THE FIRST PERSON-TO-PERSON CONTACT---YOUR TELEPHONE

We know that the majority of new patients find a prospective dental home through the internet.  Marketing gurus tell us between 65%-70% of Americans in the 30 to 50 age range now search for health information, including finding a practice that will meet their family’s needs, online.

However, once a patient decides which dental office to call to schedule an initial  appointment, the telephone is the front door, the first person-to-person contact, the all-important first impression.  Chances are that non-clinical staff members answer the telephone in your office.  These business team members must be well trained, not simply expected to handle all phone calls by the proverbial “seat of their pants”.  Calls must be answered promptly, by the third ring at the latest, with a pleasant voice and manner.  Answers to frequently asked questions should be part of all telephone greeters’ training.  The type of questions to be answered by each team member should be specified; for example, business staff may handle scheduling, billing/insurance, fee, and similar questions.  Questions about treatment plans, home care, follow-up directions or concerns following treatment, and similar clinical questions should be referred to trained clinical staff.  Calls about urgent care needs, an emergency following treatment, or a dissatisfied patient too upset to respond to an experienced staff member should be referred to the dentist.  Suggestion: use staff meeting time with team member in-put to assess the telephone protocols in your office.  If they are less than stellar, make fixing them a priority.

Telephone protocols for an office should be established by the dentist and clearly understood by all team members.  Remember the old axiom, “One has only one chance to make a good first impression.” is true of a dental office as well as an individual.  Make the first impression your office gives an excellent one with well-organized, consistently-used telephone protocols.

SLEEP APNEA---IS IT ON YOUR MENU OF TREATMENT MODALITIES?

OSA (obstructive sleep apnea), called a “ubiquitous and insidious malady” by experts in the field, is increasingly the bailiwick of dentists.  Oral appliances have proven to be effective OSA therapy, and most patients prefer oral therapy to the longer, more complicated, and uncomfortable treatment their physician can provide.

Briefly, OSA can be described as the tongue rolling dorsally, blocking the patient’s airway as he or she sleeps.  The blockage may affect OSA sufferers between 10 and 100 times per hour, varying each time in length between 10 and 90 seconds.  The deprivation of oxygen results in mild, moderate, or severe hypoxia, the condition of reduced levels of oxygen reaching cells that should be regenerating during sleep if sufficient oxygen is present.

Studies by the National Sleep Foundation show that approximately 50% of American adults suffer from some type of OSa.  Additionally, juvenile obstructive sleep apnea (JOSA) is on the increase.

OSA often manifests itself as snoring, an annoyance to anyone within earshot of the sleeper.  However, OSA is well beyond an annoyance; it is, in fact, dangerous to the sufferer’s health.  Research dating to the 1930s, work of a Nobel prize winner, Otto Warburg, MD, substantiates the claim that many diseases are negatively affected by insufficient levels of oxygen in the body.  Cancer cells, harmful bacteria, and viruses cannot survive in a high-oxygen atmosphere; hence, the vital importance of successfully treating OSA to assure sufficient disease-fighting levels of oxygen in the body.

If you have not yet added this treatment modality to your scope of services, consider its feasibility.  Research the variety of oral appliances meant to treat OSA; understand the positives and negatives of the various types; and attend credible CE courses on the subject.  Experts predict that within the near future, patients will expect their dentist to be able to provide OSA therapy.  Since most insurance companies and Medicare administrators are now allowing reimbursement for oral appliance OSA treatment, demand for therapy will increase.  Be prepared to meet your patients’ requests.

A MESSAGE OF ENCOURAGEMENT

PLEASE!  Don’t skip reading this blog, thinking, “I don’t need encouraging.” or “Nothing you say can make me feel better right now.”  Please stick with me as I share a personal story with you.

This summer, July 2014 to be precise, I had a battle with a life-threatening disease.  My surgeon and I were victorious with the help of prayers from family and friends.  During my recovery, I received many messages from well-wishers.  One card in particular begs to be shared with others.  It came from a long-term dentist/client/friend.  The message of encouragement was written as a poem, and my friend added his own words that buoyed me as I read it initially and re-read it on long difficult days.  Perhaps you or someone you know can use just such a message now:

            “A mighty wind blew night and day.  It stole the oak tree’s leaves away.  Then snapped its boughs and pulled its bark until the oak was tired and stark.  But still the oak tree held its ground while other trees fell all around.  The weary wind gave up and spoke, ‘How can you still be standing, Oak?’  The oak tree said, ‘I know that you can break each branch of mine in two, carry every leaf away, shake my limbs, and make me sway.  But I have roots stretched in the earth, growing stronger since my birth.  You’ll never touch them, for you see, they are the deepest part of me.  Until today, I wasn’t sure of just how much I could endure.  But now I’ve found, with thanks to you, I’m stronger than I ever knew.’” 

The Hallmark card listed no author.  I thank my friend who chose to encourage me at such a time, and I thank the author, whoever he or she may be.

BRANDING---THE FIRST STEP IN MARKETING YOUR PRACTICE

What reputation does your practice carry in your community?  How visible is your practice to patients and potential patients in your area?  How is your practice different from other dental practices in your city?  Would you agree that branding (establishing a distinct identity for a business or organization) is not just for the “big guys” (big business), but is vitally important for a small business (your dental practice) as well?

Pew Internet Research, a respected source of opinion polls and surveys, says that 72% of Internet users look online for health information, and 93% of Americans ages 30 to 49 use the Internet.  That is a significant audience to reach.

