Top 10 DPM Articles of 2019

These practice management articles generated the most views over the last year. Take a close look at them as they cover many impactful topics that can help your practice with efficiency and a better return on investment, as well as critical areas such as personal finance, staff morale, insurance, recruiting the best employees, successful decision-making habits, consultants, overhead expenses, communication, and more. 

You can find new content offering actionable business advice and helpful tips on a regular basis at the Dental Practice Management website at practicemanagement.dentalproductsreport.com.

6 common mistakes dentists make on personal finances

by Colin Nabity

Whether you’re an established dentist running your own practice or a sleep-deprived student closing in on your white coat, balance is vital to your success.

For example, just consider the harm you can cause by prescribing too much treatment (over studying); not prescribing enough treatment (under studying); or prescribing the wrong treatment (studying the wrong material).

Just like the treatment you provide, finding the proper balance in your personal finances is key. And just as each patient is different, so too is the best financial solution for each dentist. With this in mind, here in this article you can learn about six mistakes we see dentists make on their personal finances and how you can avoid them.

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How to recruit and retain the best talent for your dental practice

by Scott Hansen

As the dental industry grows more competitive, qualified employees become harder to find. Whether your practice is looking for dental assistants, hygienists or administrative staff, finding and keeping highly skilled dental employees may require reevaluate your hiring process.

It’s all about creating a strong team culture and shifting your mindset to find the best candidates.  This article gives tips on how to rethink how you recruit, the interview process, how to use digital technology for recruiting, and how you can retain those awesome employees once you find them. 

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Moral injury responses in the dental industry

by Lisa Newburger, LISW-S

Moral injury refers to the damage done to one’s conscience or moral compass when that person witnesses, perpetuates, or fails to prevent acts that go against their own ethics. 

In dentistry, commissions can be offered to staff as they sell procedures and products to their patients. Many staff feel a kind of moral injury when they’re asked to up-sell services a patient may not need. 

What are the ethics on moral injury in the dental industry? Is it moral for practices to incentivize sales for healthcare employees? This article discusses the ethics of commissions and incentives in dentistry and how they impact practice employees.

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9 tips to increase workflow in 2019

by Andrea Greer, RDH

Looking ahead to 2019 and strategically plan this year of serving patients, we encourage you to take a view through patient eyes at your business desk. Remember this is the first thing your patients often see-what does it say about your expertise? Many practices that I enter have amazing team members with knowledge and experience, but their workspace appears disorganized, unprofessional, and frankly, unclean. Good news: It does not take long to improve the perception your desk is projecting! 

Science has shown that a workspace organized and free of clutter creates an environment that is conducive to creativity and more efficiency, which leads to more productivity. This article offers up nine tips for creating a workspace that is more efficient and more professional.

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5 habits of highly successful dentists

by Dr. Roger P. Levin

Among the most successful people, there is a shared group of habits. These habits may surprise you, as they aren’t clinical in nature. However, they’re an integral part of their success.

This article addresses key habits such as building powerful practice cultures, continuing education, making decisions quickly and acting quickly; have a plan; and accepting mistakes. These five habits are typical of most of these dentists, and anyone who can adopt these and truly live them will have better odds of success in both their professional and personal life.

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10 behaviors that need to change in your dental office

by Lisa Newburger, LISW-S

Waking up and being excited to go to work every day is the goal, but for some people, this isn’t always the reality. There seems to be an increase in challenges in the workplace. Fortunately, there are things that can be done to make your practice a friendlier workplace, but it means taking an honest look at what’s going on already. 

What kinds of behaviors can improve the well-being of your staff? Read on to find out.

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Understanding how insurance participation and negotiations work today

by Kristan Palmer

What should all dental providers know about insurance participation and factors that contribute to negotiation success and failure? What about how to stay on top in the ever-changing insurance industry?

PPO negotiations quickly went from a little-known secret to a buzzword over the past decade. The process for successfully negotiating has also gone from simply being proactive and asking, to strategic leveraging of your existing and potential participation. In 2019, having more than four or five PPO contracts in place is likely limiting the success you see when negotiating. This article explains why.

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Stop speaking and start communicating to improve your dentistry

by Dr. Steve Schwartz

Speaking is easy. Communicating on the other hand-maybe not so much. Communicating effectively is much more complex  and produces a more desired outcome. In our first year of dental school, we learn to speak the specialized language of dentistry. Good for us, not so good for the public after learning that “regular people” could no longer understand me. 
     You can be the best dentist with the nicest facility and the best staff. But, the measure of your success will be determined by the quality of your communication both in business and in life. It’s just that important, and this article helps you understand why.

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Why you need to maintain control on overhead expenses

by Dr. Roger P. Levin

When looking to build up their practices, many dentists focus entirely on increasing production. While production is important to overall practice success, focusing solely on production often causes practices to forget about their expanding overhead.

Keeping control of overhead is as important as increasing production. This article gives dentists tips on how to focus on overhead and keep it within or below an acceptable ranges.

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Are dental consultants clueless or beneficial?

by Lisa Newburger, LISW-S

Thinking about hiring a consultant in your practice? Frustrated by dental consultants in your practice? You are not alone. 

Consultants are brought in to help a practice run more efficiently. The most important part of being a consultant is listening. But that isn’t always happening.  

This article suggests you include your staff in the decision to bring a consultant into the practice, as well as other tips on how to manage consultants.

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