STEPS TO

DENTAL PRACTICE SUCCESS

A Practical Guide for Achieving Your Goals

Tricia Casasanta
Content Page Number

Introduction 3

Step 1: Take the Pulse of the Practice 5

Step 2: Hire and Develop Rock-Star Team Members 9

Step 3: Create Business Systems and 15

Standard Operating Procedures

Step 4: Technology Utilization and Opportunities 18

Step 5: Make Marketing a System 19

Conclusion 20

About Strategic Practice Solutions 22

What Clients Are Saying 22

Introduction
Are you a dentist who works hard without seeing growth in your practice or personal
income? Spending too much time on non-revenue generating areas you’re not
passionate about? Feel like you are going it all alone, and no one else really seems
to care about the practice as you do? Want to reach new heights for yourself and
your practice by eliminating confusion and running more smoothly?

Does any of this sound remotely familiar? If so, then you are not alone. In school, dentists learn how to be
dentists, and not small business owners. However, when they graduate and start practicing, many of them
find themselves being just that. You don’t know what you don’t know, and THAT is where our knowledge and
experience can help you.
Our SparkPlug Dental Practice Management System™ is a unique approach that walks you through a series of
steps designed to create a system for running and growing your dental practice.

We will show you by: If you install a proven approach to dental

Taking the Pulse of the Practice practice management you will be well on your
way to achieving your goals!
Hiring and Developing Rock-Star Team Members
By getting a little help, learning what you are not
Creating Systems and Standard Operating aware of, and going through these five steps, your
Procedures dental practice will improve by leaps and bounds.
Utilizing Technology and Opportunities These 5-steps will take your practice to the next level
Making Marketing a System or to turn it completely around. We will share case
studies throughout this eBook so you can see the
results for yourself.
Running your dental practice can be less
complicated and convoluted, It’s really not that
hard if you… We work with dentists in Michigan, Ohio, and
Get out of the day-to-day and see the big picture Illinois to help their business grow. However, we
don’t just work with anyone. We select clients
Approach your dental practice logically, practically
who meet our criteria.
and systematically
Ready for CHANGE!
Assemble and develop a fully engaged team that
cares as much as you do Tired of going it alone
Implement clear processes that everyone Want to love doing dentistry again
understands and follows Seeking a secure future
Get very clear about spotting an ideal patient 100% open to accepting help
Understand what differentiates your practice Your focus is on results

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CASE STUDY:

Dr. Robertson, contacted SPS June of 2012. He was frustrated with his practice and felt as if
the entire practice fell on his shoulders. He looked tired and shared his fears of getting older
and not being able to keep up the pace, not being able to take a vacation because most of the
revenue generated was from his schedule and concerns of his retirement. When asked why he
was feeling this way, he was not able to validate it with concrete facts. This is something we find
a lot with dental practice owners. Each owner gauges how the practice is doing by a specific
item they are watching; such as collections as it compares to the previous year, openings in
the schedule, or monthly production. While this can prove helpful, it does not help the dentist/
owner identify why they are not growing each year and often places the practice in a vulnerable
state if negative trends are not identified early and turned around.
SPS conducted a free practice analysis to identify the pulse of the practice. Within a few weeks,
we were able to quickly validate his feelings. In addition, we provided him with the reasons and
solutions to quickly turn things around. In our evaluation the practice had quite a few hidden
potentials posted below; placing focus on these areas would generate substantial amount of
revenue without any additional marketing efforts or work hours from Dr. Robertson.

Dr. Robertson’s hygiene department was underperforming and just breaking even.
The practice was growing; however, this was masked by the fact the dental facility could not
accommodate additional hygiene appointments. The schedule was full and Dr. Robertson did
not realize he had a ton of patients in the recall system that could not get appointments.
The practice’s business team was understaffed.
Case acceptance was below 25%, we usually like to see case acceptance for small cases at
80%, medium size cases at 65%, and large size cases at 40%.

Dr. Robertson, decided to try and work on these areas with the assistance of his office
manager. It was not till October of 2013 that SPS was contacted by Dr. Robertson to engage in
a Comprehensive Practice Analysis, some coaching services and Revenue Directed Hygiene
training. His wishes were to approach this slowly so that he could adjust as the practice changes.
With a conservative approach the practice went from an annual production of $800,000 to
$1,200,000 within one year. The practice had so many areas of hidden potential that we were
able to leverage a few to accomplish these results.

