As a consultant one of the first things I do is take on the role of being the patient. So I leave without paying. Just kidding. No, what I mean is that I try to eyeball your dental office as if I am a new patient. I stroll around the parking lot, take a seat in the lobby and view the surroundings. I visit the restroom. I sit in each of the dental chairs and look up at the ceiling. What I sometimes uncover can really be stunning: Cigarette butts in the parking lot, weeds sprouting up from the cracks, dead flies...

The other way to get your percentage of staff pay into an acceptable range is to increase collections by increasing the percent of cases that are accepted. If your case acceptance percent runs 80% - and what I mean is that 80% of your patients commit to pay for and complete full treatment plans within a reasonable amount of time - then you're in the Michael Jordan league of case presentation. An acceptable amount is 70%. Anything less means your dental practice is hemorrhaging money.  This is an area where I find many doctors misdiagnose their dental office’s problem. Production is...

Is this a question you ask your Accounts Manager regularly? Dentists who are frantic about their profitability always seem to be bugging their staff about the collections. What’s worse, they try to “save” their way out of bad financial situations and that’s the wrong solution. Now don’t get me wrong. You should save money where you can, but the fact is that most of your expenses are fixed. Instead of asking, “What are the collections today?” you should be asking, “What percent of my collections goes to staff pay?” Why? Because the percentage of staff pay tells you what kind of...

Disclaimer: The word I am about to define is not for the faint of heart. Macho men have been known to turn into quivering bowls of Jello when even uttering this word. Definitions: 1) Income received for goods and services over some given period of time. 2) An act of completion of a commercial activity. 3) Operating revenues earned by a company. OK, now for the ugly part. You still have time to stop reading. I’ll give those of you who want to leave the room a few seconds before I continue. For those of you brave enough here goes: The...