The Practicon Viewpoint by Ann Page Griffin

PLAN NOW FOR A TEAM RETREAT IN THE FALL

Many dentists with whom I have consulted declare an annual planning retreat to be one of the most productive days of their year. Assessing this year's work results and activities leads to setting new goals with improved systems for next year. Fall, perhaps September or October, is an ideal time to schedule an all-day planning retreat.

This should be an annual event for the entire dental team, dentists and staff, part-timers included. The event should be held off-site, away from the work-a-day atmosphere of the office, and include a light breakfast and lunch on the premises, with snacks and drinks available throughout the day.

Led by the dentist(s), the practice administrator, or the practice management consultant, the agenda should include reports and input from team members. The session should have a well-planned agenda, written and posted at least one week prior to the retreat. Sharing the agenda before the retreat allows staff members time to consider topics to be included in the day's discussion. Encourage individuals to think through all aspects of the practice and to be prepared to discuss what's working well, what's not, and what needs improvement.

Make certain the team sees the retreat as a special day, with time set aside for expressing appreciation to each other, for assessing how things are going in the office, and for a reality check on the state of the practice. Encourage candid discussion, with no knee-jerk reactions or defensiveness. It is a day to evaluate office activities and systems—scheduling, recare system, production, collections, physical facility, interpersonal relationships, marketing including online postings, the office itself, and any new equipment or refurbishing needed.

An annual retreat agenda must be customized to fit your practice. Consider analyzing the operational systems of your practice by department:

Personnel Department

• Individual personal success and happiness reports from the past year
• Interpersonal exercises—a resource person may be brought in to administer these exercises and surveys.
• Staffing needs?
• Training needs?
• Teamwork efforts?
• Charity/community give-back projects? budget for projects?

Financial Department

• Production—% growth compared to same period last year; new goal per day, per month, and total goal for next year?
• Daily production goal VS daily actual average production
• Collections—% of production collected?
• Problems; needs?
• Write-offs—managed care, welfare, bad debt, charity, courtesy discounts?
• Billing process
• Accounts receivable—current, 30/60/90/120-day totals; in collections?
• Daily collection goal vs. actual average daily collections
• Budgeted needs—new clinical or business equipment for next year; other capital expenditures?

Scheduling Department

• # days worked; # hours worked?
• Total # appointments scheduled (restorative and hygiene)?
• Show rate—% of appointments kept as made for restorative and for hygiene, calculated separately (# seen as appointed / # appointed for that same period)
• Changes needed so that scheduling pattern works to meet production goal?
• Records audit—# active patients; # inactivated and reasons? fixes?

Restorative Department

• # restorative appointments scheduled; # seen as appointed; % show rate?
• % of diagnosed treatment scheduled? (Tx scheduled ÷ Tx diagnosed and recommended)
• Restorative is ____% of total production?
• Lab cases—successes; problems?
• Inventory control—costs; savings; problems?

Hygiene Department

• # recare appointments scheduled; # seen as appointed; % show rate?
• # recare appointments needed monthly to meet 75% - 80% effectiveness goal?
• Hygiene is ____% of total production
• Needs in hygiene department—more hygiene chairs; additional staff; instruments; appointment time?

Marketing Department

• New patient goal — # per month?
• # new patients last month; same month last year?
• # new patients year to date? last year to date? growth # and % growth?
• Website and social media activities—effectiveness; patients’ comments; problems; successes?
• Marketing plans for last 12 months and for next 12 months—activities; dates; staff in charge; costs; successes; problems; changes?

Agenda items can be omitted or added to suit the needs and goals of your own retreat and practice. Some dentists prefer to omit collection data, working on that issue with their practice administrator or accountant only. Or a dentist can share the daily collection goal with the entire staff, provided the daily costs of running the office are also shared. If a staff member knows the sizeable daily average cost of operating a practice, the collection-per-day figure and its achievement make more sense.

The goal of a retreat is to review all processes used in your practice, evaluating their cost and effectiveness while involving the team in the assessment. The dentist(s) and the staff members will benefit from this team effort, thereby increasing the synergy and cohesiveness with which the practice operates. A retreat is a positive day, a day for enthusiastically reviewing the practice to see if all systems are on GO. Presented to your staff in a positive way, the concept of a retreat will be well received and supported by all team members.

And, bottom line, this review and planning day will benefit your patients, the care and service they receive, and, therefore, the enthusiasm with which they recommend your comfortable, well-run office to others.