Ed Rabinowitz

	 The ultimate conversation, face-to-face between the patient and the dentist, is that much more productive.

There’s little debate that the patient conversation is incredibly important to a practice’s success. The scope of that conversation, however, is changing.

The traditional patient journey begins when they receive a word-of-mouth referral from a friend or family member. The patient then phones the dental office, schedules an appointment over the phone, visits the office, and is handed a stack of forms to fill out. So much for tradition.

“Today, patients want to go online, research their dentist, evaluate their philosophy, and see photos of the dentist and his or her office staff,” says Luke Kervin, Co-CEO and founder of 

, a practice growth platform. “Patients are looking to make a personal connection with the dentist online today.”

And that’s broadening the definition — and importance — of the patient conversation.

Kervin says there are two different types of patient conversations — direct, and indirect. When patients schedule an appointment or pay a bill online, they can do so through a variety of communication mechanisms. And if the conversation needs to move beyond artificial intelligence, the patient is referred to a “live” individual at the practice. Those are direct conversations.

And then there’s the concept of an indirect online conversation.

“I always tell practices that patients are having a conversation about you and your practice online,” Kervin says. “It’s up to you to decide whether you want to be part of that conversation. And increasingly, we’re seeing that dentists do want to be part of that conversation.”

Those conversations are happening on social media sites like Facebok, Twitter and Instagram. They’re happening on review sites like Yelp.

“We think it’s really important for practices to be engaging their patients online through these channels,” Kervin says.

Kervin refers to PatientPop as a practice growth platform. It’s a new category of software that, from a high level perspective, tracks the patient journey from first impression to the examination room, then picks it up again following treatment.

More specifically, step one optimizes the practice’s web presence, ensuring that it’s rich with photos and contact information. That’s where the patient journey begins today, Kervin says, where patients want a personal connection with the practice before making a decision to schedule an appointment.

Step two is an array of communication tools, including an online scheduling system enabling patients to schedule appointments 24/7.

“The data is really interesting here,” Kervin says. “Across all of our practices, 51% of patients that land on one of our websites choose to schedule online versus calling the office; 66% of those requests are coming from new patients; and 36% of those requests are occurring after hours when the practice is closed. So, in 2017, it’s absolutely critical that practices are offering real time online scheduling on their website. If they’re not doing that, they’re probably disappointing their patients, and they’re missing out on prospective patients and future business.”

Following appointments, quality surveys are sent to every patient. Kervin believes that’s an “incredibly valuable tool” because practices are now receiving a steady stream of feedback from their patients. There’s also a tool that monitors the practice and provider’s reputation across the web. In effect, dentists are learning about issues they never knew were impacting their business.

The net result? The ultimate conversation, face-to-face between the patient and the dentist, is that much more productive.

Kervin says the cost to practices is approximately $600 per month depending on what modules are included. It’s an ongoing subscription, he says, in that practices are subscribing to continuous innovation in a world where technology is evolving at a rapid pace.

“And today, there’s just way to much for a practice to handle as it relates to its online presence,” he says.

PatientPop launched in the fall of 2014, and Kervin says feedback from dental practices thus far has been very positive. One of the keys to success, he says, is a focus on transparency.

“When we (Kervin and his business partner) looked at the world of healthcare, we were really surprised to see the lack of tracking and transparency,” he says.

So they built a solution that informs a practice how many patients are finding them online; are they finding them through an online profile or a website; are they new or returning patients; and what services they’re looking for.

“Now our customers can log in, see exactly what’s happening online, and how much value we’re driving," Kervin said. 

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Articles

The times are changing, and the scope and shape of the patient conversation is rapidly evolving. Today there are tools enabling practices to grow, modernize and streamlining the provider-patient relationship. Conversations that used to be confined to face-to-face are now happening online, 24/7. Are you missing out on them?


Maximizing the Evolution of the Patient Conversation

	I like completing goals that I’ve established for myself to be my best, then moving on to the next one and growing.

His father retired from dentistry last year at age 83.

“He loved dentistry,” explains Michael Tischler, D.D.S., F.A.G.D., who maintains a 

 in Woodstock, NY, while also running the 

 franchise network. “It always looked like an appealing profession.”

It has become an appealing profession as well for Tischler, a recognized leader in reconstructive dentistry who educates colleagues in state-of-the-art techniques and technologies through his Tischler Dental Seminars series.

