flexible with us we’ll go ahead and get you taken care of.” - Ariel (11:56—12:16)“[A holiday call list] is very similar to a priority or an ASAP list or a cancellation list but this one is very specific to days in the calendar. So we know that the middle school in your area, you know what week they’re off. You know what breaks they have…even other industries have different days that they’re off. So if we know about those days…it’s the only time I’d say go away from your normal priority list - people who are just get in sooner - but use those patients’ motivation…and the chance is very likely that they’re going to rearrange their schedule because they don’t know if there is going to be another opening that comes up.” - Ariel (12:29—13:35)“#4”..The end of the year can be chaotic and sometimes the last thing we think about is celebrating with our team and I hear a lot of people say because the end of the year is so chaotic they do their holiday party in january and that is fine, however there are plenty of opportunities to still celebrate and keep the energy high. Especially if we’re thinking outside the box…your team is working really hard that there is no reason we can’t have a random pot luck or lunch as a team. Just do things that are different. And the doctor isn’t the one who has to lead it and probably shouldn’t” - Ariel (14:40—15:29)“The whole theme of this podcast is to finish the year strong. It isn’t always financial. Sometimes it’s emotional. Sometimes it’s the connectedness. Sometimes it’s just…I want to feel better this month. So it’s not all about money.” - Kirk (16:39—16:54)“This is 100% all year round, however as we are talking about no letting life and things just happen, is you have to be intentional about taking care of your health…We all know we have higher energy and we feel better when we’re getting enough sleep, we are eating healthy, we are exercising right, we are moving our body. You are doing something to fill your cup, because if you’re just letting things happen and you’re…your energy is going to plummet. And your team’s energy is going to plummet. And your patients are going to feel it. So really an extra reminder to take care of yourself so that way you can take care of your team and your patients.” - Ariel (17:26—18:10)“Because when you feel bad, you think bad, you perform bad” - Kirk (19:00—19:05)“Remember that the end of the year is not the time to slow down. It’s really a time where we need to be taking care of ourselves, our team and our patients…Momentum is easier than motivation. So if we can end it and get on a roll going in the new year is going to be so much easier for yourself and your team members.” - Ariel (19:17—19:42)“You have to get into this pattern of thinking next year is going to be better than this year. And when you start to do that it’s called a future pull. And it can be your behaviors, your thinking, it can be your team being engaged. Our goal with this podcast is just to give you a little bit of information…so that you can go back to your team to become a better leader and create a better practice and a better life.” - Kirk (20:18—20:43)Snippets:0:00 Introduction.3:00 #1 6:35 #28:34 #310:00 A teamwork column 12:22 Making a holiday call list14:33 #417:24 #519:10 Final Thoughts.Ariel Juday Bio:Ariel has a master’s in healthcare administration and several years of dental experience in all aspects of the administrative roles within the dental office. Her passion is to work with dental teams to empower team members to realize their full potential in order to better serve patients, improve office systems to ensure a well-functioning team/office, and to help everyone have fun in the process! Send Ariel an email ariel@actdental.comFollow Ariel on ACT’s Instagram https://www.instagram.com/actdental/

660: Is Quality Scalable in Dentistry? - Dr. Christian Coachman & Dr. Tal MorrHave you faced the dilemma between seeking financial growth and also keeping high clinical quality? It’s something dentists, both seasoned and novice, consider often. Can quality really be scalable? Learn more about these two paths in Episode 660 of The Best Practices Show!Episode Resources:Subscribe to The Best Practices Show podcast https://the-best-practices-show.captivate.fm/listenJoin ACT’s To The Top Study Club https://www.actdental.com/tttSee ACT’s Live Events Schedule https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/act-dental-live-workshops-306239Get The Best Practices Magazine for free! https://www.actdental.com/magazineWrite a review on iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-best-practices-show/id1223838218Links Mentioned in This Episode:Learn more about Digital Smile Design https://digitalsmiledesign.com/Register for DSD Residency 1 https://digitalsmiledesign.com/education/attend-a-course/dsd-concept-level/dsd-residency-1Learn more about Tal Morr https://www.tmprosthodontics.com/Main Takeaways:You can take one of two paths: the highest quality or just practicing. The size of your practice not only has an effect on a clinical level but it has an effect on the customer service. Identify where you can differentiate yourself and build the model that will leverage the best side of yourself.There’s no right or wrong. There’s no correct path. It’s ultimately what you define as your ultimate goal. Quotes:“I think as a young dentist the first decision you need to make is what is your ultimate objective, because there really are no right and wrong. There are 2 paths you can take: there is the path you can take of trying to achieve the highest quality or there’s the path of just practicing, building the quantity of patients that you have…and making your patients happy. Ultimately you have to make that decision. Because what I’ve always told the young people that I speak to, I said ‘If your objective is to build your name and build yourself as one of the top clinicians, everything you do is a reflection of you.’ Meaning, when I started every filling of mine was perfect, every crown of mine was expensive and one perfectly. And I remember when I first started, I worked for a guy and he said ‘you’re freakin crazy…you spend way too much time on the patient. You spend way too much money on the technician. You’re too picky.’ But what happened was everything I did became representative in my community. How? Because my patients would go to see other specialists, they went to see other dentists and they said ‘wow, who did this?’...and I built my reputation that way.” - Tal (3:41—5:26)“There are two ways to grow. One is to see more people, have more dentists, and just do volume. And the other is to increase your pricing…how do you get to the place where you can increase your pricing? It’s based on building your reputation as one of the top people. But you’re right, it has a ceiling.” (9:48—10:37)“[I’m raising my pricing for two reasons] One is obviously to be compensated for the effort and time and experience I invest. And the second is to…I tell patients I’m not for everybody. My patients say ‘Why are you so expensive?’ And I said ‘You know what? I’m not for everybody but if you want me to give you my hearts and my soul - which I do for every patient - that’s what it’s going to cost you.’” - Tal (10:48—11:20)“Now where is the fine line? I believe there are different personalities in dentistry. For me, I’m a control freak. If I expand too much - I have an associate, by the way - then I’m trying to control the situation and I can’t with one associate. So that, in a sense, is stress for me. And I don’t need more stress in my life…As you expand and as you grow, as you bring in more people there is much higher stress. There is less control. It’s just another animal…that’s why for me that’s not even an option for me…Now what is the negative of that? My practice is built on me…people come here for me. What I should have done, a huge mistake that I made, was in the beginning I should have brought someone with me. I should have had associates. I should have trained them so we would grow together as a unit, then you can multiply…You’re either going to be able to do it or you’re not. ” - Tal (11:24—13:17)“Let’s do an X-ray on your practice. How many dental chairs do you have?” - Christian“I have 4 dental chairs” - Tal“Dentists you said is you and one other associate. How many assistants?” - Christian“I have 3 assistants…and I have 2 hygienists. But my hygiene isn’t like a regular dental practice because my volume is lower. I have 1 front desk and I have my wife who does the bills.” - Tal“That’s the model. As lean as it can be.” - Christian(13:54—14:59)“This is the thinking process that I’ve been having with myself since 5, 6, 7 years. I’ve been teaching dentists on how to grow. On how to multiply. On how to scale. On how to delegate. But if I had to pick a dentist to do a full mouth rehabilitation, where would I go?”  - Christian (15:17—15:40)“I call your type of practice a 3 star Michelin. It’s a very good comparison with restaurants…You cannot grow. It’s impossible to control the quality. It depends on the superstar Chef and the superstar Chef will maybe try to make more money opening a franchise with a different name, etc. But that Michelin only gets the three stars because that Chef is in charge every single day, doing over and over again and making sure the quality is exactly the same.”  - Christian (17:59—18:40)“I’m working more now than I’ve ever worked before…I’m booked out for 3 months. So it gets to the point where I cannot accept new patients. So my associate benefits from that because she can see the new patients. But I’m involved in the initial evaluation with the patient. I introduce myself. I examine the patient. She comes and tells me what’s going on to help guide her and explain in deep detail to the patient what the findings are…as far as delegating, my girls do all the impressions, digital, CBCTs, scans, all the information that I need.” - Tal (19:32—20:58)“You mentioned the only way that you can grow financially is raising your fees right? The other way is increasing your average ticket price right?” - Christian“Yes. So because I was sending so much out, because I was losing so much control, I started doing my own surgeries probably 15 years ago. So now I have full control…I do everything except very complex cases that I don’t want to be involved in. I send out. I have good relationships with surgeons. They sometimes even do large sinus lifts for me and I place the implants. Because we have an understanding of what we are capable of doing. And I can control the whole case much better that way. And financially it’s much more lucrative” - Tal (28:33—29:30)“I’ve achieved what I wanted to achieve, but I’m limited. I’m only one person. Sometimes patients forget that. It’s difficult. It’s difficult to manage, but I don’t think I’d do it any other way. I don’t think my personality will allow that.” - Tal (34:42—35:03)“As young as possible, you need to identify who you are and what you can do the best. And you started the conversation with something like ‘When you start as a young dentist you need to define what you want to become.’ It’s like in diagnostic dentistry. You start with the wax up with the end in mind and you reverse engineer the treatment plan. With the career, it’s the same. As young as possible identify your strengths. Identify where you can differentiate yourself and build the model that will leverage the best side of yourself.” - Christian (35:16—35:57)“There’s no right or wrong. There’s no correct path. It’s ultimately what you define as your ultimate goal. And everybody has an ultimate goal.” - Tal  (36:06—36:17) “Quality in dentistry is not scalable and every time you grow a little bit you end up always compromising that gold standard at least a little bit.” - Christian (39:43—40:00) Snippets:0:00 Introduction.3:41 Two paths of quality.9:48 Two ways to grow. 11:24 Finding the line of quality.15:40 How the size of the practice affects quality. 19:08 Delegating with affecting quality.28:00 Partnerships and keeping quality control.29:00 The downside of an individual practice.37:07 Final Thoughts.Dr. Christian Coachman Bio:Combining his advanced skills, experience, and technology solutions, Dr. Christian Coachman pioneered the Digital Smile Design methodology and founded Digital Smile Design company (DSD). Since its inception, thousands of dentists worldwide have attended DSD courses and workshops, such as the renowned DSD Residency program.Dr. Coachman is the developer of worldwide, well-known concepts such as the Digital Smile Design, the Pink Hybrid Implant Restoration, the Digital Planning Center, Emotional Dentistry, Interdisciplinary Treatment Simulation, and Digital Smile Donator.He regularly consults for dental industry companies, developing products, implementing concepts, and marketing strategies, such as the Facially Driven Digital Orthodontic Workflow developed in collaboration with Invisalign, Align Technology.He has lectured and published internationally in the fields of esthetic and digital dentistry, dental photography, oral rehabilitation, dental ceramics, implants, and communication strategies and marketing in dentistry. Join Dr. Coachman on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/christiancoachmanFollow Dr. Coachman on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/chriscoachman/Dr. Tal Morr Bio:Dr. Tal Morr, a dentist in Miami, Florida, is the owner and founder of TM Prosthodontics. He is a specialist in aesthetic, implant, and complex restorative dentistry. After graduating from the University of Florida with a BS degree in microbiology, he continued his education at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine where he graduated Summa Cum Laude with a DMD degree. He went on to study at the University of Washington School of Dentistry where he received his Master of Science in Dentistry (MSD) and a certificate in Prosthodontics.Dr. Morr has over 24 years of experience in prosthodontics, the diagnosis and treatment of the deterioration of teeth and their supporting structures. He is known for his comprehensive treatment approach as he formulates and executes treatment plans that address not only the mouth, but also the face and jaw.Dr. Morr has numerous publications in both textbooks and articles in the areas of aesthetics, porcelain laminate veneers, dental implants, and complex restorative dentistry and rehabilitation. He is a highly regarded speaker and educator both nationally and internationally. He is considered a leader in the field and highly regarded for his contribution to the field of dentistry. Join Dr. Morr on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TMProsthodontics/Follow Dr. Morr on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/talmorr/