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STEP 1: Take the Pulse of the Practice

One of the first things we do when we start working with

a new or established dental practice is take its pulse. Where is the practice
going? How is it trending? What is going right? Where can it improve?
Where are the hidden potentials?

It is only by taking time to work ON the practice and truly evaluate the practice, that you can become less
reactive and more proactive. In our research and experience we have found most dental practices are run
reactively verses proactively. A reactively run practice runs pretty much status quo and only addresses issues
as they appear or put out fires as they occur. Sometimes an idea will pop up, such as how to generate new
patients, only to slowly disappear due to lack of planning and execution.
A proactively run practice is one that is action and result oriented in behavior instead of waiting for things to
happen and then reacting to them. Proactive behavior aims to identify and explore opportunities and taking
preemptive action against potential problems and threats, whereas reactive behavior focuses on fighting a fire
or solving a problem after it occurs.
It only makes sense to become an office that is proactive, right? Yet we find more and more dental practices are
reactive and dentists usually seek out help only when they absolutely have to or they are just frustrated enough
where they can no longer go it alone.
In this eBook we will go over a five step process that all proactive offices follow providing you with some
actionable items to explore and implement today or to entrust SPS to assist you with.

The benefits of a systematic approach to dental practice management provides the management
team the ability to:
Get out of the day-to-day and see the big picture
Approach your dental practice logically, practically and systematically
Assemble and develop a team that is fully engaged and cares as much as you do
Implement clear processes that everyone can understand and follow
Spot an ideal patient
Better understand what differentiates your practice
Become proactive vs. reactive

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Strategic Practice Solutions will analyze your business, much like a dentist analyzes every tooth. By taking this
up-close and personal look at your practice, we determine the strengths that are helping your office succeed and
the elements inhibiting continued growth and profits.
A detailed analysis is provided, along with a list of interventions that the practice can execute on its own or can
enlist Strategic Practice Solutions to coach the practice along.

A Practice Analysis determines:

The practice’s hidden potential The tools that will set up employees for further
Analysis of the fee schedule and insurances success
associated with the practice What is the practice’s growth rate and identify
Factors inhibiting the growth of the practice to its trends
fullest potential What is the patient experience like
Demographic statistics of the practice’s location The practice’s attrition rate and what are the
and the target audience to market contributing factors
Efficiencies of various business systems and the Could the practice’s cash flow increase and to what
cost associated with any inefficiency degree

You will gain a better understanding of your practice’s current state and how to measure it against industry
standards. The dental industry is seeing new technologies and new techniques introduced at an ever increasing
rate. With the goal of increasing the practice’s performance, the roadmap will have specific recommendations to
assist you in implementing these new technologies and techniques to help you to achieve your revenue, reporting
and performance goals.
This phase will identify and prioritize the procedures to maximize your practice’s success. The analysis process is a
very detailed and specific protocol typically lasting 25-30 business days. The 5 main steps of a practice analysis are:

Define the Performance Situation

The initial step is to create a baseline defining the current state of the office including the front office, back office
and the billing department. An objective review of each position and the elements involved will be documented.

Financial Impact
Part of the process is to determine the financial impact the underperformance situation is having on your
organization. It is very important to assign a monetary value to any areas that are underperforming so that
we can balance the cost of living with it with the cost of correcting it. Also, the financial (and sometimes, non-
financial) impact will assist you in establishing an idea of how much money to spend on correcting the situation.

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Form Hypothesis
We begin the process by interviewing the doctor and/or office manager to understand their perceptions of
the practice and areas they would like to see improvements. This helps us clarify if there are any areas to find
resolutions to, and some potential causes of the situation. Based on our observations and knowledge, we also
begin to form an idea about the current status of the practice.
At this point, we have a starting point to begin learning about the office dynamics, and we begin the process of
gathering data and learning about the dynamics from a variety of perspectives. Some of the methods we may use are:
Anonymous surveys
Confidential interviews with people in and around your practice
Observing the typical interactions and behaviors of the business.
Analyzing hard data such as sales reports, internal records, financial reports and any other data that will shed
light on the situation.

