Update
Update
PROGRESSIVE
CONCEPTS
Charlene White
Orthodontic Consulting
Management Solutions
It is easy to hold an opinion but hard
work to actually know what one is talking about.
—Paul Ford
Some people, no matter how old they
get, never lose their beauty – they merely move it from their faces into their
hearts.
—Martin Buxbaum
The person who knows how to laugh at
himself will never cease to be amused.
—Shirley MacLaine
Discipline yourself and others won’t
need to.
—Unknown
Happiness is not something you postpone for the future. It is something you
design for the present.
—Jim Rohn
How you spend your time is more
important than how you spend your
money. Money mistakes can be corrected, but time is gone forever.
—David Norris
O C T O B E R
2 0 0 3
15 IMPORTANT QUESTIONS TO ASK
YOURSELF IF YOU WANT TO REJUVENATE YOUR PRACTICE
For years, many consultants told orthodontists that their practice would start to
decline by the 20th year. This concept was based on referral sources aging. I have
been consulting in orthodontics for over 20 years and have not found this to be
the case. Many of our clients just had their best year and are celebrating their
30th year in practice.
Keeping your practice current is a choice that the doctor makes. A well established practice has some competitive advantages if they position themselves properly. Their big advantages may include: excellent reputation, surplus of funds to
invest, high base of patient referrals and clinical experience. In order to build on
these strengths and keep the practice thriving, the doctor must focus on creating
a state of the art image.
In this article, I will cover 15 important questions to ask yourself if you want a
mature practice to thrive.
1. Are you investing money back into your practice?
One of the key advantages that a doctor has that has been in practice for 15+ years
is they have more money to reinvest into their practice. Typically, the younger
doctor has a lot of debt they are paying off that they have incurred during school.
If the senior doctor makes the mistake of consistently investing their money elsewhere, the image of the practice can decline.
A doctor who has a successful practice will become comfortable with their financial return on their practice and does not feel the need to reinvest in the practice.
The practice takes on an outdated image and over a period of time can lose referrals, and new patient numbers will decrease.
It is important to continue to reinvest money back into the practice each year in
order to maintain your position in the marketplace.
2. Would you describe your facility as “State of the Art?”
I was consulting in a long-term client’s office one day and visited the patient’s
bathroom. The toilet paper holder was falling off the wall, which was not in-line
with the image of the practice. I discussed this with the client and he agreed. That
discussion led to a complete renovation of the office. We laugh about it now and
discuss how my trip to his patient bathroom ended up costing him a lot of money;
however, he gets many compliments each day that his office is state of the art. His
practice has continued to grow each year.
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Remodel your office approximately every seven years to
stay current. Color and trends are constantly changing in
terms of design. Patients and parents also like to see
change occurring in the office. When various family
members are treated in a practice, they will comment that
nothing has changed in the past 15 – 20 years. As the
practice matures, make sure the design of the practice
projects a current image.
patient coordinator?
Well-trained new patient coordinators are confident in
their presentations. It is important for the coordinators to
be excited about the doctor and the orthodontic treatment that is being done in the office. An excellent coordinator also portrays a professional image at work. He or
she should have a beautiful smile and also be wearing
attractive, crisp attire each day.
One of the best ways to get an excellent design for the office
is to have three designers create a proposal and design
boards for you to review.
From that presentation, you
should be able to choose a designer who is going to work
within your budget and also help you obtain your goals.
I have been conducting New Patient Coordinator
Workshops for many years. I have had an opportunity to
receive calls from doctors who comment on the
improved confidence level their coordinator demonstrates after having attended our training courses. When
patients come to a well established and mature practice,
they expect to interact with a top notch new patient
coordinator.
3. Do you have an excellent location?
Location! Location! Location! We have all heard that
statement many times before. Moving is not fun, but
sometimes very necessary in order for the practice to
thrive. If the economy declines in a particular area, the
orthodontic practice will certainly decline. An orthodontic office needs to be located in an area where the families
can afford orthodontic treatment. The orthodontists
should stay in touch with the demographics of the area
and can make the move before things go downhill too far.
