Manageable Causes

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*For the full version of this eSSENTIALs newsletter from Linda Drevenstedt, please download the attached PDF file.

Tennis is a sport I enjoy watching. Rafael Nadal is one of my favorite players. He has been a champion on clay courts and often struggled with hard court wins. This year he was sidelined with knee surgery and while in recovery was stressing the healing knee. His coach Francis Roig created a new strategy. “If you cannot run, what you need is a lot more precision.”1
Nadal’s coach did NOT keep doing the same thing but came up with a Manageable Cause and Solution for Nadal’s challenge. He is now winning against hard court players that have beaten him in the past. His coach says Nadal’s strength is in adaptation.
Looking over the past few years in dentistry, it seems many practices are defeating themselves by trying to fit their past solutions into a new world order. Or, they are wasting time with blame, excuses and “wishing and hoping” things will get back to the way they were. If you treat your practice like a champion athlete, you will look for manageable causes and solutions.
What can you manage to change or improve? Look within your practice for manageable (workable) improvements. For example, take treatment acceptance. Can you or your hygienists learn new skills as Nadal did? His coach taught him to be more precise by practicing hitting water bottles instead of tennis balls, which sharpened his aiming skills. Do you have a precise intent with each patient? If your patient has outstanding treatment, are you or your hygienists saying the same ole thing again and expecting a different outcome? Are you letting the “excuse” of insurance plans block your way? Or, would you be willing to hone new skills and practice ’til you integrate the new skill as Nadal did? There are plenty of books, DVD’s and online materials on “selling psychology.” Look up the term Motivational Interviewing. Email me for an article I wrote with our Hygiene Consultant, Julie Young. As a team, revamp all of your patient communications and stop relying on more information to convince your patients to buy your treatment. Register for my online webinar series, Treatment Acceptance Mastery, to be presented on October 4th.
Have you looked at the skills your team uses to accomplish their job? In my practice analysis, I find that the most neglected area is the business office. The dentist has a room full of dental equipment to be more productive, but the business team is dealing with one shared printer and a copier that makes streaks. The business office team deserves to have the best equipment available to efficiently do their job. Here are some ideas to improve your business office:
1. STOP SENDING ANY PAPER CLAIMS. Get efficient with insurance processing using ALL available technology. Send all photos and x-rays electronically.
2. STOP calling insurance companies and get an online service to research and verify. http://www.onemindhealth.com
3. Study, Study, study your new coding and the changing requirements for insurance reimbursement. Subscribe to Dr. Charles Blair’s Insurance Solutions newsletter and get his book, Coding with Confidence 2014. For more info visit http://www.drcharlesblair.com. Study what you need to know about the most used codes in your practice.
4. STOP blaming the insurance company and manage the game from your end. Every year, every practice should send a staff member to an insurance update course AND a user meeting for your software. Also, send one of your staff to the annual AADOM meeting. (More info: http://www.dentalmanager.com )
Have you or your hygiene team attended any of the oral systemic courses? Check out http://www.aaosh.org so that you can create an updated protocol for your periodontal therapy program. Attend the Bale-Doneen Method course (www.baledoneen.com) and your eyes will be opened to the critical role you play in your patient’s overall health.
Are your hygienists FULLY using their ultrasonics with every patient at every visit? Have you added a product line to offset the reduced reimbursement of insurance in hygiene? Your vet has dog and cat food and doggie toothpaste, your eye doctor sells you glasses; why aren’t you selling toothpaste and mouthwash? We have a trainer for that.
Are you using more than an explorer that dates back into the 1700’s to find decay? Today, the options for assisted decay detection are widely accepted and are powerful patient motivators. Consider adding a DIAGNOdent™, Spectra, Canary System or CariesID. There are lots of opinions to check out including “The Dental Geek”. Take one for a spin and see if it improves your ability to SEE. I bet Nadal is not using an old wooden racket to win championships.
Treat your practice like a champion. Explore manageable causes and solutions to any challenge that arises. And, be sure every person in every position gets an annual dose of updates to keep your practice current and agile in the new world order of dentistry.
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1″How Nadal Became Hard-Core”. Wall Street Journal Online. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324324404579045151909110182.html

        

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