Leadership Analysis
There are many leadership skills and competencies that, when combined and applied, go toward making an
effective leader. It is one thing to have a successful and smooth running office, it is entirely another thing when
this happens consistently. Profitable offices have a common denominator, a leader who has developed each of
these skills and competencies.
The Comprehensive Practice Analysis requires each team member to complete a confidential leadership
questionnaire on their perception of the leadership’s team ability to inform, provide feedback, and enforce
policy and procedures to educate and motivate the team. All the responses are evaluated to provide the
leadership team will a score anywhere from 18 to 90 points. 90 points being the maximum amount obtainable.
As you are aware, one can never be too good at leadership or too experienced so the evaluations are intended
to provide informative feedback on the areas the leadership team is excelling at and provide insight into areas
that could be improved upon.

Needs Analysis to Prove/Disprove Hypothesis

The next step is to conduct a second round of analysis. This analysis is designed specifically to test each of our
theories to determine if they are completely accurate, partially accurate and need modification, or simply have
no merit.

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We use the same methods as we do in the original analysis, but with a completely different focus. When we are
complete with this round of analysis, there is no question about the exact causes of the performance situation.
This makes linking solutions to the specific causes very meaningful. Figure1, provides a visual presentation of the
process we follow.

Figure 1

Needs Analysis Areas of focus are as follows:

• Practices current performance vs past • Case acceptance
performance • Overall office score
• Evaluation of office hours • Hidden potential of the practice as it relates to
• Mystery caller evaluations industry standards
• Continuing care/ hygiene days assessment • Account management

Recommendations
• Once we have proven the hidden potential and the areas that are underperforming, we make specific
recommendations to resolve specific causes. In other words, we make recommendations to correct each
thing that contributes to the performance situation/problem. In this manner we can ensure that the
solutions have the greatest likelihood of providing a real solution, with measurable results, sustainable over time.
• The work we are suggesting in this proposal takes you up to, and through this part of the process. Once you
have the recommendations, you are free to implement our recommendations yourself, contract Strategic
Practice Solutions LLC to do portion or all of the implementation, find another resource, or to live with the
situations cited. The choice is entirely yours.

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STEP 2: Hire and Develop Rock-Star Team Members
In working with many dental practices and
improving the performance of their teams, we
have found the Performance Improvement
Model very effective. The Performance
Improvement Model is comprised of many
components, where some of the components
are related to the organization/practice and
some are related to the individual team
member. These components co-exist. They
need to occur consistently, efficiently and
in synergy with each other to maximize
the team’s performance beyond that of
mediocracy. Chart 2.1 below outlines each of
the components.

Chart 2.1: Components Related to Performance Improvement

Organization/Practice Components Data/Feedback Systems/Resources/Tools/ Policies Incentives
Individual Team Member Components Knowledge Capacity Motivation

Organizational Performance Components:

The practice components to improve the team’s performance are as follows:
1. Data/Feedback/Information Provided by Leadership Team: Items in this area will relate to whether
an individual knows what is expected of them and whether they are meeting those expectations or not.
This is more than performance reviews; it is all of the daily conversations, reporting, and SMART goals the
practice has established. They assist a team member to evaluate their own performance. It is also related
to whether the individual knows how their performance is measured. For more information refer to of the
Leadership Development section of Step 2.
2. Resources/Systems/Policies/Procedures: This category is related to whether the performer has the
necessary tools to do the job. This is a broad category that includes everything from physical tools such
as computers and workspace to policies that may impact performance, and the work environment itself.
For more information refer to Step 3 of SparkPlug Dental Practice Management System – Create Business
Systems and Standard Operating Procedures.
3. Incentives: These are the things that an organization does to reward its employees for performance. It
includes things such as compensation, bonuses, commissions, and the simple “nice job” and recognition
of good performance (employee of the month, etc.). It relates to all of the things that make employees
feel like they are being compensated and recognized for going above the norm.

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Individual Performance Components:
An individual’s performance is directly proportional to the following components:
1. Knowledge/Skills: Does the team member have the knowledge and skills to perform the job? Will
the employee’s skills improve with more professional development? Professional development is the
process of improving and increasing capabilities of a team member through access to education/training
opportunities in the workplace, through an outside organization or through watching others perform the
job. Professional development helps build and maintain morale of the team members, and is thought to
attract higher quality staff to an organization.
The reality is one can only perform to the level of knowledge they hold. To expect a person to perform
beyond their knowledge only creates a stressful work environment not only for you but for the team
member. One can only improve performance if new knowledge is received and there is time to practice
the learned skill until it becomes an unconscious learned behavior.
Strategic Practice Solutions has spent the last 10 years developing its own training programs that apply
layered learning to improve performance. Visit www.strategicpracticesolution.com >> Our Services for
more information on our training and coaching programs related to increased performance such as
C.O.R.E. – Guide to increased case acceptance.
2. Capacity: This category relates to whether the individual is qualified to do the job. That is, assuming they
have the right training, is the job just beyond what they are capable of doing? As an example, if we took
a school bus driver and made them superintendent of the school, they would not be qualified for the job
(typically). They would not have the capacity to do the job.
3. Motivation: This is the internal drive a person has to perform the job. This is not necessarily the same as
they are “motivated” or not. It’s more about whether the work environment is causing the person to feel
like putting 100% effort forward or not; most people generally want to do a good job. Often the “lack of
motivation” is related to their perception of what is happening in the company and how that affects them.