Five years ago, Tischler began the evolving process of creating Teeth Tomorrow, a franchise network that provides permanent, natural looking teeth custom-made to patients’ personal requirements. But the actual launch occurred about one year ago — and growth has been significant.

“At this point we have 40 locations throughout the United States,” Tischler says. “Mark Siebert, who wrote a book called “

,” one of the leaders in franchising, said we’re the fastest growing healthcare franchising he’s seen in the last 20 years.”

Teeth Tomorrow was built out of necessity. Tischler explains that he didn’t like what he saw occurring in reconstructive dentistry. In his opinion, acrylic bridges weren’t working. So, he changed the paradigm. Through Teeth Tomorrow he delivers a final Prettau Zirconia full-arch bridge which is the only solution backed by a 

 of more than 2,000 bridges with better than a 99 percent success rate as published in the Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry.

“No one has ever done that in dentistry that we’ve seen,” Tischler says.

One of the keys to success, he says, is that the provisional is delivered next day versus same day, which had previously always been the standard. The benefit, Tischler says, is that it’s a better provisional, and results in better patient scheduling.

He’s also not surprised by the rapid growth.

“I’m actually happy with it, and we want to grow more,” Tischler says. “We know the availability of 250 locations in the U.S. that are geographically mapped out. We supply a brand that differentiates a dentist from anybody in his or her area. We have a call center and a website, and if the leads come in, it’s a way to separate yourself from every other practitioner in your area.”

The biggest challenge to the undertaking, Tischler says, is that it was self-funded. Beyond that, he says that building a business involved a lot of common sense practices. He feels he has a unique brand, incredible websites and marketing, and social media to help spread the word.

If maintaining a full-time practice and running the Teeth Tomorrow franchise isn’t enough, Tischler is also a noted 

. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the large images he creates is that they’re printed on aluminum.

“It’s actually an amazing process,” Tischler explains. “It’s not actually printed — it’s sublimated. It’s a plasma process that I combine with a technique called HDR — high dynamic range. The combination of the two makes [the image] pop like crazy.”

Essentially, HDR involves taking three photographs of the same image at different settings and blending them together. The human eye, Tischler explains, sees different exposures. If you take one photograph with a camera, you usually see one exposure. But by taking a darker, medium, and lighter exposure and combining them, it becomes more natural looking.

“I really enjoy photographing New York City,” Tischler says. “I did landscape nature for years, and they’re all in my office. But I do really enjoy the city — any time of day, any time of year, above ground or below ground.”

He’s even rented space in SoHo in Manhattan for a pop-up gallery — space he rented for four months where he had approximately 70 large images on display.

“It was a good experience,” he says, “and there’ll be another one in the future.”

Tischler calls himself a big goal-setter — but not just any goals. He focuses more on balanced goals.

“I set my goals in my life balance for my physical health, family, relationships and career,” he explains. “And those three kind of meet in the middle, giving me success in achieving balance.”

Not surprising is what Tischler feels is the most rewarding aspect of his career, and the work he does.

“I like completing goals that I’ve established for myself to be my best, then moving on to the next one and growing,” he says. “That’s what I enjoy most in my life.”

Tischler calls himself a big goal-setter, but not just any goals. He focuses more on balancing goals.

Leader in Reconstructive Dentistry Also a Renaissance Man

	In short, it’s all about caring for the patients.

From the soccer field to the dental office? Not exactly a natural transition, but one that has worked out incredibly well for Scott Asnis, D.D.S., a partner in the White plains, New York-based practice of 

“My aspirations were to be a professional soccer player,” Asnis recalls. “I loved soccer. But I saw that I was not going to make a living out of it.”

Always good with his hands, Asnis began studying the sciences and opted to enroll in dental school. Thirty-four years later he’s the founder and CEO of an innovative, state-of-the-art dental practice, 

It was three years ago while treating a physician friend that the idea for Dental365 took root. The patient, an emergency room physician who was responsible for several urgent care startups, asked Asnis if there was any way he could take his type of evidence-based dentistry and make it more convenient and affordable.

Asnis pondered that possibility for a long time. Then he made the move.

“I saw that dentistry was changing,” he says. “And I decided to take what I’ve been doing all these years, make it more affordable and convenient, and make it available when patients want us to be open. And, to have enough really high end specialists so that our patients do not have to go to other offices.”

And yes, Dental365, which now has multiple sites in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Long Island, is really open 365 days of the year. But there were certainly challenges along the way.