Demographic information is readily available through the
Chamber of Commerce or a good commercial real estate
agent. Successful orthodontic practices go to where the
growth is going.
No marketing plan can overcome a poor location. This is
absolutely essential to marketing your practice long-term.
4. Are you taking imaging photos at the exam?
Cutting edge practices are taking imaging photographs at
the exam. This creates a bonding with the patient and
parent. The parent enjoys seeing their child’s picture on
the screen during the first appointment. The patient also
already feels a part of the practice by going through the
picture taking process. Invest in a large screen so the
images can be projected and the treatment plan discussed
with the patient and parent in a well decorated consultation and band area.
The photographs should be printed along with a nice
walk-out letter to be taken home to the other parent if
they are not able to be present at that first appointment. The experience and image of the practice should
be portrayed in a walk-out package. This makes a difference when the family is reviewing the packages they
have received. The best package is often the deciding
factor.
5. Do you have an excellent, well-trained new
6. Are patients, parents and people in the community complimenting you and your staff?
People follow success and successful doctors portray that
image. The successful doctors should be hearing comments like, “Gee doctor, I like your tie,” “I like your outfit,” or “you certainly have an attractive smile.” Other
comments include, “Your staff is great,” “I really like your
car,” or “That is sure a nice watch.” Everyone should talk
about how they love coming to your office.
Sometimes doctors are afraid to appear successful
because they fear that the patients will assume they are
making too much money. You have to know your market and understand what is appropriate in your community. However, thriving doctors know how to create an
image where people look at them and know they are
successful. They will assume that they have taken
excellent care of their patients.
As a whole, many orthodontists are very sharp dressers.
It is interesting to see orthodontists now wear very
attractive loafers at work. A young orthodontist who
just started into practice informed me that a lady told
him he needed to go get a new pair of shoes immediately because all the successful orthodontists that she had
ever known had good looking shoes. He took her advice
and purchased a pair of Cole-Hahn loafers. The mature
orthodontist may not have youth on their side, however,
they can invest time in a fitness program and also invest
in their wardrobe so they are continuing to portray an
image of success.
7. Have you attracted and kept the best staff in
your area?
The mature, successful orthodontist is in an excellent
position to create the very best working environment,
excellent salaries, benefits, attractive hours, flexibility and
more vacation time off with pay for staff. When you
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Progressive Concepts Update
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attract and keep the best staff in the area, this is a practice
builder. Patients and parents enjoy knowing they are being
taken care of by staff members who are knowledgeable and
well-trained. It gives the patients a feeling of security.
8. Clinically, have you continued to maintain excellence?
The following is a list of items that are important to reflecting
clinical excellence:
• Up-to-date mechanics
• Beautiful results – create full smiles, attractive profiles
and attractive smile lines
• On time finishing (20 – 24 months)
• Bonding when possible to reduce the number of
separators and bands in the practice
• Have the majority of visits 8 weeks
• Utilize comfortable, long working wires
• Offer various types of brackets and esthetic options
• Offer non-compliance therapies
When an orthodontist holds onto old fashioned mechanics and
keeps the patients in treatment too long, this will hinder the
growth of the practice. Parents are more educated than they
ever have been before in terms of orthodontic treatment. The
mature orthodontist needs to continue his/her clinical education each and every year.
9. Are your staff members well-trained so they can be
empowered to take on responsibilities?
Is your staff so well-trained that you can empower them to
take on a great deal of responsibility? I am a big advocate of
staff training. This is why we have created a library of 18
products available to the orthodontist and their team.
These products make it easy for the doctors and staff to hold
in-office seminars.
The orthodontist should empower trainers within the staff.
These are staff members who are good at training, leading the
training sessions. In addition to having in-office training,
there are excellent courses available for the team. In today’s
market, many staff members are not in a position to travel so
organizing your in-office training can be beneficial.
The advantage to in-office training sessions is that everyone
can attend, it saves valuable time and travel money. You can
tailor the course to meet the individual needs.