As you can see in chart 2.2, it takes an extreme amount of time and energy to invest in team member #1 whose
knowledge, capacity and motivation to perform their duties are low versus team member #3 who has very high
levels of knowledge, capacity and motivation. Team member #3 will contribute a lot to the practice and will
be eager to learn more skills to perform their job even better. On the flip side they will expect the practice to
perform all 3 of the Organizational Components discussed to keep them motivated and a long term employee.

Chart 2.2: Relationship between Components & Energy/Time to Manage Performance

Knowledge Capacity Motivation Energy / Time to Manage Performance
Team member #1 Low Low Low Extreme
Team member #2 Mediocre Mediocre Mediocre Moderate
Team member #3 Very High Very High Very High Very little

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The fact is that our leadership scorecard is proportional to our team’s results. If we have exceptional team
members, the practice achieves success on many different levels. If we have mediocre or good team members,
we have a chance to be successful. If we have underperforming people, we spend an extreme amount of time
and energy:
Leading the efforts
Managing the team
Investing a great deal of money to get the team trained
Potentially putting the practice at risk of losing $40,000 to $60,000 annually by hiring the wrong people.

If you were to study the most successful organizations such as Google, Walmart and Home Depot, what do you
think you would find as the common key to their success? They follow the Performance Improvement Model
and they are strategic in the manner they hire people to join their TEAMS. These organizations hire tough. Hiring
tough means they take the necessary time and resource to find the very best person for the “open” position.
They follow a hiring system. This system ensures they are hiring someone that not only has the skills to do the
job, but just as important, that person has an intense desire to be the very best at their job. As you have just
uncovered or probably already were aware of, you have the choice to hire tough and manage easy or hire easy
and manage tough.
I believe we can agree that if you want your practice to be the best, you simply cannot be an outstanding
practice with average to below average team members. The only way you can become an outstanding practice
is to have outstanding people join your team or train your people to have the skills to help them become
outstanding. If hiring is one the most important things you do, it should be the most thorough activity that you
engage in and it needs to follow a system.
Selecting the right employee can be a challenge. Developing a winning team takes time and strategy, it does not
happen overnight and without a hiring system [ refer to chart 2.3] that is strategic to locate the talent you are in
search of to become the most successful practice you can possibly be. One that would:
Increases profitability
Increase patient referrals
Reduces your liability
Increase your willingness to delegate projects
Foster a culture for ingenuity
Increased collaboration amongst the team

Chart 2.3: Sample of a Hiring System

Qualify Candidates Assess Candidate Use Behavioral Style Reference Background Working Interview-
based on Profile Preparedness Interview Questions Checking Checks If possible

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Are you aware that the average cost of a wrong hire runs a practice anywhere
from $40,000 – $ 60,000?
If you ever wonder why practices take so long in deciding which candidate to hire for a particular
position, consider this: the price of selecting the wrong person can be very high, not to mention the
potential negative impact to a practice’s morale and productivity
This might seem a little outrageous to you, but let’s take a closer look at situations that occur when the
wrong employee is in place:
a) How much does it cost the practice if they lose a family of 5 because they were not treated properly?
Average patient brings about $450 per year to the practice. Therefore a family of five would
result in an annual loss of $2,250 ….now multiply that by 5 more families…you are now down
$13,500.00 each year.
b) Now consider the fact a treatment coordinator or insurance biller fails to bill out dental services
rendered or does so inefficiently. How much do you think this will cost the practice every month
and every year? Just think about it! Consider 1 or 2 procedures valued at $500 each were not
billed or incorrectly billed and eventually written off each week, what would this add up to? It
could EASILY add up to $26,000 to $52,000 annually towards the practice’s bottom-line.
c) We have seen situations where the employee wrote off several fees because they did not
problem solve and found it easier to write off the fees rather than spend a few minutes
researching the situation.
d) Not to mention all of the time your team puts into training the new employee.
e) A wrong hire could even affect the culture of the team.
Can you begin to see how this can quickly add to your losses?