659: 5 Data Secrets to a Thriving Practice – Dr. Barrett Straub & Miranda BeesonIf you want your practice to grow, you need data. But how do you know which numbers to look at? To demystify the data you need, Kirk Behrendt brings in Dr. Barrett Straub, ACT’s CEO, and Miranda Beeson, one of ACT’s amazing coaches, to share five data secrets for a thriving practice. Make informed decisions with data, not feelings! To learn which numbers to start tracking and why they matter to your practice, listen to Episode 659 of The Best Practices Show!Episode Resources:Send Dr. Straub an email: barrett@actdental.com Join Dr. Straub on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/barrett.d.straub Send Miranda an email: miranda@actdental.com Follow Miranda on ACT’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/actdentalSubscribe to The Best Practices Show podcast: https://the-best-practices-show.captivate.fm/listenJoin ACT’s To The Top Study Club: https://www.actdental.com/tttSee ACT’s Live Events Schedule: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/act-dental-live-workshops-306239Get The Best Practices Magazine for free! https://www.actdental.com/magazineWrite a review on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-best-practices-show/id1223838218Links Mentioned in This Episode:Get your Golden Ticket to ACT’s To The Top Study Club: https://info.actdental.com/golden-ticketMain Takeaways:Numbers don't lie!You can improve anything with data.Without data, the story you tell yourself is fiction.Learn about the main KPIs you should be tracking.Tracking data requires transparency with your team.Quotes:“So many of us base decisions and planning off of our feelings when the data itself doesn't lie. And we can't argue with it. If you tell me your feelings about something — if I'm an admin team member, I [can] say, ‘Yeah, but I feel like this about it.’ But if we're both looking at the same piece of data, there's really no discussion to be had. It's right there. It's the truth on paper, and you really can't argue with that.” (5:48—6:10) -Miranda“You know how this works if you're a dentist. You have a lot of feelings. ‘I feel like we're way too busy. I feel like we have too many holes in our schedule. I don't feel like we're productive enough. I don't feel like my hygienist diagnosed enough perio. I feel like most of my AR is family and friends and is uncollectible.’ Feelings. Feelings are dangerous places to go. You start to tell yourself a story. Feelings, when it comes to me, can be happy feelings. But they can also be irritation feelings. Data calms us. If you're feeling any of these things, it's really good to transition away from feeling to, ‘What are we seeing? What's the data telling us?’ It's powerful in this whole thing.” (6:43—7:31) -Kirk“Leading a dental practice without knowing your data and understanding it is like placing an implant with no diagnostics. Now, you could do it. Some people do. But, long term, will it be successful? Is that really the right thing to do?” (7:32—7:47) -Kirk“From personal experience, this is how it happens in most dental practices. We're busy doing dentistry because we are the CEO of our dental practices and the assembly line. It's hard to do both well. We focus on the dentistry and we don't make data collection a habit. If it's not a habit, we don't have the energy or time at the end of the day, end of the week, end of the month to collect it. And so, we go by feelings, and we tell ourselves a story in our head about the reality of our practice. Without data, that story is fiction. Unfortunately, we make major, long-lasting decisions based on fiction, on how we feel. Many times, and we see this a lot, we get deep in our careers, and look back and say, ‘Darn. I should have . . . I would have . . .  I could have . . . had I set up a system to collect data.’ With that data, I can make educated, data-driven, nonfiction decisions based on my practice. But we have to take a deep breath and say, ‘Okay. Yes, I have to do dentistry. I don't have a lot of time.’ Therefore, back to Kirk's first comment about having your team help with data, we've got to set up a system so that the data is a habit, not an intentional action by us. That will fail because we're too busy doing dentistry.” (8:04—9:26) -Dr. Straub“When you have data, you can improve everything. You can improve efficiency, you can improve the care patients get, you can improve the efficacy of things that you do. It helps you understand trends. You're thinking, ‘Gosh, I saw this patient. Where did she go? I don't know where she went, if she's an active patient, or not. I haven't seen her for two years,’ type of a thing. You can take a look at their treatment history and needs. When you know this data, you can provide a more customized approach to care and maximize the opportunities and treatment planning.” (10:13—10:45) -Kirk“There are some team members who get turned off by talking about the numbers or looking at the numbers. So, if we can always equate that to those team members to how we are affecting people in a more positive way through these numbers, that really does help to speak to the team. Because the bottom line is, we need to know the data. The numbers are really important. It's important for you to be responsible for yours and what you can have an impact on. But as, say, a hygienist, if you're looking at your periodontal numbers, you may say like, ‘Well, I don't want to base what I'm doing every day on if I'm raising this percentage over here.’ But if you're raising that percentage, you're also helping more people achieve health and reach their goals of oral health. So, sometimes we can blend that for the team to make sure the team realizes these numbers do have a true impact on how we affect people.” (10:57—11:43) -Miranda“Consistently tracking and reporting on the data fosters collaboration and communication. We talk about accountability a lot. Accountability requires some type of accounting. It's not, ‘I'm doing my best.’ It allows us to talk about the same things. So, when we can agree on a number, we now can work together on the motions that support that number.” (13:36—14:00) -Kirk“What gets measured gets improved. But what gets measured and reported on significantly or exponentially improves. If I'm bringing you a number that we have both agreed is an important number and it's going up a little bit every week, we are as happy as can be, and everyone can see and understand what's driving the decisions. It's not about money. It's not about getting another boat or those types of things. We're trying to make a number healthy, and it creates a common effort towards a common goal.” (14:03—14:34) -Kirk“Tracking data requires transparency with your team. I love having some type of data anywhere. I mean, go to a baseball game. If you guys are watching the playoffs right now, you can't watch more than three minutes without a ton of data falling all over the screen. They're making decisions on pitchers, left-handed versus right-handed, spray charts, all of this stuff. You can't run a baseball team — even if it's a kid’s baseball team — without some type of data. That's why we have GameChanger as parents to keep the crazy parents from yelling too much, because all you have to do is show them the batting average and they quiet down. I was one of those. I'm like, ‘I think my son is better. Oh . . . He's not that good. He should bat eighth or ninth.’ It allows for objective performance evaluation and encourages team members to own their role. So, you’ve got to have some accountability.” (14:40—15:27) -Kirk“[An important key performance indicator is] new patient acquisition and retention. New patients are the number of patients that had their first completed visit in the practice and they're counted as a new patient by the ADA code.” (16:06—16:17) -Kirk“There's another number that's associated with new patients because, remember, everybody is putting all this in and going, ‘Oh, I get 400 new patients.’ Well, that's great. But you don't see half of them. Half of them cancel, whatever. That's a lot of money to attract those types of patients. I think every practice should have new patients. They should be the right type of patients for your practice. You have to know the number for your practice.” (16:30—16:51) -Kirk“There's another [important] number that's called recaptured. This is the number of patients who have not completed a visit within the past 18 months but now have completed a visit and are brought back into the practice. We lost them. They had become inactive. Somebody on the team has worked hard to get them back in the practice. You need to know that number.” (16:52—17:12) -Kirk“There's another number that's important with this. It's called loss. It's the number of patients who have fallen into the category of not having a completed visit. Now, your software can collect this information automatically. Usually, it's 18 months. Some people are going out to 24 because of COVID-19. That's legit. But as a practice, you’ve got to decide what's the threshold. In most practices, it's about 18 months. As you can see in this example, we had 22 new, 22 recaptured, but we lost 82. The net growth was negative 38.” (17:13—17:46) -Kirk“What I often will hear from teams, and we go back to feelings of, ‘I feel like we're doing really well. We crush it with new patients. We have at least 20 new patients every month.’ I'll say, ‘Let's take a look at what our true patient growth is though, because that is a little bit different. You are crushing it with new patients. Good job!’ Because, like you said, lots of money goes into acquiring those new patients. We're wowing those patients. We're winning them over with that experience, hopefully. But if we're not looking at those pieces in the middle, especially the lost, then all of that effort, in the end, is for nought because we're not actually growing the practice over time. So, I think this equation and this section here of reporting is really important. If we're seeing a really high number in the lost [category, we need to set] up some type of plan with our administrative team to capture those and hopefully add them back into your recaptured number. It comes back to feelings versus what's the real data. So, this is a good one to start off with, with teams.” (18:16—19:12) -Miranda“It is a lot of energy and effort to on-board a new patient. We want new patients. It's easier to not lose a patient and keep them in their dental home that they already know, as well as recapture. So, we're not ever going to say don't get new patients. But if you give equal intentionality to not losing and recapturing those patients that have gone over that 18th month, then if you do have a down month in new patients, it's not as big of a deal.” (19:25—19:55) -Dr. Straub“[Knowing the percentage of new patients who reappointed for hygiene] is really important because of what we just said: how much effort, time, and energy it takes to bring new patients in. How many of those patients are leaving without a next scheduled visit? Or they're just scheduled for a restorative appointment. What we know about our hygiene department is that's where we build our patient loyalty over time. They're going to be coming back again, and again, and again. We're going to be serving them, building relationships. And then, also, that drives more treatment options down the line as long as they stay with us. So, this is a really, really important thing to look at. ‘We crushed it! Twenty-two new patients last month.’ But if only seven of those new patients are actually rescheduled within your practice, how much effort did you put out for that return?” (20:32—21:15) -Miranda“A lot of times, you work so hard to get this patient referred, and you're fee-for-service. You get this patient to come in, and they need $17,500 worth of restorative work. So, you do an awesome new patient exam. Then, your treatment coordinator stalks them over, and over, and over, and over. They're not returning your phone call, and you're pummeling them with this $17,500 thing that they have to decide on. Now, think about this. That's a great new patient. They're not tethered to your practice because they don't have a hygiene appointment. And ultimately, they're not going to return your call. That patient may not be ready to hear the $17,500 thing because the previous dentist they went to said nothing was wrong. You might refer the patient out. You might think, ‘Okay, this is a great patient. They’ve got to go to the oral surgeon.’ What a lost opportunity that is.” (21:38—22:31) -Kirk“I want you to think about this. Every new patient — and I do mean every, if they're the right [patient for your practice] — has to have a hygiene appointment. However you decide to have patients come through your practice, have the mindset as a team that we're going to get them scheduled. If I was working at the front desk, this is what I'd say. ‘Okay, we do a lot of different cool things here, Mrs. Jones. Let's do this. I am going to refer you out to our oral surgeon. But before that, I'm going to schedule two appointments. I'm going to get you scheduled with our oral surgeon, but I'm also going to get you scheduled with Sally. She's one of our amazing hygienists. I might even schedule a third appointment with Dr. Straub here.’ So, I'm going to have you locked in, tethered somehow to the practice, before we hang up the phone. It's one of the biggest lost opportunities in dentistry.” (22:32—23:17) -Kirk“Another thing you could do is break down your new patients. Again, it's back to new patients. It's great to get the right new patients, but we need to understand where they are coming from. And so, by referral source is critical in your practice. It allows you to better understand how successful your marketing is. If you don't have this, you're just guessing and throwing money everywhere.” (24:04—24:25) -Kirk“Teach someone to fish. Create accountability. It's not my responsibility to make sure that [the patient referral source data is] being accounted for. And maybe they don't know. Maybe I haven't, as a leader, set an expectation for them that this is something that I need. Maybe this is new data that we're tracking that we've never really tracked in the practice before, but now we're starting to see a trend towards wanting to make sure our marketing dollars are working for us, so this is new. So, it's my responsibility, as a leader, to set my team up for success with clear expectations. And so, for me, explaining this report and what's expected month after month and watching them watch that data grow puts that accountability back into that role.” (25:47—26:25) -Miranda“There is a capacity issue in dentistry. We're going to talk about maximum or optimal capacity. It could mean that every chair in your operatory is full every day that you decide to work, whether it be four days or whatever. But it doesn't necessarily mean that. In almost every dental practice, optimal or maximum capacity is an issue of willingness, not ability. Every practice can have their chairs full at 95%. You just have to know what to do, and you have to want to do it. So, please don't watch this and go, ‘Well, you don't understand our area.’ No, that's not true. With some great training, with willingness, with some understanding, with some great coaching, every single practice in the United States can have a 95% capacity. Now, the question becomes, what do you want it full with?” (27:02—27:50) -Kirk“Capacity is pretty simple. It's retroactive. You have to look historically and say, of all the hours available in a chair in operatory number two, how many of those patient hours was there a butt in the chair? It's as simple as that. It's seven of eight, eight of eight, six of eight hours, whatever your hourly offerings are. That's super important to know. Let me tie a few things together here because many dentists look at the morning schedule and say, ‘We are so darn busy,’ only to find out they're actually only at 85%. That same dentist often says, ‘We are so darn busy. I need to build out two operatories. I need to buy a new office. I need to hire another hygienist.’ If you have two hygienists and they're only at 80% capacity, then wouldn't you first fill their chair before a capital expenditure of more ops, another office, another hygienist?” (28:19—29:21) -Dr. Straub“We see dentists that have 2,100 active patients per dentist, and we see practices with 1,000 active patients per dentist. Those are two different models. I'm not going to say either is right or wrong, but one practice needs 44 new patients a month, and the other needs like eight. New patients by themselves mean very little unless you know your annual patient value. So, when I get a new patient, how much do I bill, or how much dentistry do all my new patients do annually?” (29:50—30:24) -Dr. Straub“Eventually, you want to say, ‘I'm attracting 44 new patients, but my annual patient value is $200.’ Well, great. What if you had eight new patients at $1,000 annual patient value? So, now, then the next level is to say, ‘Not only am I going to attract new patients, I'm going to attract the good kind of new patients that show up, that accept my treatment, that give me more of a return on my investment in them. I'm going to make sure my chairs are filled with more of these right patients.’ When you start to connect all the dots like that, your revenue goes up, your happiness goes up, your predictability goes up. But we have to first, as you're doing this data analysis, say, ‘What kind of business am I in? How do I want it to feel?’ It's not about production, and it's not about new patient values. It's so much more than those two numbers.” (30:41—31:39) -Dr. Straub“As a team, what do we all show up to work for? Yes, to take care of people, but to get a paycheck. That's how the office pays us, is by having butts in the chair. As a hygienist — I've told this story before and I'm going to loop it in. I know Chris, who works with us, has said the same thing — I used to get so excited when someone canceled first thing in the morning, before or after lunch, and at the end of the day. It was the best time to have someone not show up. It was a relief. I was celebrating it until I realized the importance of capacity and what that actually meant for the practice and, in the end, what that meant for me and my ability to grow economically within the practice . . . Your profitability of...

658: Better Connections Faster - Dr. Gary SanchezDiscovering your WHY - why you do what you do - not only helps you build strong connections with others including your team members and patients, it helps you discover and drive your passion. Dr. Gary Sanchez walks us through how to do it and the 9 WHYs so you can start connecting today. To learn how, listen to Episode 658 of The Best Practices Show!Episode Resources:Subscribe to The Best Practices Show podcast https://the-best-practices-show.captivate.fm/listenJoin ACT’s To The Top Study Club https://www.actdental.com/tttSee ACT’s Live Events Schedule https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/act-dental-live-workshops-306239Get The Best Practices Magazine for free! https://www.actdental.com/magazineWrite a review on iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-best-practices-show/id1223838218Links Mentioned in This Episode:WHY Institute: https://whyinstitute.com/Main Takeaways:Stop looking at WHAT and start looking at WHY.Use your WHY Operating System to connect with your team and patients better and faster. When you talk about what you do you blend in. When you talk about your WHY, that’s how you stand out.  Happy team members will believe in what you believe in.When what you do is in line with why you do what you do you will have passion for what you do. Quotes:“There has to be something better than this. And that’s why I hired a coach and I heard about this concept of ‘Why.” ‘Why do you do what you do?’ Simon Sinek did his TED talk. I watched that 20, 30 times. I bought his book and read it many times. I said that is what I’m missing. I have a great ‘What’ but I don’t know my ‘Why’...I went back through my life looking for clues to why do I do what I do and when I finally figured it out, my why, is to find a better way and share it my life started to make sense. So I went back and stopped talking about what we do: crowns, bridges, fillings…and started talking about why we do it. What is it that we believe? We believe that life is better when you have great teeth…we started changing all of our messages and our marketing all based around great teeth, better life and that’s when my practice really took off.” (4:12—5:21)“I figured out not only your why, your why, your how and your what. We call that your Why Operating System…it gives you the words to create your message and to be able to answer the question ‘Why should I choose you? What is it that makes you special?’” (6:19—6:42)“The first step [of applying this to dentistry] is go discover your WOS. That will give your why, your how, your what and it will create your message for you. It will put it into very simple terms so that you can easily and quickly articulate who you are and why I should choose you. And then the second thing is do the same thing for your team, so that you know who you have on your team, how you all fit together and how you can perform at the highest level. Do I have the right people in the right place doing the right thing at the right time? They love what they’re doing, they’re passionate about what they’re doing so you can build a really strong team. And once you know that about each of your team members you will know how to connect and communicate much better, much faster.” (9:36—10:25)“Once you know someone’s Why, How What (WOS) it strips away what you think you see and it brings forward who is actually there. And you’ll know the language that they speak, you’ll know the words that they need to hear in order to feel heard and you’ll know how to connect with them much faster.” (12:14—12:37)“If you do this with your patients, you’ll know exactly what they are looking for and how to connect with them in a way they can hear it.” (12:59—13:15)“When you talk about what you do, you blend in with everyone who does what you do…even if you do it at a higher level, people don’t know that. But when you talk about why you do what you do and what you believe, it connects to a different part of the brain that allows people to make a decision because it feels right and when it feels right that’s when they make a decision.” (14:44—15:26)“If you could imagine 2 big circles, one inside the other. Imagine that as your brain. The inner circle is the limbic brain and the outer circle would be the neocortex. The neocortex can understand facts, figures, features. But decision-making doesn’t happen there. People might understand what you’re saying but it doesn't drive behavior so don’t make a decision. The inner part of your brain, the limbic, that’s the part of your brain that’s responsible for feeling things like loyalty and trust. One hundred percent of decision-making happens at the limbic brain, but it doesn’t have the capacity for language. So people buy things because it feels right then they justify it with the facts, figures and features. So how you connect to the limbic brain is by starting with your WHY. Why do you do what you do and what you believe; and that’s why it’s so critical.” (16:30—17:32)“[Team members] don’t have to have the same why but they have to believe what you believe. And if they believe what you believe…they’re going to love working for you. If they don’t believe that, they’re not going to enjoy working with you…You are really good at articulating it, of keeping it alive. It’s in your tag line, it’s in what you talk about, it’s the essence of who you are. So if they believe it, they’re all in. And that’s who you’re looking for.” (19:53—20:49)“The 9 Whys: the first one is contribute to a greater cause, add value, have an impact on the lives of others. The second why is trust: to create relationships based on trust. The third one is make sense: to make sense out of the complex; great problem solvers. The fourth why is better way…is to find a better way and share it. The fifth why is right way: to do things the right way in order to get predictable and consistent results. The sixth why is challenge: to challenge the status quo and think differently. The seventh why is mastery: to see mastery and understanding, dive in deep, look for the nuances. The eighth why is clarify: make things clear and understandable. And the ninth why is simplify: to make things simple and easy to understand. So one of the 9 Whys is your Why. One of the 9 Whys is your How. And one of the 9 Whys is your What. So all of us have all 9 Whys but one of them is more dominant than the rest and that’s the one that becomes your Why. So when you have them all in sequence…you’ll know what’s super important to them and you’ll know what’s not important to them at all.” (21:49—23:08)“[What most people get wrong] is people just pick one…your Why is so critical to your life, to finding your passion, your purpose, your direction, to knowing where your fit is, to knowing so much about yourself. Why would you chance getting it wrong?” (23:24—24:00)“When what you do is in line with why you do what you do you will have passion for what you do. And passion is the fuel that gives you the energy to pursue your dreams. Without passion you’ll give up. Without passion you’ll quit. So you have to have that passion to be able to move forward. So it’s so important to know what your Why is so you can see what you’ll do from the perspective of your Why and know that you’re going in the right direction.” (26:41—27:15)Snippets:0:00 Introduction.4:12 A better way to Why.9:36 Applying the Why to dentistry.16:20 The brain explained.19:53 Finding team members that love working with you.21:49 The 9 Whys.23:24 What most people get wrong.26:07 Final Thoughts.Dr. Gary Sanchez Bio:Dr. Gary Sanchez’s WHY is to find a better way and share it. HOW he does that is by making things clear and easy to understand. WHAT he brings is simple solutions to help people move forward. He and his Team have worked with hundreds of thousands of individuals, as well as thousands of companies, from small yoga studios to Fortune 500 companies, helping them get clear, stand out, and play bigger.Outside of the WHY Institute, Gary enjoys playing a round of golf, messing around on the pickleball court, and hanging out with family and friends, enjoying some red chili dinner.Join Dr. Sanchez on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/garysanchez2000

657: Empowering the Owner & Associate Synergy - Dr. Christian Coachman & Dr. Sean BahramiThe dynamic between an owner and an associate can be complicated, but it doesn’t have to be. Learn the 5 qualities to choosing a great associate and how to help them grow within your practice. And understand the 4 step system to onboarding an associate to create successful partnerships. To learn how, listen to Episode 657 of The Best Practices Show!Episode Resources:Subscribe to The Best Practices Show podcast https://the-best-practices-show.captivate.fm/listenJoin ACT’s To The Top Study Club https://www.actdental.com/tttSee ACT’s Live Events Schedule https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/act-dental-live-workshops-306239Get The Best Practices Magazine for free! https://www.actdental.com/magazineWrite a review on iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-best-practices-show/id1223838218Links Mentioned in This Episode:Learn more about Digital Smile Design https://digitalsmiledesign.com/Register for DSD Residency 1 https://digitalsmiledesign.com/education/attend-a-course/dsd-concept-level/dsd-residency-1Main Takeaways:Think differently as an owner. Think differently as an associate. Accept the challenges and acknowledge the challenges.Owners should empower the Associates to update and improve systems, to provide a sense of purpose. There are 5 qualities in an ideal dentist: charisma, artistic skills, ethics, clinical skills and scientific background.You can’t peak at age 25. You need the drive to continue to grow. It’s 50% of being a good dentist. Make a roadmap and a clear line of sight to a partnership, if that is your goal to keep and retain good people.Quotes:“It is a dynamic that is a bit tricky because owners are never are carrying themselves in the practice and associates aren’t happy with the lack of systems or some of the systems in the practice. So that’s when we found how we can bring these two different worlds and make them thrive.” (6:28—6:48)“Whenever you join a practice, as dentists we tend to become a super star. We want to become the superstar of the practice and that’s how it is. And every owner, they have established their way of doing things for an extended period of time. And when you come in as an associate, they’re not so open to learning or bringing new systems into the practice because in their eyes the practice is established.” (7:29—8:00)“When you start accepting the challenges and acknowledging the challenges. So imagine an owner and an associate just starting the conversation and saying let’s just acknowledge how different we are and how different is our perspective. And if we start acknowledging this from each other I believe that is a great initial step.” (11:00—11:25)“I opened up the conversation. I’m not looking for a 9-to-5. I’m looking to build a career. I want to be involved in the practice. And that was something, when I was looking for a position, I struggled with. Because many of the practices I was going to, I would tell them that I want to be involved in the practice. I want to bring new ideas, they would reject that because it’s their practice, but luckily with my uncle he was open to that, because he was at a point where he wanted to start to slow down and he wanted someone to bring that energy into the practice.” (12:20—12:58)“Dentistry is