10. Do you have an organized marketing plan and system in place?
Many times a mature, successful practice becomes complacent about internal marketing. The time to implement
a marketing plan is when the practice is already successful. In order to implement a plan, you need to have a marketing coordinator, establish a budget of 1 – 2% of growth
collections and a written plan for the year. The plan
should include the patients, the referring offices, the staff,
the community and also the schools. The marketing coordinator needs to have at least 8 – 10 hours per week to
dedicate to the internal marketing of the practice.
Some practices prefer to invest in a coaching program for
their marketing coordinator. We currently offer this service
through Progressive Concepts. Making an investment in a 12
month coaching program can result in a significant increase
in your new patient numbers. If you have any questions
about how our coaching plan works, please feel free to contact our office.
11. Have you taken control of your schedule so you can
reach your production goal and see patients 12 – 14 days
a month?
As an orthodontist matures in their practice, if they do not
take control of their schedule they will suffer from burnout.
Orthodontists who have been in practice more than 14 years
need to curb their patient days to 12 but no more than 14 days
per month. This enables them to establish balance in their life
and enjoy their practice long-term. I tell my clients to design
it the way you want it. Doctors may even continue on their
career path for many years and see patients as few as 10 days
per month. With the new technology available to orthodontists today, they are able to increase their production and see
fewer patients per day in fewer days per month.
Orthodontists who do not take control of their schedule are
constantly thinking about exit strategies from their practice. I
have had many clients tell me they have completely changed
their minds about their exit strategy. Once they were able to
balance their life and control the number of patient days per
year, they practiced longer.
12. Do you take time to enjoy life and support your staff in
doing the same?
The fun times carry us through the stressful times. It is important to spend time together a few times per year either by conducting retreats, having a picnic or simply going to dinner.
Many offices take the first day of school off and plan a fun day
since that day is very hard to schedule. Make sure you are celebrating your successes and also taking an opportunity to stop
and celebrate practice anniversaries, birthdays and other special events together as a team.
I read a quote once that stuck with me. “Eighty year old people do not say they wish they had gone to the office more.
They wish they had laughed more, danced more, had more fun
and enjoyed life along the way.”
13. Do you have written practice goals?
Young practitioners are more enthusiastic and diligent about
writing goals for the future. It is just as important for a mature
practice to have written goals for all areas of the practice.
Setting and achieving the goals together as a team stimulates
action. Make sure you stay in the habit of writing your goals and
tracking your progress. Reward yourself and your team for your
accomplishments.
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Progressive Concepts Update
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14. Do you offer flexible financing and affordable fees or
have you positioned yourself as a boutique practice?
The longer doctors are in practice they continue to raise their
fees on an annual basis. Sometimes mature practices have
raised their fees to the point that they have not positioned
themselves to be the “go to” practice for the average family in
the community. They have established what I call a boutique
practice. A boutique practice has higher than average fees for
the area. This results in a situation where the teachers’ or firemen’s children are not in the position to bring their children to
the office. The exception to this would be in a very high
income community.
PROGRESSIVE CONCEPTS
UPCOMING SEMINARS
If the mature orthodontist wants to be attractive to the middle
class, working families in their area, they need to be in tune to
flexible financing and fees that are affordable to the family
budget. Continue to obtain feedback from your staff to make
sure you have positioned yourself properly in this area so you
will have a long-term, thriving practice.
Through this seminar you will:
15. Have you continued to make contact with your main
referral sources?
If a practice receives 50% or more of its patients from referring offices, it is important to maintain contact with the referral sources. In the beginning of the practice, doctors spend a
lot of time courting their referrals. Over a period of years,
they tend not to make an investment of time or money in this
area because they became discouraged by the fickleness of
many referring doctors. The fickleness may be accurate;
however, statistically, many orthodontists still receive 50% of
their referrals from dental offices. Continue to do things like
taking them out to lunch, sending gifts, hosting social events
and conducting lunch and learns or creating a study club
environment for the referring doctors. Find your own nitch,
but continue to nurture the relationship or you may find
yourself loosing referrals to someone who is on top of that
game.