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Leadership Development: Transformational leadership is a leadership style where leaders create an
inspiring vision of the future, motivate their followers to achieve it, manage implementation successfully, and
develop the members of their teams to be even more effective in the future.
To be successful, regardless of your title or position, focus needs to be placed on developing one’s leadership
skills. Effective leaders can add value simply by being present on teams. They are inspirational and motivating.
They know the right things to say to people to help them understand what is needed, and they can convince
people to support a cause. When talented and effective leaders are in a practice, the practice is well on its
way to success. Develop these leadership skills in yourself and in your team members and you’ll see the
performance and productivity of your entire team improve. Visit www.strategicpracticesolution.com/effective-
leaders-inspire to learn more about our Coaching Services and “Effective Leaders Inspire” training.
Effective leaders manage performance by setting their expectations clearly and concisely that measure up to
the SMART concept. These are goals that are based on industry standards and take into account the practices
current situation and “hidden” potential.

Specific: Do not generalize your goals, but specify

what you want. General vs. specific is the difference
between making, “I want to grow my business,” your
goal or making, “I want to gain 25 new clients by the
end of the month.”
Measurable: Make sure that your goals can be
measured. For example, if your hygienists set a goal
to increase their daily production from $900 to $1,500
they must have way to measure their progress. We
have created daily tracking systems for our clients
that not only track daily production but other key
performance indicators [KPI] that would identify
reasons the hygienist or associates achieved their
goals or fell short of the goal. The daily tracker helps the provider have a better understanding on what they
need to work on.
Achievable: You need to make goals that clearly state who is in charge of their success. If you set a goal of
increasing case acceptance 80% in within a month when the practice is averaging 20%, you are setting yourself
and the team to fail. Goals should be difficult, but obtainable. Goals also need to be revisited as the skills of the
team increase and other variables are considered.
Relevant: How does the goal tie into your key responsibilities? How is it aligned to the objectives? In the
example where the hygienist wants to increase her daily production to $1,500 you may want to also provide a
relevant goal to your business team to schedule patients by following the “Block Scheduling” system 100% of
the time and to maintain the amount of “open” time below 10%. This is relevant for the hygiene department to
meet their goal.

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Time-Bound: Make
Chart 2.3: Sample of asure you
Hiring set out a time line for the goals you set and they are reasonable. In the case of the
System
hygienist, you may want to set a time line of one month for the hygienist to achieve the goal. You would also
need to see a steady increase in the daily production that would be an indicator the hygienists are well on their
way to achieve the goal set in the timeline provided.
By utilizing the Performance Improvement Model and developing strong leadership skills, your practice will have
better tools in place to improve each department’s performance and you are able to monitor their efforts as a
leader. But this step is more than just training your team.
We also teach you how to lead your team and help them prioritize.
We help you create job titles and job descriptions.
We show you how to run productive meetings.
We help you develop ways to set goals for your team and monitor their success.
At the end of this step, you will have a team that is an asset to your practice not a liability. And if you are having
trouble creating a team that can accomplish your goals, we can provide the leadership coaching, hiring system
and/or recruit the talent for your practice.

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STEP 3: Create Business Systems
and Standard Operating Procedures

Now you have a GREAT team in place. They are all very knowledgeable, capable and motivated. You have
provided them with the expectations you are looking for them to deliver. So you should have your best year
EVER… right? Almost! You now need to be able to monitor their performance, as we discussed in Step 2, and
provide further professional development. Remember, we can only perform to the level of our knowledge.
Many practice owners invest in technology due to the benefits towards patients and the practice. “[Refer to Step
4 of the SparkPlug Dental Practice Management System]. They attend training to improve their technical skills.
Yet, they are unaware of the lost revenue walking out their door every day. There is no system to attract, convert,
follow up and track treatment presented to patients. They are unaware of how many new patient inquiry calls
actually schedule and show up for an appointment. The team has not received formalized training to learn of
a system where they are viewed as a patient advocate and take a patient through a process where the patient
realizes they have a dental need(s), the urgency to take care of it, and are involved in finding a solution that best
meets their needs.