a demanding career. Especially at the beginning where you’re not fully comfortable with procedures, you still aren’t comfortable with your patient interaction so 6 days [a week] as a lot. I was not enjoying dentistry. I was stressed out…It was a dark period of my career; those first two years. But then, I believe passion is not something that comes to you naturally. I believe you become good at something by working hard at it and that something is able to fulfill your definition of success…I was involved more in taking courses and reading and developing my skills to get more comfortable and I remember one day…I wasn’t panicking that there were multiple procedures and I’m enjoying this and it’s a rhythm that I’ve developed and really, it was turning around.” (15:00—16:38)“I think that’s the big job of the practice owner, is to support at the beginning, mentally more than clinically. If you see the potential.” (17:36—17:53)“We see that the more experienced the person is, the less they rely on systems. And that’s not good. But because they have so much experience and everything is in here and they just know how to do things, they’re just doing things…No systems are worse for consistency, growing with quality, it’s worse for scaling, it’s worse for delegating, it’s worse for selling, it’s worse for developing revenue without having to work yourself on everything. All of these things are related to not having systems…now this young person comes in full of ideas about systems and trying to implement systems and I think it’s very very smart for the practice owner to give this room. Even though it is very uncomfortable, I know. When we are good at something and somebody new comes, trying to put systems into something you know how to do but I think it’s a super smart strategy for the owner to give some room for the young to put energy on systematizing things” (18:29—20:11)“I saw that if we want to grow, then we have to have a system…and then that’s when we developed the moments of onboarding an associate. We decided that there are 4 moments in this journey. The first thing is finding and hiring the associate. The second moment is testing that associate. Does this associate have what it takes to become an important part of your practice? And the third part is empowering that associate. And the last bit is partnership, having a roadmap. Something as a final destination that is going to guide them. That there is a future in this practice. But all of these moments, they have to start with that vision. Have to define what is the vision for your practice. What is it that you’re trying to achieve?” (22:24—23:24)“There are 5 qualities in an ideal dentist…charisma, artistic skills, ethics, clinical skills and scientific background…you need to test your associate. Give them a grade [from 0-5] based on how you feel about them. Their charisma, how they interact with patients, their artistic skills. And this may be a little difficult for you to test, but you can give them a test for them to do. You can see their work…if they have an eye for aesthetics. Ethical decisions…you want someone that makes good decisions…because many times owners are hesitant to bring in an associate because they want the quality of the work to be consistent…Clinical skills, that is obviously a big part of dentistry. We all strive for perfection, but I think this is the part you can probably improve the most on. This isn’t something you can practice. And scientific background, how involved they are with acquiring knowledge with growth, with developing their skills.” (24:47—26:20)“[to evaluate a dental associate] You need to determine the weight of each of the 5 components. It varies. Some people may put artistic skills above scientific knowledge. Some people may put clinical skills above artistic skills, they are very different…that’s why you need to start with the vision. Who is the buyer persona? The persona you are trying to attract? And then you try to imagine the perfect dentist that you want to have with you.” (27:02—27:38)“All of these skills are only responsible for 50% of the final rate. The other 50% are related to the candidate drive…the energy, the willingness, to do it, to work hard.” (30:20—31:00)“Why is the drive so heavily weighted?” “When you are 25…30…whatever age you’re coming out of school, it doesn’t matter how good you are at that point. You have 50 more years in front of you. And if you don’t have the drive…if your peak is at 25, you are in trouble. You need the drive to continue to be able to go grow.” (31:28—32:00)“The next [phase] is empowering…You need to master the process of finding and hiring. Based on your vision, ask the right questions, filter and hire the right people. Not everybody that you’re going to hire needs to become a partner. So you’re going to have these people that are more fitting into your vision and you’re going to choose the ones that can potentially become your right arm and that’s when the test comes, this test. So then you’re bringing a few to the next level, the possible associate that is going to take over…once this person passes the test, now it’s time to empower. This person may not even know you think they may be a partner in the future…you found the potential, you see the drive. You start moving this person to the next level and that’s what we call the empowering level.” (34:25—35:40)“Empowerment is the superstar, the dentist, the owner detaching themselves from the superstar position…introduce your associate to the patients as someone who is good at what they do…You bring that associate into the room and you introduce them to the patient and say ‘Dr. So and So is great with restorative. He will be taking care of this part of your treatment.’ And this is how you integrate your associates into the practice.” (35:45—36:47)“[The partnership] can be structured based on how you’re running your practice, what your vision is, where there is going to be 2 years of working and then they buy into the practice. However the model may be, you need to define it for your practice. But the associate needs to know there is a future for them in the practice. There are people that aren’t looking for partnership. They just want to be an associate. But for many people they want to have a stable future where they know their hard work is going to pay off.” (37:00—37:45)“As owners, as associates we need to get better and smarter about how to approach things, in order to have a long lasting career.” (43:54—44:05)Snippets:0:00 Introduction.6:28 The dynamic of Owner & Associate.9:50 Acknowledge the differences.14:18 Example of the journey of an Associate.18:29 The importance of systems.22:32 4 Moments of Onboarding an Associate. 24:40 5 Qualities in an Ideal Dentist.30:20 Finding the driven Associates.35:44 Empowerment.36:55 Partnerships.43:36 Final Thoughts.Dr. Christian Coachman Bio:Combining his advanced skills, experience, and technology solutions, Dr. Christian Coachman pioneered the Digital Smile Design methodology and founded Digital Smile Design company (DSD). Since its inception, thousands of dentists worldwide have attended DSD courses and workshops, such as the renowned DSD Residency program.Dr. Coachman is the developer of worldwide, well-known concepts such as the Digital Smile Design, the Pink Hybrid Implant Restoration, the Digital Planning Center, Emotional Dentistry, Interdisciplinary Treatment Simulation, and Digital Smile Donator.He regularly consults for dental industry companies, developing products, implementing concepts, and marketing strategies, such as the Facially Driven Digital Orthodontic Workflow developed in collaboration with Invisalign, Align Technology.He has lectured and published internationally in the fields of esthetic and digital dentistry, dental photography, oral rehabilitation, dental ceramics, implants, and communication strategies and marketing in dentistry. Join Dr. Coachman on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/christiancoachmanFollow Dr. Coachman on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/chriscoachman/Dr. Sean Bahrami Bio:Dr. Sean Bahrami is a dedicated and passionate general dentist who proudly serves patients at Supertooth™ Dental Group's Bethesda, Gaithersburg, and Germantown locations. Raised in Germantown, he is deeply rooted in the local community and is an ardent supporter of the Washington Redskins. Dr. Bahrami earned his bachelor's degree in Biological Sciences from the esteemed University of Maryland.During his undergraduate years, Dr. Bahrami had the opportunity to volunteer at Supertooth™ Dental Group, where he discovered his true calling and developed a passion for dentistry. This firsthand experience solidified his commitment to pursuing a career in the dental field.Dr. Bahrami's dental education took place at the prestigious University of Maryland Dental School (UMB), where he excelled as one of the top students in his class. His exceptional performance earned him acceptance into the esteemed Diamond Scholars program. Through this program, Dr. Bahrami received advanced education in full-mouth rehabilitation and complex restorative dental procedures, equipping him with the skills to tackle intricate cases with precision and expertise.Following the completion of his DDS degree, Dr. Bahrami returned to Supertooth™ Dental Group to share his unwavering dedication to dentistry with both patients and colleagues. He is an active member of the American Dental Association and Omicron Kappa Upsilon, a national dental honor society, demonstrating his commitment to professional growth and staying up to date with the latest advancements in dental procedures and technology.With a holistic approach to health, Dr. Bahrami is a strong advocate for fitness and believes in treating the whole patient to encourage overall well-being. As part of this philosophy, he hosts weekly yoga sessions for his patients and staff, fostering a friendly and health-conscious environment.Dr. Bahrami's special focus lies in cosmetic dentistry, where he combines his technical expertise with a deep commitment to enhancing patients' smile esthetics. By providing personalized treatment plans tailored to each patient's unique goals and desires, Dr. Bahrami helps individuals achieve the beautiful smiles they've always dreamed of. Follow Dr. Bahrami on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/drseanbahrami/

656: Is Everyone Smiling but You? Level Up Your Life Practice Now – Dr. David RiceIf you're not loving your life, listen to this episode — there’s a way to fix it! Today, Kirk Behrendt brings in Dr. David Rice, founder of IgniteDDS and author of Is Everyone Smiling but You? to share his journey of finding joy in life. Don't stay stuck if you're not happy! To learn how to start making changes today, listen to Episode 656 of The Best Practices Show!  Episode Resources:Send Dr. Rice a text: (716) 912-7970Follow Dr. Rice on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/igniteddsLearn more about IgniteDDS: https://ignitedds.comRead Dr. Rice’s book: https://www.amazon.com/Everyone-Smiling-But-You-Practice/dp/1642253758Subscribe to The Best Practices Show podcast: https://the-best-practices-show.captivate.fm/listenJoin ACT’s To The Top Study Club: https://www.actdental.com/tttSee ACT’s Live Events Schedule: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/act-dental-live-workshops-306239Get The Best Practices Magazine for free! https://www.actdental.com/magazineWrite a review on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-best-practices-show/id1223838218Main Takeaways:Invest in yourself as soon as you possibly can.Know what to look for in a good mentor.Make changes one step at a time.Start now! Don't wait to change.Don't be afraid to fail or live big.Block out some time to think.Reach out to others.Quotes:“Seasoned pros who wake up and feel like, ‘This isn't really where I want to be. What do I do? Do I have to be stuck here?’ The answer is no. We talk about all the things you all heard before about vision and habits — and that stuff is important. But we really break it down to, who are the people? What is the process? What is the production side? What do those three things need to look like so you and I can have control in three areas? On the dental side, it's clinical control. On everybody's side, it's financial control. On everybody's side, it's systems control. When we have those controls in our life, we actually get to build whatever we want, and that's a really cool thing to do.” (7:49—8:39)“It's the old adage of like, it's all up here. We get in our own way where sometimes I think people are afraid to fail. Sometimes, I think people are afraid to live so big because they feel guilty about it, like they don't deserve it, and that to get from level here, where you're like, ‘Can I do it?’ because it's too hard to get to, and then people get to this higher level, and it becomes, ‘Do I really deserve to get to that next level?’ The answers are yes, and yes — you do! You can make it happen. We're not rocket scientists in dentistry. There are recipes that you teach people all the time that are very predictable and work.” (8:55—9:40)“In its simplest form, most of us have a place that we can go to where we think clearly, where you just breathe better. For me, it’s water. It could be mountains, or it could be the middle of nowhere. For my wife, it's crazy. She needs all the noise in the world as background, and that helps her think. So, wherever that place is, find it. Literally block out on your smartphone two hours, and just free think. Free write a message, a digital version. Just blurt it all out. Don't worry about right or wrong, or sequence, and how-to. Just keep unloading. Then, come back to it in a week. And then, you can start organizing. What you'll find are patterns. You'll start to see where your values lie, things that matter to you, whether it's family, vacation, or time off. All those things will start to come to light. But just take a step and lock-and-load for 120 minutes.” (10:11—11:14)“It doesn't have to be as difficult as everybody makes it. People start talking about vision, and mission, and core values, and it gets very overwhelming for people that don't necessarily study it. So, they just don't do it. Figure out what your very best day looks like, and try to build one great day, and then we replicate.” (12:48—13:09)“I like mentors in three groups. So, whether you have three of them, six, nine, 12, whatever it is, I like three groups of mentors. I think we're all used to finding a cheerleader, that person who helps us get up when we're not feeling it. Every coach under the sun will tell you to be a ten out of ten. And let's be honest, sometimes we're like a six. So, we have to have that mentor who can help us get to ten. The second mentor set I like are people who are contrarians, people who see the world 180 degrees from the way you inherently see it, because those people help us find our blind spots. I had a hard time with that, and that becomes a difficult person to listen to. They're not negative people, they're just people who see things that maybe you and I don't inherently see because of who we are. And then, the third one is — this is a Brendon Burchardism. I love the top two percenters. There are so many people who try really, really hard to help us. But if they're not the top two percenters, then we waste so much time. We lose so much of that message. Like, the nuance is totally gone. So, I've always sought out those types of people. And then, depending on what your version of success is, you might need more than one in each category. You might find one person hits two of those categories. You might find that somebody serves you today, but a year from now you've outgrown them, or they've outgrown you. It all works.” (13:28—15:02)“I think we’re lucky. When it comes to dentistry — I love educating and teaching. Whether you go to Pankey, Kois, Spear, Dawson, or you're part of the AGD, there are places that we know you're going to get really strong clinical mentors. So, invest in yourself as soon as you possibly can. You're going to meet some really cool people there, and they may check more than one box for you.” (15:37—16:08)“Organized dentistry has great opportunities, at least to provide you with the community. You're going to walk into a room, and you're going to meet 20 somebodies. But there's going to be that one or two that you're like, ‘There's something about that person that I really, really gravitate toward, that resonates with me.’ Those are great cases. If you're young and you want to come to IgniteDDS, do. We've got like 50,000 young professionals. They're you. They might be you yesterday, you today, or you two or three years from now. And it’s your community. It's really not mine. I'm just a goofball who started it 10 years ago. Come talk to other people who are walking a similar path to you. Find out what's going well, and maybe where they're struggling.” (16:10—17:02)“At the end of the day, [mental health is] probably the most important thing we can talk about to be happy, to feel true content, safety, joy, and all that stuff. There are so many people who are in a bad spot. So, if you're in a bad spot, or you remotely think you're in the slightest of bad spots, open up to somebody, a family member or friend. I'm with you. I'll listen to anyone. So, anyone who's listening to this, you can text me, you can call me, you can DM me. I will absolutely listen to you. If I feel like something is really happening, I'm going to tell you you need to get some real professional care because that's not me. But if you just need two ears, I think we've got a lot of really great people in dentistry who really want better for other people out there.” (17:48— 18:34)“There's a chapter in [Is Everyone Smiling but You?] that's all about like, social media is a win, and social media is also a really big loss, potentially, because it's a snapshot. So, you see somebody on their best day from their best angle. I joke with people all the time. I'm like, ‘If you see a picture of Anastasia and I, guaranteed, Anastasia has asked me to take that picture like 37 times to get the right light, the right angle. And you've done it — we've all done it. So, don't worry about that perfect picture that you think is remotely what you're shooting for because that's not real life. Everybody has challenges, issues, good days, bad days, and bad moments. So, take all that stuff with a grain of salt. Everybody you meet out there who’s like, ‘Oh, I'm a dentist. I make $500 million a year and work half a day a week,’ guys, it’s garbage. It just is.” (19:07—20:08)“I think we forget — we get so deep in it that we forget that “DMD”, that “DDS”, buys you incredible opportunities. You can pick up and move to another area. You can say, ‘You know what? I don't want to do clinical dentistry ever again.’ I can go work for a manufacturer. I can go be an educator. I can work in public health. I can go be an influencer, for goodness sakes. I've got a list of dentists I know who do quite well in life, and they do it on YouTube and Instagram. There are a million things we can do. So, if you're not loving your life, I think it's probably just the strength to stand in front of the mirror and forgive yourself because it's not your fault. You're one of too many people. I was one of those people. Get those mentors and just take a step. Take one step today to get where you want to go tomorrow.” (21:00—22:00)“There are so many options for you. If you don't love your life today, start asking all the people that you can, and you're going to find people who can help you take a step.” (22:47—22:58)“Reach out. Don't wait. Don't wait another six months or another year. We think it's a straight line from where we are to where we're going. It's not. It's a trajectory. So, the longer you wait, the harder it is, the more money it costs, and the riskier it is. So, take a step today.” (26:51—27:12)“This current situation that you're in, and a future circumstance that you want, you're on a path. If you're on the right path today, there are definitive steps you should be taking to stay on that right path. If you're on the wrong path today — which, a lot of us are as young people because we weren't taught that in school, or residencies, or in the practice that we’re associating in — you need to get off that path ASAP. Because if you wait six months, you wait a year, you wait two years, you're further away from where you want to be than where you are right now. So, I would encourage you to ask good questions, ask for help, and do it now. Don't wait.” (27:21—28:03)Snippets:0:00 Introduction.1:18 Dr. Rice’s background.2:49 Reach out to others.4:29 Why Dr. Rice wrote his book.7:35 Don't stay stuck.8:39 Don't be afraid to live big.9:40 Find your thinking place.13:10 Three types of mentors and where to find them.17:16 Open up about mental health.18:34 Social media is not real life.20:39 Make change one step at a time.23:00 More about IgniteDDS and how to get in touch.27:14 Last thoughts.Dr. David Rice Bio:Dr. David Rice was born and raised in Western New York and graduated from the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine with honors. He completed his postgraduate training in 1995 at the Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.Because continuing education is of the utmost importance to Dr. Rice, he has furthered his studies over the past years with an emphasis on restorative, cosmetic, and implant dentistry at the world-renowned Pankey Institute and Dawson Center. He is one of only two Western New York graduates of the Pacific Aesthetic Continuum who have a special interest in cosmetic dentistry.In addition to maintaining his private practice, Dr. Rice holds a position in the Restorative Department of the State University of New York Buffalo School of Dental Medicine. He also lectures nationally to his peers on cosmetic and restorative dentistry. He is an active member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, American Dental Association Eighth District Dental Society, and Erie County Dental Society. 

655: Rethinking the Role of a Dental Hygienist in Today's Day & Age – Katrina SandersHygienists are an integral part of the dental practice and want to play a role in the overall success. And the hygienists are on the front line of the patients. Help them feel valued and empowered and watch your practice soar. To learn how, listen to Episode 655 of The Best Practices Show!Episode Resources:Subscribe to The Best Practices Show podcast https://the-best-practices-show.captivate.fm/listenJoin ACT’s To The Top Study Club https://www.actdental.com/tttSee ACT’s Live Events Schedule https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/act-dental-live-workshops-306239Get The Best Practices Magazine for free! https://www.actdental.com/magazineWrite a review on iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-best-practices-show/id1223838218Links Mentioned in This Episode:Katrina’s Speaking Engagements https://katrinasanders.com/speaking/Main Takeaways:Dental Hygienists can help the entire scope of a practice.Value is not based on production, but the number of patients healed.Opinions make dental hygienists feel valued.We take care of our people, because our people take care of our patients.Make the most of hygienists’ downtime and be creative. Get smart and efficient about schedules. Utilize hygienists more. If you don’t take the time to put together the process, nobody knows what the process is. Quotes:“Hygienists did not come out of ‘We need somebody to boost production in our practices.’ It was about drawing a line between the gap of what’s occurring in society when it comes to disease and ultimately how we can help them to achieve greater levels of health.” (8:40—9:00)“So preventive dentistry comes along in a strong way through campaigns like this in the 1950’s And from there dental hygienists really took on a significant role. They were members of the preventive team, they were working alongside the doctors to help identify early childhood decay, they were performing hygiene visits, they were performing advanced periodontal treatment. And as research has now started to unpack all of these complex layers of what diseases an oral practitioner can prevent through their care, now we are starting to see this fan unfold of all of the unique and amazing things hygienists can do .” (10:07—10:45)“That narrative, I understand some of the interactions with hygienists and us asking for salaries that are commensurate with the role that we hold in the practice, it is also important to know that there are other things, in fact, that hygienists might want to help them feel like an appreciated member of the team. And interestingly, if we can focus on those things it may actually help the entire scop of the practice .” (11:50—12:18)“You’re a magnet for what you want to attract. If you’re ad that you put out there is ‘We pay top dollar’ well then you’re going to attract hygienists who are going to push that envelope as high as high is it can go…it’s important to look at who is the type of practitioner you want to attract to your practice” (13:40—14:17)“I could be making more money somewhere else but that’s not what I value as a dental hygienist. What I value is delivery high level care to my patients. What I value is collaborating alongside doctors who respect me and my opinion. What I value is being able to go to a CE course and saying ‘I learned this. Here’s what this would look like to fold it into our existing protocol. What do you think about doing this for our patients?’ And being heard and understood.” (14:38—15:04)“My opinion, what I value, is being heard. And [my practice] is showing we value you and we want you to be able to…think about this if [my practice] buys the equipment I need and want I’m going to be delivering far superior care for my patients. I’m going to be delivering a higher level of care to these patients. This money is an investment in a piece of equipment but it’s an investment in standards of excellence in our practice..” (16:22—16:50)“This is in our culture. Our culture is ‘we take care of our people, because our people take care of our patients’. And we need to look at what does ‘We take care of our people’ actually look like. I think a lot of times the conversation of salary precedes so much of that…when you think about being a magnet and attracting a hygienist who is progressive, who cares about their patients, who wants the best for their patients…first, you may have that hygienist in your practice now. But there is a possibility you haven’t hosted those conversations.” (18:44—19:59)“What that does is it takes this hygienist who is passionate, who is excited, who loves this [innovation or new piece of equipment] and wants to be able to share this with their colleagues and you’re now positioning this person in a role of authority, in leadership, to work alongside you.” (21:00—21:15)“Your hygienists can do far greater things with their skills set than [call patients during downtime]. You have a clinician there who is available. You’ve got an hour of time now. Could you be looking at the existing schedule of patients and maybe saying ‘Hey, this hygienist could be anesthetizing this patient over here. You know what? This patient is actually scheduled for a restorative treatment but they’re actually needing to have some scaling and root cleaning done so could we get creative there with this hygienist?’ So looking at the full scope of the schedule for the day and saying ‘Could a hygienist step into the dentist’s operatory and perform those periodontal therapy areas on those patients?’” (21:12—22:53)“You’ve got creative providers in that practice who want to write content…you’ve got people who can help write campaigns for social media…you’ve got providers in there are who clinical experts. Let them be those experts.’” (23:39—24:27)“I don’t have time to not do that.I have had to carve out time and be intentional about meeting with my team. For hygienists that might mean doing a quarterly visit where you block off your schedule on a Friday or maybe a Saturday morning, brunch with your hygiene team. And sit down and talk to them about those initiatives” (26:55—27:20)“I don’t care if you have 10 team members or 10,000. You need a place where, no we are going to stop, we are going to get calibrated on this and this is crazy important” (29:45—29:55)“How many little things end up getting omitted…if we don’t have a line of sight as to what is going on and we are not consistently re-iterating the things that we are seeing from a process standpoint, if we’re not giving timely feedback, if we’re not creating a collaboration with our teams this is where we are going to run into challenges. Because the process that you built out to help support your team is not necessarily being executed.” (30:16—30:52)“Look at your hygienists as true partners in the practice. And by that I mean are there projects that you can actually put them in charge of. Can they be accountable for that?...Do you know what happens when you give accountability? When you have her build it? It becomes hers. And now she’s passionate about it. And now she’s the one who is integrating that, not you Doctor.” (31:00—32:00)“We are no longer just mouth maids, jaw janitors, tooth scrapers, cleaning ladies. We are so much more than that. And hygienists want to help their patients. That’s what they care about.” (32:28—32:41)Snippets:0:00 Introduction.7:00 History of Dental Hygienists.11:50 The value of a Dental Hygienist.14:30 Attracting the right Dental Hygienists.18:00 Culture matters.21:30 Maximizing downtime.25:57 What if you don’t have time to do this?30:16 Why meeting as a team matters.32:26 Final Takeaways.40:10 Conclusion.Katrina M. Sanders RDH, BSDH, M.Ed, RF Bio:In the ever-changing world of dental science where research, technology, and techniques for patient care are constantly evolving, dental professionals look to continuing education to provide insight, deliver actionable steps, empower, and create a dramatic impact within their clinical practice.With wit, charm, and a dash of humor, Katrina Sanders enchants dental professionals with her course deliverables, insightful content, and delightful inspiration. Her message of empowerment rings mighty throughout her lectures and stirs a deep sense of motivation amongst course participants.Katrina is the Clinical Liaison for AZPerio, the country's largest periodontal practice. She performs clinically, working alongside Diplomates to the American Board of Periodontology in the surgical operatory. Katrina perfected techniques during L.A.N.A.P. surgery, suture placement, IV therapy, and blood draws. She instructs on collaborative professionalism and standard-of-care protocols while delivering education through hygiene boot camps and study clubs.Send Katrina an email katrina@katrinasanders.comJoin Katrina on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/katrina.sanders.948Follow Katrina on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thedentalwinegenist/Learn more on Katrina’s website https://katrinasanders.com/