The first was getting used to be open on Christmas, or Labor Day, or any other holiday, for that matter. The second was accepting a patient’s insurance, something Asnis had not previously done. He overcame both of those challenges, and today — in just three years has become the largest employer of dentists in New York with 14 locations, and several more coming online by year’s end.

Asnis says there are several keys to the rapid success Dental365 has experienced. The first is a focus on providing only evidence-based dentistry.

“We only do dentistry that is necessary,” he explains.

Second is location; being in a retail space on main or major roadways. And last is building beautiful, state-of-the-art offices that’s designed for patient comfort. In short, it’s all about caring for the patients.

But being open every day of the year? There were certainly some skeptics, and some pushback early on.

“Dentistry is very fragmented in New York, and [Dental365] is organized dentistry,” Asnis explains. “In other parts of the country it’s the norm. But in New York, it had never been tried.”

It’s corporate dentistry in a higher end way, he says, where the patients feel like they’re getting amazing service.

“Yes, there was pushback,” Asnis says. “But now it’s pretty much an accepted thing. Like urgent cares, we are open every day of the year.”

When the first Dental365 office opened, Asnis promoted it not as a clinic, but as receiving care in a private practice setting. Still, the fears were present.

“It’s very scary opening a new site where there’s not one patient,” he says. “And I could not tell you in all honesty that I knew this was going to work. But within two or three months, we were packed.”

Having new, beautiful, sterile offices was key.

“If I drove up to a house that I was thinking of purchasing and saw the lawn and other things were in disrepair, I’m not going to purchase that house,” Asnis explains. “The same is true if I walked into a medical or dental office.”

The logical question would be, how do they care for their patients if they don’t care for the way the facility looks.

“And now you’re understanding our secret sauce,” he says. “Our offices are so spectacular and modern that people feel good about being there. We really take pride in them.”

When the first Dental365 office opened three years ago, the majority of dentists were younger. They worked in Asnis’ private office first so he could vet them and teach them; teach them how to create value for patients. How to only perform evidence-based dentistry.

“In the beginning I had a bull’s eye on my back,” Asnis says. “People didn’t understand the concept and were a little intimidated by it.” But now many older dentists in their 50s and 60s are looking to sign up. “They see this is where the future is.”

Asnis says Dental365 averages more than 150 new patients each month, and is currently looking to expand into Connecticut, New Jersey, and down the East Coast. Is he surprised by the amount of success these first three years?

“I am shocked,” he admits. “We’re all so excited. Our motto is, ‘Walk in and smile out.’ And we believe in it. Our dentists are partners, unlike other management groups. So it’s not owned by private equity. It’s owned by dentists.”

The work schedule is set up based on preference and rotations. Asnis explains that some dentists, for religious or other reasons, only want to work on Sunday and not Saturday. Others prefer Saturday. Holidays are handled on a rotating basis.

Asnis says that dentists need to look at what has happened in medicine over the past five years and recognize that it’s now happening in dentistry. But that’s not a bad thing.

“It’s really good for our patients that they can come into a practice and receive the best services,” he says. “And it’s good for doctors to be able to join together, have the ability to make money, and just be dentists. I think it’s a trend that’s here to stay.”

In 2014, Scott Asnis, D.D.S., founded Dental365, an innovative dental practice with more than a dozen sites across the New York City area. And the growth continues, as both patients and doctors enjoy the benefits of exceptional dental care that can accommodate today's busy lifestyles.

Dentist Thrives Providing Care 365 Days of the Year

	You’re going to have healthier, happier individuals, which will ultimately affect the productive bottom line.

Health insurance is expensive. Perhaps that’s an understatement. And when the Affordable Care Act took away the ability for employers to reimbursement their workers for medical expenses on a tax-free basis, it was a hardship.

It also left a gaping hole where small employers had previously been able to provide some sort of benefit to their employees.

So in December 2016, Congress passed the 21

 Century Cures Act, which went into effect Jan. 1, 2017, enabling small employers to set up a Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Arrangement, or QSEHRA, as a way to contribute toward their employees’ healthcare costs.

Rebecca Boartfield, a human resources consultant with 

 in Eugene, Oregon, says the ability of small businesses, such as dental practices, to offer a health benefit to employees is a huge plus.

“More and more, benefits are becoming important to the working class,” Boartfield says. “An employer that says, ‘Well, I don’t offer anything for health insurance’ is going to be at a disadvantage.”