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As a leader of the practice, you should be able to:
Identify the Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) that the practice should be monitoring daily/weekly/monthly to
find lost opportunities
Set measurable goals for each of the KPI’s
Create the data collection systems necessary to monitor the KPI’s
Train personnel on how to access position appropriate data
Develop, implement, and train personnel on what each KPI is measuring and the appropriate response when
goals are not being achieved, or negative trends appear. Equally important is the ability to identify causes
of positive trends and assist them with creating a system for monitoring and tracking positive trends. When
complete, the practice will have a fully functional dashboard that allows each member to have their finger on
the pulse of their position, and will be empowered to make decisions to improve their individual performance,
leading to improved results for the practice as a whole.

Practice owners and/or office managers need to always be aware of how the practice is trending in order to
make any necessary adjustments in the event the practice is trending negative.

CASE STUDY:

Dr. Frank could never get into the habit of reviewing the practice dashboard to see if the practice
was on course to meet/exceed/fall short of the current month’s goal. Dr. Frank just did not have
the time. It was important for him to know the status of the practice for he would always begin
to worry if a day suddenly fell apart or if there were “openings” in the schedule. This caused him
to come down “hard” on the team – demotivating them. We created a daily huddle worksheet
customized specifically for Dr. Frank. The worksheet included a business section where every
morning his Business Team Specialist informed him not only of the practice’s MTD stats in
relation to the set goal, but also how his previous day closed and how the current day was
trending. The daily huddle worksheet also provides the BTS with vital information on where to
focus the team on to meet/ exceed the daily goal. SPS approaches each client uniquely and
customizes reports and business systems to meet the practice’s and owner’s needs.

What exactly are the procedures and policies put in place to perform job functions? Once we have evaluated, we
will recommend ways to improve your procedures and give you the tools you need to monitor performance.

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 CASE STUDY:

An example is Dr. Smith’s practice; she had two people in charge of recall. As we evaluated their
recall efforts we noticed the following:
The client’s recall process could be improved upon by adding three different types of messages
in the event voicemail messages needed to be left, and each message had to be executed
within a specific time frame.
We changed the dates / times when recall attempts were being made to Wednesday 4:00pm –
9:00pm, Friday from 9:00am -2:00pm and Saturday from 9:00am -1:00pm.
The two team members had a difficult time overcoming stalls such as “I need to check my
schedule”, “I will call you back”, or “I cannot afford it now”. We taught them the verbiage to
address the stalls and noticed their confidence increase as they were getting favorable results
from the new verbiage.
Developed a tracking system the two team members completed to monitor their recall efforts
and to discuss with their Manager at their monthly team meetings.

In the event you require assistance, SPS can While processes can be changed if they prove to
review the departments you are wishing to have be unsuccessful, they should not change from day
analyzed, make recommendations to improve your to day. Also, when they are changed, the change(s)
procedures, and provide coaching on an as need should be clearly communicated and, if necessary,
basis. We will suggest ways to improve your business training should be provided.
team and clinical team; as well as, everything in the It is important to remember here that nothing lasting
middle. Very similar to the recommendations we can be built in a day. In order to create business
made to Dr. Smith’s recall process. procedures that work, you have to dedicate time
Just how every practice is unique, every segment of and perseverance. It is important, though, that you
a business is unique. In order to be successful, you do take the time to accomplish this because without
have to set standards for every area individually. it, your employees will be dissatisfied because they
Once all business and monitoring systems are in are unsure how to do their jobs or what you expect
place, consistency is key! As a leader, you need of them. This will then translate into a poorly run
to be consistent in the goals and expectations business that is a turn off for customers.
you have set for each department. If you set In order to help you create systems that will work
requirements for your receptionist to always call for you, one of the things we do is talk to your staff
patients 2 days before an appointment in order confidentially. What do they think is run properly
to remind them of their appointment, you cannot and what could be improved? If they have a problem
get upset when a patient complains that he or she with their job, what is it? After interviewing each team
would prefer the reminder to be 24 hours before the member, we will present to you the general patterns
appointment. brought out into the open by the team so we can
identify areas they would like to see improvements to.

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STEP 4: Technology Utilization and Opportunities
Just like every other field, technology has greatly
changed the way dentistry works as well as how
practices are managed. In step 4, we will evaluate
ways that you can incorporate technology into your
business in order to streamline your practice and
improve the customer experience as a whole.
Before you purchase anything, we sit down with you
and your practice manager in order to work together
to create a plan to implement the technology
when you do get it. In this way, you will be able to
immediately start working on getting a ROI as soon
as you set up your new equipment.
There are two main areas of focus that we will be
looking at when we evaluate your technology use.
1. Technology in your practice
2. Technology in your business management work with you in order to determine the equipment
that will help you most.

