Like me, I’m sure many other dentists have been struggling under the yoke of PPOs. At the beginning of each year, we look back on the previous year and see the numbers showing exactly how much money you wrote off—all the work you did that you’ll never be paid for.
There’s a saying that Kirk frequently uses: “Time is the new rich.” As we move through life, we realize that what’s important is the time we spend with our family, loved ones, or even by ourselves pursuing the things that bring us joy—not the money we get from working too much.
There’s an incredibly high risk in dentistry of getting burned out, and it affects your entire life when that happens. You’re a different person—your family sees it, your friends see it, and your practice sees it. It becomes difficult to practice dentistry effectively if you’re constantly exhausted, so it’s vital that you make changes to ensure that you’re not putting too much strain on yourself.
Your practice would be nothing without patients. But that doesn’t mean they should run the show! Your team is in charge, and patients need to see that. If you don’t set boundaries with patients, they can (and will) get away with anything.
There’s an unfortunate tendency for team meetings to turn into nothing more than a gripe session where you recycle the same grievances over and over again, wasting everyone’s time.
You’ve heard the complaints about the weekly meeting: they take up too much time, they don’t accomplish anything, and they just repeat the same information over and over again.
One of our favorite mantras here at ACT is “Progress, not perfection.” It’s a difficult concept to take to heart—especially for the Type-A personalities who so frequently find themselves in the dental profession—but we can’t emphasize enough how much it will free you from feeling overwhelmed every day.
You’ve hired a hygienist to join your dental practice. Now what? There is no doubt it can be frustrating to train a new employee, but it can also be frustrating as a new hire to go through “trial by fire.” Do your new team member and yourself a favor; implement an onboarding plan, and simplify the process for everyone.
Have you ever been 100% certain that a patient will commit to your treatment plan, only to find out later the patient left the office without scheduling? Have you been shocked to hear that a patient canceled and did not reschedule, with no reason given other than “I need to think about it more”?
