I mentioned in a previous dental practice management blog entry that there are ways to skew the failure rate of treatment presentation. (If you missed that blog entry, click here). Most dental consultants find there are two ways this happens.

First, the doctor presents treatment that is so small that anyone would accept it. Jeff Garcia was rated the 5th best quarterback in the NFL last season but most of his passes were short passes typical of the West Coast offense that the Buccaneers used.

Second, the treatment plan doesn’t add up to your own definition of a healthy mouth. A good exercise to do is to take some time and sit down and write out your idea of a healthy mouth. Now, compare that definition to every person that comes in. Lets say a patient needs three crowns. You tell him what he needs but then you say, “Well, lets just start with this one crown.” Right there you are skewing your true failure rate.

There is no production number you can place on it because every practice is different. A general dentist may just be doing crown and bridges so perhaps his typical case fee is $2000 per patient. Cosmetic dentists or someone who does full mouth reconstruction will do much higher than that.

The first thing consultants should do is have the doctor keep track of how much he presents and how much is then scheduled immediately afterwards.

Then a dental practice management consultant would have the financial arranger keep track of those patients who say they know they need to do the treatment but are having a tough time affording it. Then we know by this scenario that the dentist has done his job and his marketing is not going to waste.

If the patient comes to the financial arranger and asks if they have to do the whole treatment plan, then that is a sign that the doctor failed at his job of getting the patient to see the value of his dentistry. It’s a waste of your marketing dollars. Your financial arranger should have a patient who is committed to the work but is trying to figure out the payment for the service. This is what all practice management consultants should be striving for with their clients.

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