Technology in Your Practice

Technology in Your Business Management
Advanced dental technology might be expensive,
but do not let that stop you from utilizing it. The Incorporating technology into your practice is
use of technological equipment makes the dental not the only way you can use it to enhance your
process faster and more effective and comfortable. business. Practice management tools allow you
In turn, this makes people want to keep coming to run your entire business as well as you run the
back as well as make recommendations for you. This actual dentistry component of the job.
means that the technology could easily pay for itself. There are many ways to incorporate technology
We will audit the technology you are using and make into your practice in order to make running the
recommendations on places you can improve in this overall business smoother and more efficient. For
area. There are many types of technology you can be example, you might be able to use dental practice
using in your practice. management software.

Intraoral Cameras Diagnodent Additional tools that might help you include patient
appointment and records software along with
Lasers Paperless Technology marketing software.
Electric Hand Pieces Dental Software By bringing your practice into the present or even
These are just examples. Just because technology the future, you make a business that not only runs
helps does not mean that you should run out and smoothly, it is a place patients trust and want to go
spend a million dollars in advanced technology. We for dental services.

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STEP 5: Make Marketing a System

If nobody has ever heard of you, then it does not

do you any good to have the perfect practice.
Sometimes, improving your practice is as simple as
getting your name and reputation out there to your
potential patients.
A marketing system should be two-fold. It should
help you get new patients. However, it does not stop
once you gain a client. The second part of marketing
is making sure current and new patients stay with
you.
Marketing is relatively easy to accomplish and low
cost. When you have a set plan in place, you can do
much of the legwork yourself and can find easy cost-
effective solutions for the rest.
When we help you come up with this plan, we will
When we look at your marketing efforts, we will start help you figure out where you are different than your
by looking at your current approach. In order to help, competitors. If you are exactly the same as any other
we need to see where your marketing is currently practice, then why should a patient switch to you?
getting you. When you market yourself, you need to show people
Once we have a picture of your current process, how you are better than your competitors. Maybe
we will work with you to determine just who your this is the fact that you treat patients like family, offer
patients are and who you want to get. The first thing the best post-cleaning swag, or you use the best
you should do when you are creating a marketing technology on the market. No matter what it is, you
plan is figure out who your target audience is. All need to figure it out and let potential patients know.
of your efforts should revolve around them, so you Once we have figured out who your ideal patient
need to know who they are. is and how you stand out, we can work with you to
You have to know what they want from a dentist, paint a picture of what you should be doing. We will
what their concerns are, why they need you, and why work together to find out every area your potential
they chose the dentist they are currently using. All of patient might be using to find dentists, and we will
your marketing efforts, from the customer experience create a marketing strategy for each. Plus, we will
to your website, and everything in between, should examine trends and forecasts to figure out ways you
reflect your findings. can expand your marketing reach in the future.

| 5 STEPS TO DENTAL PRACTICE SUCCESS | TRICIA CASASANTA | PAGE 19

Conclusion
If your dental practice is not what you want it to be, then something as simple as stepping back and looking at
the big picture can really help. It’s time to stop working in the business and work on the business. A practice
audit from the ground up can help you identify areas of hidden potential, identify areas that need tweaking, and
locate solutions to dramatically impact the bottom line and make things much easier to accomplish.

With Strategic Practice Solution’s SparkPlug Remember that all it takes is letting us walk you
Dental Practice Management System, we can help through five steps.
you perform this audit and take the steps to start We will take the pulse of your business.
growing your business.
We will help you build a team that is as passionate
We have been helping dentists in the area for 20 about your practice as you are and who knows how
years, and in this time we have developed a lot of to get the job done and consistently works hard to
insight into the world of dentistry. Our experience accomplish it.
can help you accomplish your business goals.
We will create a plan to incorporate useful business
As we learn how your business works and where systems.
it needs to be improved, we will create plans and
We will determine where you can use technology
train staff that will get you back on your feet. We
and show you places you can implement it.
cannot do all the work, though. You have to want
to improve and be willing to work in order to do so. We will work with you to improve your marketing
plan in order to help you find and attract new
Our business depends on your success. That is why
patients while keeping your current ones.
we are selective of the clients we work with. If you
love dentistry and are fully committed to growing Your practice depends on every process, worker, and
your practice into a top-notch patient experience, department. If any one of these is falling short of the
then we want to help. The fact that we cannot mark, then your whole practice will suffer. In order to
succeed unless we help you succeed also means truly improve, you have to look at every area of your
that you can count on us to put our full effort into business.
helping you just like we have helped all of our With us by your side, you will quickly get your
other clients. business back to where you want it to be.