654: 3 Ways to Bounce Back From a Negative Review – Miranda BeesonNegative reviews can happen to even the best dentists. But how do you bounce back? Learn from coach Miranda Beeson in 3 simple ways. And get the best practices way to get great reviews too. To learn how, listen to Episode 654 of The Best Practices Show!Episode Resources:Subscribe to The Best Practices Show podcast https://the-best-practices-show.captivate.fm/listenJoin ACT’s To The Top Study Club https://www.actdental.com/tttSee ACT’s Live Events Schedule https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/act-dental-live-workshops-306239Get The Best Practices Magazine for free! https://www.actdental.com/magazineWrite a review on iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-best-practices-show/id1223838218Links Mentioned in This Episode:Send Kirk an email Kirk@actdental.comMain Takeaways:Negative reviews can be a gift.Step 1: You do need to respond to the negative review. Use your core values and take it offline.Step 2: Don’t feed the fire.Many one star reviews is a core values issue.Step 3: Encourage more positive reviews.Reviews matter.The more you lean into core values, the less issues you have. If you’re struggling, it isn’t the review itself.Quotes:“We know as practice owners, that consumers are looking to reviews when making a purchasing decision. So when we’re looking at the buying cycle. Looking at consideration. There is an awareness I need a new dentist. I’m going to go look online and as you’re pursuing, which is really what most people do now adays, you’re going to look at the reviews. And we know that, so if we get a bad one we panic. It is very much a part of the consumer buying process. It’s who we are now. It’s in our hand, it’s in our pocket, all day, every day. So our reputation is really on the line. So those feelings are valid that you have when you get a negative review. It’s just what we do with them and how we respond to them that matters.” (2:09—2:56)“This can be a gift. This can be a time to reflect on your asking for reviews system. This can help you stop and reflect on what are we really doing with that patient experience in the practice. Because patient experience is the most important thing to patients when they’re choosing a dentist. Yes insurance…do you take my insurance…but we know, under neath all of those superficial questions that patients ask, it’s really “how are you going to make me feel?” “What is this experience going to be like when I’m in the office?” So when you get a negative review - we know sometimes they’re real and sometimes they’re bogus - but when they’re real there is a validity in us taking it as an opportunity to reflect on what type of patient experience we are providing and what type of consistency there is to that. Maybe we are delivering a really excellent patient experience 90% of the time, but if 10% of the time we aren’t and that’s showing up online that can affect our reputation.” (3:50—4:51)“Step 1: You do need to respond to the review. We don’t want to leave that sad, little pitiful one star review with someone ranting. Whether real or not, we don’t want to leave it unanswered. Because that’s going to speak a story to your potential, new clients. If they’re seeing that review and the only side of the story that they’re then able to see is that review….and we should respond promptly ” (5:17—6:00)“How do we respond? The best thing to do…is to offer an apology. Show some empathy and concern…something that acknowledges “oh my goodness. I’m so sorry that you had a negative experience.” And make sure to include your core values as a practice.” (6:03—6:27)“You’re only going to want to take that so far online. The next step is providing a solution….You’re going to offer a path to resolution. And generally that should be “please give us a call or email me at this.” Something that gives them the call to action. That you’re willing to step up and hear them further…but we’re not going to do it on google. This is not the place for that.” (8:30—10:07)“That’s really step #2. Don’t feed the fire. So try not to take is personally. That’s easy to say…if you do get a negative review and they’re speaking to you or about your practice you give your heart and soul to…it’s hard not to take that personally. Take a deep breath and find some level of calm before you reply. It’s really really important to respond promptly but it’s much more important to take the time to calmly respond so we are not feeding the fire.” (10:57—11:48)“Don’t respond in a debate fashion. You will look negative in the eye of anyone reading that review if you also start going down that path of negativity. So no personal accusations, no patient information…We can’t please everyone and there are some people out there that are not going to own their own crazy and it’s going to show up. And what we do and how we respond is…that’s the only thing we have control over.” (15:56—16:39)“The more you have great core values that you believe in, that you reinforce with your team, you just find you have less problems. And the reason I say that is if you’re regularly getting one star reviews, that’s not reviews, that’s a core values issue. Because the more and more people you have in your chair, in which their values line up with yours…you’re going to find they give you discretion. They’ll give you a little bit of leeway. They’ll let you screw up. They’ll still love you. People that don’t line up with the same values, they’re going to be quick to tell you this isn’t working for me” (17:18—17:58)“Step #3: Encourage more positive reviews…We want to try to drown out that negative review with as many positives as possible. What data has shown us is that over 60% of people are willing to leave a review if you ask them to. If you don’t have a system within your practice already, just from a sheer marketing perspective of asking for reviews…you can get one in place. And how do we talk to patients about asking for reviews? What patients are we going to ask for reviews? Do we talk about it at huddle and pinpoint them in the morning? Are there certain key phrases that a patient says throughout their experience that cue you to say “Thank you so much for that. Would you mind sharing that online?” Because what we know is more than half of the people you ask will do that for you because they do care. ” (20:11—21:30)“Make it easy. If you can have a QR code or now they have digital business cards or something that can go home or a lot of our automated reminder systems can push a review and you can let them know we’re going to send this right to your phone. We want to make it as easy as possible, if they do agree to leave a review. Then that just makes it even easier for them and you can start to drown out that one star negative review ” (24:25—24:51)“You can have 5 stars, but only 4 reviews. I don’t know how legit; that might just be your team members. So when we’re really looking at this overall, we want that to be as high as possible with as many reviews as possible.” (25:01—25:15)“You need somebody to respond to those 4 and 5 star reviews and validating and showing that we have a personal connection with our patients here in this office.” (27:11—27:18)“Step #1, you’ve got to confirm if that reviewer is an imposter or a patient or not. We need to know the truth behind is this someone we actually did service who is upset or is this just a complete fake…You want to attempt to have that removed, once you have confirmed that is it, in fact, not a true patient. Can you request to have them removed. The process is a little bit different depending on where they posted the review…but to be honest you’re probably not going to be able to have it removed. But it’s worth taking the steps to attempt to have it removed…Follow those same steps. Respond promptly, try to calm yourself down first, try not to have an argumentative tone, but positive, offer a solution and you can indicate in there ‘give us a call, we’re having a hard time finding your record or something of that nature that vaguely indicates that we’re not sure you’re a patient here.” (29:48—31:36)“I have a team, they’re just under 100 and they wanted to hit that 100 review mark. And so they set it as a quarterly goal, as one of the KPIs that they’re tracking on a weekly basis. They’re asking for reviews, they created an “asking for reviews system”, and they’re tracking it every single week. And they’re not even halfway through their quarter and they’re already at 98 reviews.” (35:38—36:03)“Sometimes these are true. And we need to ensure, if there is any truth in the review that we are addressing it within the practice…If we are seeing a little bit of a trend, then we need to stop and reflect and we need to say ‘Is this something that really did happen in the office? Is this an experience that patients really are having when they’re here? Are they being talked to this way? Are we dishing out too many cancellation fees and it’s start to rub people the wrong way?” We need to really reflect on the truth that is there within that review and then address that within the practice. You want to align with your team…align with them on what happened during that experience. What can we do to shift things in a positive way moving forward? And then how are we going to start drowning this out? How can we start asking for reviews? How can we start getting more and more positive. And it might be that we need to change some of these systems within our practice or it might be that we need to initiate an ‘asking for reviews system.’ But we have to stop and look at, typically there is some level of truth in any feedback that we receive …so if it’s there and we can snuff it out then we need to figure out how to address it within the practice. And then ultimately, you just want to be the type of practice that’s represented really well online. And again, all roads lead back to our core values. So if you have really clearly identified core values, you have a team that knows what they are, that lives them day in and day out and you really center what you do and that patient experience around them then you are going to be the type of practice that is reflected outward in those reviews.” (37:09—39:04)Snippets:0:00 Introduction.2:09 Can negative reviews be positive?5:17 Step 1: How to Respond.8:30 Provide a solution.10:55 Step 2: Try not to feed the fire.17:18 The importance of core values.20:11 Step 3: Encourage more positive reviews.21:02 How to ask for reviews.25:00 Why you need more reviews.29:29 If the review isn’t from a real patient37:05 Final Takeaways.40:10 Conclusion.Miranda Beeson, MS, BSDH Bio:Miranda Beeson, MS, BSDH, has over 25 years of clinical dental hygiene, front office, practice administration, and speaking experience. She is enthusiastic about communication and loves helping others find the power that words can bring to their patient interactions and practice dynamics. As a Lead Practice Coach, she is driven to create opportunities to find value in experiences and cultivate new approaches.Miranda graduated from Old Dominion University, and enjoys spending time with her husband, Chuck, and her children, Trent, Mallory, and Cassidy. Family time is the best time, and is often spent on a golf course, a volleyball court, or spending the day boating at the beach. Send Miranda an email: miranda@actdental.comFollow Miranda on ACT’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/actdental/