Branding, the identity you establish for your practice, can be assured by a consistent online presence beginning with your Website.  Suggestion:  if no one on your staff has the skill or time to keep your online communications up to date, hire a reputable professional designer to coordinate your online efforts such as your Website, Blog, and Social Media postings.  Make certain your Website links to your Blog postings as well as your Social Media sites.  Conversely, create a link from your Blog and Social Media outlets to your Website.  Make certain either a knowledgeable staff member or the outsourced professional keep your Blog and Social Media sites up to date with fresh ideas and information.

The branding coordinator, whether an outsourced professional or a dental team member, should also assure your practice profile is active and accurate on Patient Review sites such as Google + and Healthgrades.com.  Further, your branding coordinator should optimize your Website’s visibility through search engines, monitoring results of patient searches, and linking your Website through all relevant-to-dentistry sites.

Make certain all references to your practice, whether print media, signage, or online, use the same name.  If your practice name differs from your own name (John H. Doe, DDS vs Doe Family Dentistry), use the practice name rather than your own in all cases of branding/marketing.  This assures that the identity of your practice is consistent across all online and offline marketing efforts.

Think of an example of big business branding---think of TARGET, the giant retailer.  The red color and the concentric-circle target make all TARGET ads distinctive and memorable whether seen online or received offline via print media.  Transfer that type of instant recognition to your practice with creative ideas generated during some brain storming sessions with your dental team.  While your own branding efforts may be more subtle that those of TARGET, you get the idea.  Go with it!

CONSIDER A PRACTICE ADMINISTRATOR

Whether developed from among current experienced staff members or newly hired to manage the practice, a Practice Administrator can be an invaluable asset in the process of strategizing, growing, and managing a busy dental office.  Besides helping with business operations of the office and the “thousand and one” details that must be handled on a daily basis, the addition of a Practice Administrator can be a tremendous stress reliever for the Dentist.  Imagine doing what you, the Dentist, trained for and enjoy while leaving the nitty-gritty details of every day practice management to your Administrator.

A Practice Administrator may be compared to the Chief Operating Officer (COO) in a corporation.  He/she helps the Dentist who is actually the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) strategize and set goals for the practice, including establishing production and collection goals; deciding marketing/branding efforts; and overseeing compliance issues for HIPAA, OSHA, and other government-imposed standards.  In addition, the Administrator can serve as the Dentist’s right hand in matters of overall operation of the office, its physical facility, its business protocols, and its personnel issues.  The Administrator can also act as liaison with the practice CPA, Attorney, and IT experts who service the computer and other electronic devices.  He or she can oversee financial activities such as writing an annual budget including realistic goals for income (collections) and expenses (overhead).  She or he can serve as the HR (Human Resource) director to coordinate interviewing, hiring, and performance appraisals for the team.  An astute Administrator will refine the practice ambiance by building teamwork, improving communication between team members, and encouraging/empowering staff to become the best they can be.

Dentists who employ a Practice Administrator attest to more enjoyment along with significantly reduced stress in their practice.  If you decide to develop such a role in your practice, remember you, as owner, retain the right of refusal/veto power over every aspect of the practice.  While a carefully chosen and well trained Practice Administrator can be a valuable addition, the Dentist must be the ultimate authority in the operation of the office.  Those offices in which I have seen a Practice Administrator function effectively are those in which the Dentist welcomes and seriously considers suggestions and initiatives from the Administrator.  The two confer frequently, thoroughly analyzing and considering ideas to improve the practice in any way.  They usually come to consensus, but if not, both understand that the dentist is the final word.       

NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF DENTAL EXAMINERS VS THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION (FTC)

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) has agreed to hear a case that will affect not only Dentistry, but all professional associations in the country.  North Carolina Board of Dental Examiners (NCBDE) VS FTC is scheduled to be heard by SCOTUS before the end of the year.  While ostensibly about tooth whitening, the case is really about the continued ability of all professional boards to fulfill their state-appointed regulatory duties.

Brief background information:  A number of dentists in NC were concerned by the lack of standards for operation or well-trained professional providers for tooth whitening services from such places as unlicensed mall kiosks and storefront offices.  The NCBDE, charged with helping to safeguard the public’s oral health in many ways, responded by performing its regulatory duties, ordering closure of such facilities.  Complaints to the FTC resulted in a ruling that antitrust/restraint of trade laws had been violated by the NCBDE.  Next, the FTC took issue with the state of NC regulation that the agency which oversees the practice of dentistry in the state; i.e., the NCBDE, should consist primarily of practicing dentists.  (READ THAT SENTENCE AGAIN---UNDERSTAND ITS FULL IMPACT.  IF, IN FACT, DENTISTRY OR ANY OTHER PROFESSION WERE REGULATED BY PERSONS WHO HAVE NO TRAINING OR KNOWLEDGE OF THAT PROFESSION, REGULATION WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE.  HOW RIDICULOUS!)  An appeal to the Fourth Circuit Court resulted in the decision that since members of the NCBDE are elected by practicing dentists in North Carolina, the Board is a “private actor”, and, therefore, subject to federal antitrust/restraint of trade laws.

The decisions by the FTC and the Fourth Circuit Court will lead to elimination of immunity to federal antitrust/restraint of trade laws for all state professional licensing boards.  Numerous professional boards in addition to many boards of dental organizations plus the Attorneys General in 23 states have filed “Friend of the Court” briefs in support of the NCBDE’s position that it should continue to operate under immunity from antitrust laws, just as it has in the past.

Increased media attention to the up-coming SCOTUS case means dentists all over the country should be prepared to answer patients’ questions about this matter.  In answering those questions, emphasize that this is far from a battle over tooth whitening.  It is a case in which a negative decision by SCOTUS threatens the ability of all professional boards to perform their state-appointed regulatory and licensing duties designed to hold the particular profession and its providers to standards and to protect the public without fear of antitrust/restraint of trade law suits.  Professional boards of all disciplines are most concerned, rightly so, about the outcome.