, there are specific criteria that must be met for a small employer to offer a QSEHRA to employees. To be eligible to offer a QSEHRA, an employer must have fewer than 50 full-time employees, and not offer a group health plan.

Boartfield says that most dental practices likely meet those criteria.

“A huge majority of the clients we work with don’t provide health insurance to their employees,” she says. “It’s just too expensive.”

Small employers are limited to an annual maximum reimbursement of $4,950 per employee. Employers can contribute less per calendar year, such as $2,000 or even $1,000, and it’s also a tax incentive for employers offering this benefit. However, since the benefit option has been available for less than one year, Boartfield says it’s too early to develop a formula by which employers can determine the right amount for their practice to contribute.

“The one client that I worked with that has put this into effect, they had a definitive amount that they were willing to put in every month towards the premium,” she explains. “They basically looked at their bottom line and said, ‘Okay, I’ve got 10 employees. And if I put in $200 a month for my employees, that’s something that I could afford.’ So I think most of them are looking at this on a monthly basis, you know, and how much can I afford each month per employee, and kind of going from there.”

Boartfield likens the QSEHRA benefit to other tax incentive programs such as flexible spending accounts. Those accounts operate in a similar fashion, in that an employer puts a tax-free benefit into an account and employees can take reimbursement from that.

“Those have always been seen as attractive to people who are considering working at that location,” she says.

As with anything new, education is important to increasing the awareness of an available benefit. Boartfield says there hasn’t been enough publicity and spread of knowledge yet about QSEHRAs for employers to take full advantage, but hopes that will change soon.

“I do think it’s a program employers could really take advantage of.”

One important caveat is that employers must provide written notice to employees 90 days prior to the start of the plan. That statement must include the employee’s allowed benefit, and must advise employees that they are responsible for notifying the insurance exchange of the coverage amount for the purposes of determining eligibility for the premium tax credit.

“You can start in the middle of the calendar year,” Boartfield says. “It would just mean that the annual benefit would be less. But you still must have a 90-day notice period.”

And because the use of QSEHRAs did not take effect until Jan. 1, 2017, Boartfield believes 2018 will be an important year.

“That’s where this is really going to have an impact,” she says. “Because if anybody is going to [implement QSEHRAs], they’re setting it up right now for calendar year 2018.”

Beyond the tax benefits, Boartfield believes there are significant advantages to small dental practices providing their employees with access to QSEHRAs. She explains that if employees can afford coverage, and afford to obtain medical care for themselves, they’re going to be healthier individuals.

“You can look at it as providing a way for people to take care of themselves, and be more productive in the workplace,” she says. “Just going in for preventive care on a more regular basis because now they have a way to afford that. You’re going to have healthier, happier individuals, which will ultimately affect the productive bottom line.”

If you've been looking for a way to reimburse your staff for health-related expenses, you might want to consider a Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Arrangement, which went into effect Jan. 1, 2017. The advantages are significant for both you and your staff.

Health Reimbursement Accounts a Boon for Dental Practices

	Feit believes that when doing the right thing and having integrity, character and ethics, profit will follow.

, D.M.D., P.A., D.M.D., P.A., a Florida-based prosthodontist, trains with two friends who are Navy Seals, restores old cars, and was once invited by the Chicago Cubs and Minnesota Twins to play professional baseball. He might just be the most interesting person in the world who’s not in a Dos Equis commercial.

Feit says he’s been restoring old cars most of his life. The difference is that as an adolescent, “restoration” meant changing the radio and trying to put all the screw back where they belonged.

But all that changed when a “phenomenal master mechanic” took Feit under his wing and took him well beyond his days of changing radios.

Feit completed his post-graduate education at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, and eventually moved to Florida to set up his own practice. It was there, while playing softball with a bunch of his buddies that he was introduced to a master mechanic who, at the time, worked for General Motors.

“He asked me, ‘Do you want to restore some cars together?’” Feit recalls. “I said, ‘Well, I don’t know. I only know how to change a radio.’ And he said, ‘I’ll teach you.’”

One thing led to another, and before Feit knew it they were restoring a 1955 Chevy Bel Air, a 1959 Impala, and several late 1960s model Corvettes. On some it was just cosmetic work, while others required rebuilding motors.