| 5 STEPS TO DENTAL PRACTICE SUCCESS | TRICIA CASASANTA | PAGE 20

CASE STUDY:

Dr. Capaldo purchased a 2nd practice approximately two years ago and hired an associate to
help run the practice. Dr. Capaldo hired a practice consultant after the first year of purchase
to help grow the practice. During the introduction of the practice consultant a new office
manager was hired to join the team. In a matter of one year, the practice went from a monthly
ROI of $20,000 to a -$17,000. Dr. Capaldo was informed by the practice consultant that it was
the economy and would only be short lived. Dr. Capaldo was nervous about switching out
practice consultants, but was at a point where he had to put money into the practice to make
payroll and knew he needed to do something. He finally entrusted SPS to get the job done.
We conducted an audit of the practice and quickly identified the problem as simple as the
associate’s adjustments were being posted under Dr. Capaldo’s name causing the practice
to overpay the Associate. We also identified the hygiene department was underperforming
and case acceptance was 25%. We quickly adjusted the payroll issue, provided sales training,
implemented the Revenue Directed Hygiene training, and set up a recall system. In a matter of 6
months the practice went from an ROI of ($72,000) to an ROI of $64,000.

Getting started is easy.

Visit
http://strategicpracticesolution.com
or call 888.421.1808 to request your free Dental Practice Assessment today!

| 5 STEPS TO DENTAL PRACTICE SUCCESS | TRICIA CASASANTA | PAGE 21

 Based in Michigan, Strategic Practice Solutions (SPS) is a leading
provider of dental practice management consulting, coaching and
training in the Midwest. Since 2009, SPS has been providing dental
practices with knowledge, skills and personal coaching to improve
About Strategic revenue, leadership, staff communication and client satisfaction.
SPS offers a variety of training, seminars, certifications and
Practice Solutions workshops including, Everything DiSC: a Wiley Brand, for new and
existing dental practices in Metro Detroit, Troy, St. Clair Shores, Ann
Arbor, Howell, and surrounding areas including Ohio and Virginia.
Learn more at www.strategicpracticesolution.com.

What Clients Are Saying

We’ve been working with Strategic Practice Solutions (SPS) Even before I purchased my own dental practice, I knew
for more than 8 years now. Sure, I’ve used other dental practice from working in other dental offices, that I was going to need
management consultants before, but SPS is different. help. I realized that if I tried to do it all myself and tried to
Other dental consultants we’ve used were not local, so they do dentistry, my practice would fail, so I called on Tricia and
would fly in from where they were located, stay for two or three Strategic Practice Solutions right from the beginning.
days and leave. I noticed when they weren’t in the office we I spent 10 years working with other consultants and found them
would revert back to old habits and have to start over again the to be very arrogant and cookie-cutter in their approach. Many
next time they were in town. This also put a lot of extra work on of them have a ‘Do it my way or your business will fail’ attitude
my plate to manage and motivate my staff. and Tricia wasn’t like that. She is warm, listens and truly wants
SPS takes great concern and pride in making sure we succeed. to know what my vision is.
The difference between SPS and others boils down to this; Before I started working with Tricia, after work I would go to a
other consultants give you the cook book and say, ‘Go cook.’ park by my house before I went home to my husband and kids.
SPS not only provides the cook book, but helps you cook; they I was so stressed out with numbers and making payroll. Tricia
teach you how measure the ingredients and how to stir the pot. came in, helped me see the big picture and got some things in
Because they are local, they are more embedded in our office order. I owe Tricia the world. Now, when I go to that park by my
on a weekly and monthly basis and provide the coaching and house it’s to have fun with my family.
accountability we need to reach our goals.
After working with SPS, my staff is more accountable and – Dr. Kelly M. Giera, DDS, PC
I can objectively evaluate performance and performance
improvement versus just guessing. We are also much more
systemized so many of the management and administrative
responsibilities have been taken off my plate, which is great for
me because I don’t like doing most of them.

– Dr. Goldstein, DDS

| 5 STEPS TO DENTAL PRACTICE SUCCESS | TRICIA CASASANTA | PAGE 22