At some point, the orthodontist needs to plan and address their
transition strategy. The mature practice that has maintained
an excellent image and increased production is in a much better position to attract and keep an excellent candidate to transition into their practice. There are many advantages to continuing to rejuvenate your practice on an annual basis. Do not
fall into the trap of thinking that because you have been in
practice so many years that you are going to automatically
decline. Continue to set your goals and take action to be the
best you can be.
Many doctors who have been in practice 20 years or longer
invest in an in-office consultation with Charlene White. If you
are interested in Charlene’s excellent consulting services,
please call our office for details.
N E W PAT I E N T C O O R D I N A T O R C E RT I F I C AT I O N
WORKSHOP
NORFOLK, VA
November 14th & 15th, 2003
• Increase case acceptance, which directly affects
practice profits
• Build the confidence of your new patient
coordinator
• Learn to portray what special value you
have to offer
• Set yourself apart from the pack
• Project an image of quality
• Improve your record keeping and documentation
• Discover areas of potential
You will empower your new patient process and
increase your case acceptance by 5% and more!
Check out our website www.charlenewhite.com for seminar details and to register early
For more information or to register,
call 800-445-7805 or 757-626-3113
Charlene White announces a
“New” Toll Free number for
ordering her training products.
Call 1-800-397-8188
to order valuable training tools
for your team today.
Products Division
New address
215 Brooke Ave. #110
Norfolk, VA 23510
Progressive Concepts Update
4
Staff Communication Corner
Plan an "I’d like to get to know you better" meeting.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Put the staff in pairs.
Put people together who don’t know each other as well.
Have each person interview the other person.
Create a guideline questionnaire. Ask questions like….
What did you like most about your childhood?
The happiest moment in your life?
What are your hobbies?
It makes me happy when……..
Create questions that do not pertain to work. Spend about 30-45 minutes in pairs during the interviews. Come
back together as a group. Have each person tell what they learned about their partner.
CHARLENE WHITE’S RECOMMENDED ACTION LIST
Directions: Check off the items that need focus in your practice. Set target dates and goals for each area today.
TO DO LIST
TARGET DATE
1.
Update office décor.
2.
Build a new office in a great location.
3.
Purchase an imaging system to be used at the initial exam.
4.
Create an excellent new patient process.
5.
Focus on team building.
6.
Hire a management consultant.
7.
Plan fun events and attend continuing education courses with staff.
8.
Review treatment mechanics. Use new appliances that allow me to extend
weeks between visits.
9.
Take 2 – 3 courses per year to elevate my clinical skills.
10.
Set up a marketing plan, budget plan and allocate time for the staff.
11.
Focus on developing a referring office contact system.
12.
Write goals for the year and share them with the team.
13.
Plan continuing education programs for the local schools.
14.
Set up in-office training sessions for staff.
15.
Take charge of my schedule and see patients 12 days per month.
Progressive Concepts Update
5
Marketing Calendar
Month
November
December
January
Patients & Parents
Staff
Referring Offices
Send a letter to all responsible
parties who have paid their
account on time and/or kept
their appointments. Thank
them for their cooperation.
Participate in a food drive in
your community.
Post a
notice in your reception area
and get the patients involved
for Thanksgiving.
Pick a popular football game
in your area. Promote a pick
the score contest. The winning office wins a meal at a
local sports bar.
Set up baskets of small gifts
so patients and siblings can
take a present during the
holidays.
The holidays are a time for
giving back. Plan a surprise
home-cooked meal for your
doctor and their spouse as an
appreciation for being a great
boss.
Go caroling together to various offices. Deliver a holiday
CD to them of favorite holiday
songs.
Have a “New Years Resolutions”
contest. Base winners on various
categories. Funniest, most challenging, unique, inspiring, etc.
Post the resolutions on the office.
Plan a goal setting retreat for
a day. Get away from the
office. Bring a favorite dish.
Charlene offers many examples – video & DVD to put
“ZIP” into your meetings.
Deliver new referral cards
and request theirs. Update
all practice background
information.
Progressive Concepts, Inc.
Corporate Office 1-800-445-7805
215 Brook Ave., Suite 110
Norfolk, VA 23510
www.charlenewhite.com
Products Division 800-397-8188
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