“It was fascinating,” Feit says. “He had every tool you can imagine. It was like $70,000 worth of tools. He did with tools what some people do with golf clubs. When you’re in the midst of greatness, you kind of sense it.”

This man of greatness once spent three hours putting a steering coupler on a 1969 Corvette so that it would be dead perfect parallel with the spokes of the wheel. Feit recalls telling him that if it were his car, he would just put the steering wheel on and forget it. It didn’t make much difference.

“He said to me, ‘If we’re going to do it, we’re going to do it right,” Feit says. “That was just one lesson I learned that transcends actual car restoration.”

Feit received his Bachelor of Science degree from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa. While there he was in Army ROTC. One day, while waiting to begin a hand-to-hand combat module, Feit was chatting with a short, thin individual in the back of the group. When it came time to introduce the instructor, it turned out to be the individual Feit was chatting with.

“He said, ‘I need a volunteer,’” Feit says. “He doesn’t look at anyone but me, and then he calls me up.”

Feit had previously engaged in some kickboxing and Taekwondo, but nothing serious. The instructor told Feit to try and punch him, and to put him in a hold.

“He put me down in two seconds every time,” Feit recalls. “He was in residence there, and I begged him to train me. And I was starting to get it, but he said that good is not good enough.”

Feit says he feels very fortunate to have found himself in the midst of people like the master mechanic and martial arts expert who strive to achieve at such a high level. That mindset has rubbed off on his dentistry career.

Feit started his Boca Raton, Fla., practice from scratch in 1991. He describes it today as a frontdesk-less, CareNurse system that is fee-for-service only, and by invitation only. But when he first opened his doors there was nobody there for weeks until he ramped up and began receiving referrals.

It was at that time he made a conscious decision that money was never going to be the focus. That by doing the right thing, by having integrity, character and ethics, profit would follow.

That philosophy brought in lots of patients, the practice became extremely busy, but Feit wasn’t happy. He was working crazy hours, and labels many of the patients he had then as “angry, disrespectful patients.” He reached a point where he thought about purchasing franchises and quitting dentistry. Then he read a book by Paddi Lund called “Building the Happiness-Centered Business,” and immediately thereafter ordered all of his manuals and emulated everything Lund proscribed.

“We started to rank our patients, A, B, C and D,” Feit explains. “It was about how good is this patient to our core values of the business. If they were mean and nasty, they were a C or a D patient. Eighty percent of your problems come from 20 percent of your customers.”

It was hard, Feit says, but he ended up cutting ties with about 70 percent of his patients. He describes it as breaking up with a boyfriend or girlfriend, because no matter how polite you are, rejection is rejection. But within 90 days, the practice was back to 100 percent capacity, but with only A and B patients.

“When you have these negative people that are difficult and require a great deal of time, it becomes a paradox,” Feit says. “You’re giving the wrong people all of your effort, energy and time.”

Today, Feit says he operates his practice by inviting people in from the outside, much as you would when inviting a guest into your house. There are no assistants and no front desk person.

“We have care nurses,” he says. “Words are powerful; words become your thoughts; your thoughts become your behavior; your behavior becomes your habits. Create good thoughts to create good behavior to create good habits. So, we cross-trained everybody.”

Feit has been running his practice this way for the last 18 years. The end result, he says, has been the formation of more meaningful relationships.

“And if you told me I had to go back to a traditional organizational style, I would graciously leave and never come back.”

Sometimes less is more. That's what Steven Feit, D.M.D., P.A. discovered when he vanquished rude and disrespectful patients from his practice. He went from experiencing desperation to forging more meaningful patient relationships, and it even slipped over to his home life.


Prosthodontist Enhances Practice by Following His ABCs

	 If a practice’s patients have access to online registration for appointments, the website might be viewed as a place of public accommodation.

When thinking about non-compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, it’s likely that images of narrow doorways or inaccessible public bathroom stalls come to mind. But that’s not where the list of potential violations end.

Specifically, websites have been interpreted to be “places of public accommodation” for purposes of the ADA, meaning that websites cannot discriminate against disabled individuals — even if the inaccessibility issue is completely unintended.

For example, a Florida federal judge recently handed down a trial verdict that 

 had violated Title III of the ADA by having a website that could not be used by a blind individual.

Closer to home, several dentists in Texas have been notified that their 

 is not in compliance with ADA guidelines because “the websites are not accessible to individuals with disabilities such as blindness or hearing impairment.