653: One Dentist’s Journey Through Embezzlement – Dr. Stacey HallWhat's one of the most embarrassing things that can happen as a dentist? It’s embezzlement — and no one is immune! So, how do you prevent it from happening in your practice? To share what she learned the hard way, Kirk Behrendt brings in Dr. Stacey Hall from The Dawson Academy with tips to deter embezzlers from stealing your time, money, and energy. Don't think it can't happen to you! For the best practices to protect your office, listen to Episode 653 of The Best Practices Show!Episode Resources:Join Dr. Hall on FacebookFollow Dr. Hall on InstagramSubscribe to The Best Practices Show podcastJoin ACT’s To The Top Study ClubSee ACT’s Live Events ScheduleGet The Best Practices Magazine for free!Write a review on iTunesMain Takeaways:Embezzlement is more complex than you initially think.Don't think that embezzlement can't happen to you.Have solid checks and balances in your system.Always do background checks before hiring.Trust, and verify.Quotes:“To my knowledge, I have never had anybody embezzle from me. I have always done checks and balances, checks with what we were supposed to collect, what was being deposited, and that sort of thing. I had a patient that came to me and said she thought somebody was stealing from me — and it was very cut and dry. It wasn't like she could think it. It was, from what she presented, we knew. And it was, I think, more surprising because I and my whole team would have never thought this one person would have ever done it.” (3:22—4:04)“You still think, ‘Okay, how did this happen? Has it happened before?’ But you're also like, ‘Well, certainly, there has to be something in [the embezzler’s] life that made her do this for just a moment. There's just a moment that she's doing this. This was something that just happened. Maybe she owed some money. I don't know.’ So, I automatically go into this compassionate, like, ‘There had to have been something that happened that made her do this. This couldn't be a long-term thing because we certainly would have caught it.’” (7:30—8:03)“[After finding out about the embezzlement and] I started digging, then I'm starting to get angry. I'm angry at myself, and I'm angry at the person doing this. I'm angry at the fact that she's done this to a patient, and then the patient trusted us to hire somebody that wouldn't do this. And then, also the patients’ trust that we're also doing checks and balances. You start to go into this whole spiral. Even my front office ladies, as they start to learn what was going on, they start to feel angry, like, how did that happen around them? Or how did they never feel or get a sense that something like this was happening, or that she would be able to do that? I have pretty good intuition, and this one completely bamboozled me. I did not see this coming, whatsoever. So, I felt pretty lost.” (8:09—8:58)“[Embezzlement is complex] because you think, ‘Okay. Well, there must have been adjustments. That's how we can comb through. We can just tag all adjustments and say we would investigate all those cases.’ Well, even after we suspended her, my staff thought that she wasn't coming to work the next day because there was a family emergency. We weren't really talking about what was going on yet. In fact, we have somebody that leaves the office with a cell phone every weekend so that our patients, if they were to call for an emergency, actually get somebody on the phone. She was supposed to have the phone that weekend. And so, I called my office manager and I said, ‘Why don't we make sure that Brittney goes and grabs the phone?’ She said that's fine. So, Brittney goes to the office to grab the phone while Sarah is at the office — she accessed the office. It ends up that Brittney doesn't know Sarah is not supposed to be there, and we don't know what Sarah was doing on the computers that afternoon. But we do know, from that Monday after that, she had contacted a patient, told her that she wasn’t going to be at work on Monday over the weekend, and so if she wanted to get the work done with the discount she had promised her — so, then there was a whole other element. She was promising discounts to patients and saying, ‘You need to check out with me if you want the discount. I'm the only one authorized to give you the discount.’ She said, ‘If you want that discount, why don't you bring the cash this weekend? I'm sorry to do this.’ So, she actually called the patient and collected $3,000 in cash. There's a whole other element. There's a cash element. You're trying to figure out checks, and now you have cash. And so, then we were trying to figure out patients who usually pay with cash, and what would happen with them. We find that out. So, there's the cash, and then there's the checks. And to be honest with you, we have credit cards that are saved. You can't see the credit card information if you were to look at the computer. But then, I'm like, ‘Well, did she ever get a credit card and use the credit card for little purchases?’ I don't know that. That's a whole other element that I don't know yet, unfortunately.” (9:53—12:14)“As we start to dig, we started finding some adjustments and some things, and we started calling patients and questioning and asking them to check their checks. It ends up that there were some patients that went and checked their checks. She was essentially banking on the fact that patients would not go back and look at their check in the computer and say, ‘Oh, yeah. That was actually endorsed, and everything was right there.’ Because I don't go to check my checks. If I do write a check, I don't go and make sure. Now, I always write the check — the payee section, I don't let people stamp it. I've never done that. So, this was her telling patients that she was going to have somebody stamp it, and she actually would write it to herself instead. So, that was a huge target. And so, we had this collection of information to provide to the investigators.” (12:17—13:13)“It ends up that we get the subpoena, and they get [the embezzler’s] bank records. So, let's say that we had taken to the investigator about $9,000 to $10,000 worth of what we knew. That was just checks. This did not include the cash that we had figured out. It ends up that the investigator comes back to us with all the names on checks that were deposited with the amounts, and there was another $15,000 that we had no idea about. So, those were another whole group of patients that we needed to call. And they were patients that, it lined up. What they did is from January forward, thinking that maybe we thought this started happening at the end of winter, beginning of spring. Well, it ends up that — no. In fact, it was all the way back to January.” (16:25—17:17)“We have an advocate. At first, I was like, ‘I don't need an advocate. I'm just going to call the investigator.’ Well, they're not always available, and so the advocate kind of holds your hand. I thought, ‘Oh, we can get through this.’ No. Having that advocate has been good to be able to call on.” (18:10—18:28)“I'm frustrated. I'm mad. I go through lots of emotions. This steals from my paycheck — we make good money. We're dentists. But it steals from the bonuses from my staff. They get bonuses. And so, it stole from the collections because this was money not collected. So, if we're up to $30,000, that's money that was stolen from my staff.” (19:16—19:42)“I actually had the gift of somebody being able to do background checks for people starting to work at my practice when I was private. Now, you have Hartland. They do all that, and that's the gift. Now, the thing is, if [the embezzler] did this for someone else and got away with it who was very old-fashioned dentistry, then this would have never come up.” (21:01—21:23)“I'm all for people getting back on their feet, and I agree people can change. But when that came out that [the embezzler’s] charges could possibly be lessened, I about lost it because I'm like, ‘This is a lot of money. This was very methodical.’ Actually, even the fact that when I first was going to suspend her, I looked at her and asked, ‘Is there any reason why you think this would be happening, why a suspension would be happening? There are maybe some adjustments that look funny,’ she looked me dead in the eye — and I think nonverbal language is very loud. There was not one thing in her nonverbal language that made me think she [was telling] the truth. Now, I knew she was not telling me the truth. But what freaked me out even more was that she was so stoic about it. She looked me in the eye and was so serious about, ‘I have no idea why this would be happening.’ That actually scares me even more. I know this is probably not the first time. So, when they were talking about her charges being dumbed down — if there could be a word for it, dumbed down — I'm like, ‘No. Sorry, hell no. That's not okay with me.’” (21:34—22:59)“Everyone is a [potential] victim, whether you're in a single practice, solo practice, or whether you're with Heartland DSO. Believe me, we're talking about this on a regular basis with my regional manager, district manager, you name it, of how to prevent this.” (24:18—24:36)“With Heartland, I just handed that over to them and thought, ‘Okay, they're doing the checks and balances.’ Well, I still need to do the daily, weekly, monthly checks and balances and be able to ask questions and be a little bit more involved. As much as I've never been a gross micromanager, asking questions is what always helps keep people in line. I think it gave me this moment of, ‘Okay, I need to still be involved in that so no one can feel that they could actually be able to get away with that.’” (26:08—26:47)“What I would do different, I would have, at some point, made it so that each person walking in the building — yes, you have a key fob. In our building, we do have an alarm — I would have made sure each person had their own code so that I knew who was in, who was out. Again, we're not huge. Even though I'm with Heartland, I still have a small practice. And so, I didn't feel the need to do this major shift of making it feel like this big entity . . . Well, that's changed.” (26:51—27:32)“I agree with you on the computers, everybody having a login. Even when you're logging into Dentrix, you're on your Dentrix site, you're logging in with your code. The problem is there's still an issue with that, because sometimes I'm typing my notes on a computer in the back office, and sometimes I'm typing notes on my computer in my office. Maybe you get more strict with that. I don't know. We do know that Sarah's computer — she sat at her computer most of the time, and nobody else was really logged in there. But the thing is, when you do those checks and balances, that's where it can get a little fuzzy or a little gray.” (27:35—28:17)“The other thing that, looking back, I would have done differently is, we had some new staff at the time, and I think what she did is she took advantage of the fact that they didn't know all the rules. If I wasn't around, that's when she would, on the sly, say to a patient, ‘I can give you a discount for cash if you want to bring that in.’ We don't do discounts for cash. I know a lot of people do — it's the thing. We don't. It ends up that she was doing that on the side. But then, these new girls — she was training them. So, they thought she's the one. If you want to know anything about your account, this is the girl you go to. She was like the leader up front. So, in their minds, she was doing everything that she was supposed to do.” (28:19—29:12)“What we've done differently, one big thing is — what we found is that, yes, there were some adjustments. So, yes, those are things that are red flags for all offices. If you're looking at your adjustments, that's great. The thing is, it wasn't all adjustments. But if there are adjustments, those have to be signed off by me. We have made this slip of paper. I know people are trying to go paperless. There's still reason for paper. I'm sure you could find something to do it on, an iPad or phones, however you want to do it digitally, but anything that has to be signed off. The other thing is, because it was adjustments — but it wasn't all adjustments. It was also if somebody was changing a fee on a code. So, let's say that I bring somebody in. There are a lot of people that come in for a limited exam, and I'm like, ’You know what? They're a patient of record. They just wanted me to look at something. Take that $99 off. Just make it zero.’ So, if we do any of that, like taking that code and taking it from $99 to zero, or if I am doing an MOD on a patient and I'm being an MOD-L, then I just say, ‘You know what? Change it in the computer, but still keep it at the charge that the patient was being charged that they thought that they were paying today.’ I'm fee-for-service so that, to me, is important. I don't want them not to pay more and feel like they've been bamboozled. So, those instances, they can't change the code unless they have this sign-off. Between myself going to the front and my office manager seeing that I've signed off on it, that's where we see it, where things are allowed, so to speak.” (29:14—30:52)“What's the answer to the fact that what [the embezzler] was doing is — everything was right in the ledger. You check the ledger, you check the ledger, and then maybe two weeks later, before the month’s end, she would swipe the ledger of the patients as if they had never come in. And so, that check was still sitting there waiting for her. She didn't actually put it in the computer. It was just in this cloud. She would take that ledger and swipe all the codes as if the patient never came in, and then she would take the check and deposit it. So, their account was zero. Their balance was zero. And so, that is one of those things that’s like, when are you really looking at the ledger to make sure everything adds up two weeks from now or three weeks from now? I don't know what the answer is to that.” (30:59—31:47)“I'm putting a little bit of pressure on software companies like Dentrix. Just like you were saying that you get an email or a text or something whenever there's a red flag or somebody's entering your office, why am I not getting a text — or, I don't want a text for everything, but why aren't we getting a diagram of all changes that were being made? Dentrix should be able to throw out, ‘There's a red flag here. Your person, Sarah, on her account, made 15 changes in one person's account today.’ Like, why aren't they . . .? I mean, we have these software companies that supposedly — I think that they could change these things. I don't know if it's maybe risk management, like in the sense of, if they're trying to say that they could prevent embezzlement and then they don't, I don't know if it's a risk for them. I have no idea. But I'm going to put a little pressure on these software companies. And to be honest with you, the one that can come up with something that would be like, ‘There are red flags here,’ to try to prevent it, I think that we should all be applauding them and possibly buying into their service because I think it would be a great idea.” (31:50—33:03)“The take-home is, build a system for the checks and balances. I think the one thing that gives me a little bit of security now is people having to sign off on all these things. Because I have so much going on, if somebody said, ‘Did you authorize that adjustment back in May for this?’ I'd have no idea. I don't remember the conversation I had with the patient yesterday if somebody didn't actually type it in the computer. So, that gives me a little reassurance. If there were any changes, if it's not in the documents that I've signed off on it — it helps me. It gives me a little reassurance. It's, again, the whole checks and balances. So, if there's anything that I could say is a take-home, put together maybe one other thing in your system that helps you put a little reassurance that this isn't happening to you.” (37:33—38:22)Snippets:0:00 Introduction.1:51 Dr. Hall’s background.2:54 How embezzlement came to light.6:29 The emotional and financial toll of embezzlement.23:49 Lessons learned and changes made.34:51 The recovery period.37:22 Last thoughts.Dr. Stacey Hall Bio:After completing her undergraduate degree from Virginia Tech in 1998, Dr. Stacey Hall graduated from VCU’s MCV School of Dentistry in 2002, receiving her D.D.S. She is a member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, Academy of General Dentistry, the American Dental Association, and was awarded member fellowship to the International Congress of Oral Implantology in 2008. Dr. Hall is a scholar with the internationally renowned Dawson Academy.She is part-time faculty with the Academy, assistant teaching for courses concerning occlusion and rehabilitation of worn dentition. Dr. Hall also leads their ambassador program. She and her husband, Michael, have been blessed with three beautiful daughters, Lanie, Gracie, and Abbie. She is a loyal Virginia Tech Football fan and enjoys boating, skiing, Bible study, and missions work. 

