Practice Challenges: The doctor was working as an associate at a dental practice when the owner was forced to retire due to health issues. As a result, the doctor bought the practice in 2006. In the first year, he enjoyed a modest increase in production and collections. Then the recession hit and production and collections declined for the next three years. No advertising was being done and the number of patients was decreasing. This situation caused the doctor a good deal of anxiety and stress. Although he was making ends meet, he was not saving money and worried about where he would be in ten years.
When it came to hiring, the doctor would hire an applicant if the person seemed “OK.” As a result, the staff were not of the quality required; they bickered and didn’t care about the practice. The doctor’s motivation was fading while problems in the practice were also causing stress in his family life. In 2010, he found out about Sterling and signed up as a client.
At that time, the doctor had six full-time staff in addition to himself: two dental assistants, two hygienists, and two receptionists, one of which also did billing.
Currently, the doctor has a total of six full-time and four part-time staff in addition to himself: an office manager who also handles billing, two receptionists, two dental assistants, one hygiene assistant and four part-time hygienists.
Timeline:
1) July 2010 - CUSTOMIZED EXECUTIVE BOOSTER PROGRAM: The doctor started his Customized Executive Booster Program with specific executive training courses and customized one-on-one consulting at Sterling's offices in Glendale, CA. During the program, he realized the vital importance of having everyone’s role in the practice defined. He had assumed the staff knew their jobs but discovered each worked on what they thought they should be doing rather than what they were meant to be doing. Resolving this issue would bring harmony to the practice and reduce unnecessary traffic. The doctor left Sterling with a customized strategic plan from his consultant to reverse production and collections and keep them going up.
2) Aug 2010 - BUSINESS INTEGRITY COURSE AND ETHICS FOR BUSINESS SURVIVAL COURSE: These courses enabled the doctor to revalidate the value of dentistry. He realized it was his job to ensure patients received the treatment they needed. If he was too “nice” and let them put it off or neglect the problem, he was not doing his job.
* Oct 2010 - WASHINGTON, D.C. WORKSHOP: The doctor attended his first regional Sterling workshop and continues to do so. He finds the workshops are reenergizing for him and also very useful for his staff. They get to meet the Sterling staff, learn more about the principles of the Sterling program and the workshops help them feel more like a team.
3) Jan 2011 - FORMULAS FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS COURSE AND EXECUTIVE BASICS COURSE: These courses gave the doctor the tools he needed to take control of the practice rather than being at the mercy of whatever might happen.
4) April 2011 - MANAGEMENT BY STATISTICS COURSE: This course helped the doctor get organized and define what key statistics he needed to track to manage his practice. The course also taught him what to be alert for when managing by statistics. Overall, the course increased the doctor’s level of control of the practice.
* Aug 2011 - HILTON HEAD WORKSHOP
5) Jan 2012 - HOW TO GET THINGS DONE COURSE: The doctor took this course with his office manager who gained the ability to look someone in the eye and say “no.” This helped greatly on collections. The office manager became very direct in asking for payment. As for the doctor, the course gave him more control and know-how to comfortably deal with unpleasant staff issues.
6) Jan 2012 - PRO SALES WORKSHOP: In this workshop, the doctor and the instructor came up with a plan to promote higher-end services such as implants and bridges. These services were not being pushed due to their higher costs. Now the doctor makes sure to fully educate the patient on the need for treatment while the front desk checks into the patient’s insurance and finalizes the cost. If the schedule allows, the doctor will also start on the treatment immediately. This has made a big difference in the number of patients accepting the higher-end treatment plans that they need. It has also increased efficiency in the practice by servicing the patients immediately or within the next two to three days.
7) Jan 2012 - UPS AND DOWNS COURSE, BUSINESS INTEGRITY COURSE AND FORMULAS FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS COURSE FOR OFFICE MANAGER: The office manager took these courses at Sterling. Upon completing them, she took over the function of tracking all key statistics for the doctor including the productivity of the individual staff. This was a task the doctor used to perform himself. Passing it to the office manager enabled him to focus more on dentistry.
8) April 2012 - HOW TO ACHIEVE YOUR DREAMS WORKSHOP: In this workshop, the doctor and his workshop consultant went through various aspects of the practice to define where the doctor wanted to be in 15 - 20 years. Then they made detailed plans on how to get there. The doctor reports that the Sterling management courses showed him how to make the practice work and make a lot of money. The How to Achieve Your Dreams Workshop reminded him why he wanted to do that in the first place.
* Oct 2012 - PHILADELPHIA WORKSHOP: The doctor was featured in a case study during the workshop’s Million-Dollar Roundtable due to his success.
The doctor is continuing his one-on-one consulting and additional Sterling services to further grow his practice.