Private lawsuits and enforcement actions undertaken by the Department of Justice have highlighted that not all publicly available websites are ADA compliant because, among other things, they fail to incorporate screen reader technology.

Before panic sets in, it’s important to understand that according to the law, not every website needs to be ADA compliant. According to 

, an attorney and partner with Eversheds Sutherland, there are important distinctions to understand.

“The standards are, is the website a place of public accommodation?” Wiener says. In other words, is the website a place where the public can go where they can access goods and services, versus a private or public website that is informational only. Wiener suspects that most dental websites will fall into the latter category.

“They are advertising on the website their availability,” he explains, “but they are not making available on their website goods and services.”

That includes parts of dental websites that are password protected, where patients can login to access billing and other records. Those parts of the website are not places of public accommodation. However, the waters get a little murkier if a dental website offers the opportunity to schedule an appointment that could lead to the provision of goods and services.

“That’s where you start edging closer to that line,” Wiener says, noting that if a practice’s patients have access to online registration for appointments, the website might be viewed as a place of public accommodation. “Because it leads to the provision of goods and services by dentists.”

Vision impairment, however, is not the only disability dental practices should keep in mind. There are also considerations for individuals with a hearing impairment.

For example, if there is an audio component to a website, such as videos that may be available for consumers to view, then closed captioning becomes involved. Does your practice website have tutorials on proper brushing and flossing technique? If you want people who are deaf to be able to follow along and understand the audio portion, then the website should provide closed captioning.

And that, Wiener explains, is a different prism through which to view ADA compliance. Consider that the videos or any other information on your dental practice website is strictly that — informational in nature. There is still an important question to consider: Do you want to be accessible to all of the community?

“That’s less of an ADA issue and more of a customer service issue,” Wiener says. “The ADA might not require it, but what type of service provider do you want to be? Do you want to be a service provider who’s basically hostile to the interests of the disabled, the blind and the deaf? Or do you want to be a place that is accommodating to them because you recognize that’s part of the community, and part of your customer or patient base?”

In addition, it’s not sufficient to examine your customer base and surmise that you have no patients who have vision or hearing impairments. Ask yourself, why is that? Maybe it’s because they can’t access the information on your website, thus creating a barrier to entry by those populations.

So if you’re wondering whether or not your practice’s website is ADA compliant, Wiener says making that determination is no more complicated than a single word: Ask.

“Dentists, I suspect, are not designing their own website,” he says. “They’re going someplace to have it done. So, pick up the phone and ask them, is my website ADA compliant? Is my website accessible to individuals who use screen readers?”

The American Dental Association also recommends adding an Accessibility Link similar to the website’s privacy policy that links to a page informing individuals with disabilities what to do if they can’t access something on the website.

Is your dental practice website compliant with guidelines set down by the Americans with Disabilities Act? Depending on the website content, it may or may not have to be. But even if you have no legal obligation, don't you want to be known as a good business partner in your community?

Do You Know If Your Practice's Website is ADA Compliant?

	Those kinds of things really build loyalty, and they are the things that make people want to stay.

How do you retain good, reliable front office staff? It starts with hiring the right people. But that process, according to 

, R.D.H., B.S., M.B.A., a Lexington, North Carolina-based dental management consultant, is one that many dentists dread.

And it’s particularly true in small dental offices.

“I think a lot of doctors would rather walk across hot coals barefooted than interview and hire a new staff member,” Watterson says.

Interviewing is a skill everyone can work at and improve. But Watterson says even before getting to that stage of the process, finding the right front office staff starts with having a good ad.

Placement of your job ad is critical. Watterson says ads must be placed where they are going to generate the best response.

For example, in some parts of the country Craig’s List will generate some good candidates. But she believes dentists are more likely to find high quality candidates from Indeed.com or GlassDoor.com. 

The job ad also needs to be well written, and contain verbiage that helps attract the kind of candidates you seek. For example, a well-written front office job ad might read as follows:

“Our exceptional dental practice is looking for a person who has excellent communication skills in person and over the telephone. If you are enthusiastic, caring, dependable and have computer experience with scheduling, insurance and collections, please send a resume and a cover letter.”

Then, Watterson recommends conducting a phone interview with candidates before bringing them into the office. After all, she says, doctors should not waste their time with people who are totally unqualified. And for front desk staff, phone skills, including good command of grammar and a pleasant, professional phone voice, are a must.