7 Proven Steps to Reduce Patient CancellationsEpisode #652 with Dr. Barrett StraubDo you deal with cancellations in your practice? If you’re like most dental offices, the answer is yes. Looking for some training on how to help with cancellations and no shows? Let’s set you and your team up for success with these 7 proven steps. To learn how, listen to Episode 652 of The Best Practices Show!Episode Resources:Send Dr. Barrett an emailSubscribe to The Best Practices Show podcastJoin ACT’s To The Top Study Club, contact GinaSee ACT’s Live Events ScheduleGet The Best Practices Magazine for free!Write a review on iTunesLinks Mentioned in This Episode:Send Kirk an emailGet the slides, send an emailCapacity trackerMain Takeaways:Mitigate cancellations by being proactive while a patient is in the chair. An empty chair is negative profit.You’ve got to put the right people in the right chairs.Coding appointments can show you which patients value your time and value what you do.Make the patient feel like you know them. Are you a transactional or relational practice?Train people that they can’t cancel.Quotes:“Every cancellation that has ever happened in dentistry started at the chair. And what I mean by that is the value, the conversation, and we can’t just pass the buck.Yes everybody has to work together; front and back. But all cancellations start at the chair. If you’re looking to solve the root cause of the problem, then we have to start further back in the appointment, which is the conversation.” (5:28—5:53)“Research indications why patients cancel. Number one is they do forget…The second reason would be lack of perceived value by the patient. And sometimes by the practice. They feel like they’re doing you a favor by canceling. You ever felt that?...Sometimes we give that perception to patients…Reason number four is something comes up that they would rather do. It becomes a value issue…Number five, they have an emotional barrier. That’s very real. Some feel pain. Some are afraid they’ll receive bad news…and I’m just going to put this off. And lastly some just don’t want to spend the money on dentistry. Things happen, water heater broke, flooded basement, got another bill for one of my college kids.” (5:55—7:41)“Committing and complying to a time slot are two different things. If I work the front desk at your practice, I’m going to be the gatekeeper…I am going to protect the schedule with my life. So if I put you in here I’m going to look in your eyes and make sure are committing and not just complying.” (9:09—9:37)“I love the idea of the hygienist becoming more involved in that chair time. It’s easier to cancel on the administrative person answering the phone. It’s harder to cancel on a hygienist or the doctor. And oftentimes patients canceling don’t think the message is going to get back…that is the essence of it; creating the idea that we’re not a commodity, we’re special, we’re unique, this chair time is valuable and we’re not looking for repeat customers who we thank for spending time in our chair. We are looking for loyal patients who appreciate what we offer and know that it’s a partnership and they’ve got to hold their half of the bargain.” (11:14—11:56)“An empty chair isn’t not no profit. An empty chair is negative profit.” (12:39—12:42)“One cancellation in most dental practices cuts that profit in half for that entire operatory. If you have a second cancellation in eight patients you are now working for free in that operatory. There is no profit whatsoever. And if you have a third one I can almost guarantee you that you are working at a deficit. Which means you are losing money.” (13:05—13:29)“There are A patients, B patients and C patients. There are patients that value what you do and they show up and they pay. That’s it…and then there are C patients. C patients don’t really value what you do. They don’t value your time. They don’t show up…it’s just that they haven’t demonstrated a value for what you do…80-90% of your profits come from A patients. 80-90% of your problems come from C patients.” (16:03—16:40)“I highly recommend you create 3 appointment codes and these appointment codes are different than procedure codes. They’re 3 appointment codes that actually code behavior.The first one is a no show, the second one is cancel, and the third one is late…Team members need to be taught how to break an appointment. A lot of times they drag an appointment which means you don’t collect any data on it…When you have data it removes all emotions. Coding these behaviors can show you which patients value your time and value what you do. You can post the ASA procedure code which is D-9986 no-show or missed appointment to the ledger. And a cancel is D9987. (18:15—19:34)“So the point is we can actually use data to say “I feel like I’m at 110% at capacity, actually I’m at 87%. It helps us set better strategy in that, let’s do more, do more, do more and a lot of times a lot of us can really have some significant profitability to the bottom line if we just say hey let’s fill the chairs we have. It feels like we’re full, but we can actually add 7% capacity. That’s a lot of profitability.” (21:30—22:01)“You gotta train people you can’t cancel. So whatever your message machine says, it should say something like this at the end “This machine does not accept any changes in schedule. In the event you need to make a change to your appointment, please call back during the day and ask for Betty. We would be so happy to help you.” (24:50—24:15)“People don’t really cancel on their friends. And the question I really have for a practice that has a lot of cancellations is, is your practice transactional or is it relational?...What shows me it’s relational is when I see it in your practice. And you’ve got a couple things in place. It’s either the RFR, which is reason for return…or you can do that in what’s called the FORD concept” (26:27—27:10)“The biggest problem with most dental practices is they don’t give their best energy to things that matter most.” (30:18—30:23)“We have to value what we do first. And then we have to create value for them. So when it comes to creating value for them, I want to help them understand why they are coming back for this appointment. I want to know about them. I want to find out the purpose. What are their long-term goals. And then I’m going to employ the 4 rules of scheduling when it comes to the schedule itself. #1, if I’m a team member at the front I’m going to say we are going to schedule today and tomorrow first. I’m going to stay focused on making sure we have the right patients in the schedule today and tomorrow…#2 I want to schedule from the start of the day. And then we are going to start from the beginning of the day because we want to get the first 5 hours the way we want them. And then we are going to get new patients in within 7 days. And lastly #4, patients fit into your schedule. Don’t ever say to a patient, what works for you?...You have to create so much value through verbal skills that people rearrange their life to fit into yours.”  (31:20—33:33)“I want to encourage you, don’t use the word cancellation. Now this is 10 years old. I’m using it today to describe this problem in dentistry, but when you’re talking to a patient do ever use the word cancellation. Because you can trade that word out for violation. I like the words “change in schedule” You can present that as a benefit that you’re going to reschedule for that appointment….make this a regular practice to leave this word out of your vocabulary.” (36:22—37:26)“If someone is going to cancel, I highly encourage you to put them on hold. Let them sweat this out. For a couple of reasons. You’re going to gather yourself because you want to gather yourself. In the moment you’re going to figure out who is this patient? Are they an A patient, a B patient or a C patient? Because I’m not going to respond the same way to an A patient then I would a C patient…If you’re a C patient I’m going to make it hard for you to cancel this appointment.” (38:30—39:29)“Don’t be so quick to respond. Enjoy the silence. Ask good questions and help the patient keep the appointment.” (42:09—42:16)“Most every practice that we see now is way too busy. They have way too many patients and they’re booking every patient out and they have no openings every 6 months. I can tell you right now, you don’t need all of those patients. Your job is to start putting the right patients in your chairs over time and by that process you’ll see the entire practice change. But I need everybody enlisted in this opportunity to make this happen. If I’m a hygienist I’m going to start freeing up the space for C’s and start making room for A’s.” (44:28—44:58)“I like the idea of booking out 6 months plus 2 weeks, to start to build the type of patient base that we want long-term. It is not good to be booked out continuously all the time. You need space for something that might happen. And the ability to get a new patient in that whole process.” (45:55—46:22)“If I can get a patient on the phone two weeks from today that has a hygiene appointment and they say anything other than ‘great, I’ll be there’ There’s a 50% chance they’re not coming…You now have a two weeks window you can pull patients forward.” (47:10—47:48)“You can get almost anyone to call you back if you employ one thing. It’s called curiosity. Never tell people why you are calling. Just create a little curiosity.  (49:08—49:16)“I think every practice in the world should have a cancellation fee. But never ever ever ever use it. It can be $75 or $100. If you’re charging someone $75 you’re not making any more and you’re just irritating the situation. If you charge me $75 for my 4th missed appointment I am going to get so angry with you that I might go on your website and give you a one star review.” (52:57—53:36)“[seeing patients who are late] We would usually set a timeframe…like a 15 minute border. If it’s 20 minutes late we just say no because we have to build some value. If they’re 10, 12 minutes late…we offer to see them but we recognize and say “you’re here 20 minutes late. We are not going to get an hour’s worth done” because you’ve then just devalued the 60 minute time slot. So you meet the patient halfway.” (54:53—55:42)“I love prepayments for all patients because you want to lower your cancellation rate and no show rate, people show up when they have money on the line already. We collect it for any big case.” (57:51—58:09)“Prepayment for all appointments is not a bad thing. It’s actually a good thing. Because you’re gonna get what’s called commitment. If I’m giving you money, I’m committed to being there. And it’s amazing how much you do upfront, how much less you have to do later.” (58:34—58:48)“Ken Allen, who is a dentist, he created an incredible system. He said here is what a great patient is to our practice. And he said the line in the sand is 3. Once they’re 3 they get coded and then I have the opportunity to upgrade or reinstate them as an A patient but I’m going to have an honest conversation with them.” (1:01:47—1:02:09)Snippets:0:00 Introduction.5:28 Cancellations start in the chair.9:50 Owning the chair.12:10 The real cost of an empty chair.18:15 Coding missed appointments to get data.26:27 Is your practice transactional or relational?36:22 Rescuing the cancellation.47:00 Calling 2 weeks ahead to confirm the appointment.49:08 Get the call back.52:57 Charging a cancellation fee.54:53 Late patients.1:04:19 Conclusion.