What should you ask candidates? Watterson recommends avoiding yes/no and true/false type questions. Instead, get the candidate talking by asking questions like, “Tell me what you liked most about your last position,” or, “What kind of hobbies do you have?” The reason for this approach, she says, is that people have become adept at developing paper personas.

“They can make themselves look really good on paper,” she explains. “They can even have good references. But they’re just not a good fit for the job.”

The number one fringe benefit for employees today is medical benefits. That can sometimes be problematic for small dental practices, but some offices will offer a set amount of dollars per month to help employees defray the cost of medical insurance.

“If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys,” Watterson says. “If you expect to hire a high quality individual, it’s doubtful you will get somebody like that with bargain basement pay. A doctor has to be competitive.”

Paid time off is also an important fringe benefit to attract good staff. But Watterson says that the best front office staff will diligently manage a doctor’s schedule to keep it full, thereby positively affecting productivity. As such, she believes that rather than just once-a-year pay raises, the best incentive is a random act of kindness bonus.

For example, if the doctor has a month where they knock production and collection out of the park, take a set amount of cash, say $1,000, and divide it among staff members, possibly prorating it for part-time staff.

“Just give them cash,” Watterson says. “Put it in an envelope with a thank you note. They’re not expecting it. That is one of the most powerful bonuses you can give a staff member.”

Watterson recalls one dentist who told his staff, in advance, not to plan anything for Friday starting at noon when the office closed. At noon, he had a limo parked in front of the practice and gave each of his five staff members $200. He put them in the limo and told them, “You have three hours to go out and spent this. And you can’t spend it on somebody else. You must spend it on yourself.”

“That doctor is building loyalty like crazy,” she says. “But it doesn’t have to cost a lot. It can be a good word at the end of the day. ‘I could not have done this without you today. Thank you so much for your hard work.’ Those kinds of things really build loyalty, and they are the things that make people want to stay.”

Front office staff are the face of a dental practice. Patients form perceptions about the quality of a doctor's work based on interactions with staff at the front desk. As such, the people you hire as front office staff might just be the most important staff members in the practice.

	It’s the fear of not producing. The fear of not having enough patients. The fear of failure.

Stress is an incredible thing, but not in a good way. 

 reports that stress symptoms can affect an individual’s health, even though they might not realize it. Stress can affect body, thoughts, feelings and behavior — and dentists are not immune.

” indicates that running a dental practice with the dual demands of clinical expertise and small business management leaves many practitioners feeling burned out by midlife.

Jen Butler, Med, B.C.C., a certified trainer in the area of stress management and resiliency coaching, and principal of 

, says that fear is at the heart of dentists’ stress.

“It’s the fear of not having enough money,” Butler explains. “It’s the fear of not producing. The fear of not having enough patients. The fear of failure.”

Perhaps even greater than the aspect of stress itself is that dentists often don’t recognize its presence. More often, Butler says, they will blame externally.

“They’ll blame their staff for causing problems or drama,” she explains. “They’ll blame their patients for being difficult, or crazy. They’ll blame the insurance companies for not reimbursing. They blame and excuse away their inability to tolerate things and people around them.”

Butler says that if dentists would stay placing blame elsewhere and instead recognize their situation for what it is, they would realize that their response to various stimuli or triggers is a clear warning sign of being stressed. In other words, it’s the inability to manage or navigate a situation that signals the presence of stress.

“It’s the inability to manage a challenging patient, or resolve team drama,” Butler says, “as opposed to acknowledging that maybe we’re not good leaders.”

Butler says that if dentists want to remove stress from their lives, it’s important to understand the difference between worry and preparation. Worry, she explains, is a constant mental thought process without action. It’s rooted in the fear of “what if” and of the future. It encompasses all of the potential negative outcomes in a given situation.

Preparation, however, requires looking at the exact same situation but through a neutral lens. Instead of staying up all night worrying, write down all the what ifs that could happen, but include an action step with verbs.

“Verbs are action words,” Butler points out. “When people start taking steps, when they start physically moving forward, even if it’s the tiniest little thing, they start feeling better. They start seeing and feeling progress. And all of a sudden some of the what ifs will fall away.”

Are you stressed? Do you know how to recognize stress? Stress could be impacting your ability to practice and to interact positively with patients and staff. It can have an adverse effect on practice finances but it doesn't have to. And by taking steps to reduce stress in your life, you could rediscover the joy and passion for dentistry.

