dental practice coaching & consulting
What can be shared on email with patients?
Feb 14th
The following question was posted to the Academy of Dental Practice Management Consultants which Linda and I belong to. I thought you would all want to know the answer.
How specific can email to patient be reminding them about treatment? Can you mention specific treatment needs or only make a general statement to contact the office? Is this covered under HIPAA?
The answer below is from: Linda Harvey, MS, LHRM, DFASHRM •
Email is a great source of confusion for everyone.
HIPAA requires that patient info must be kept secure. Regular email transmission which includes responding to email received from patients is not secure.
That being said, there are several options:
1) use a secure portal such as eDossea or subscribe to a service thru Eaglesoft or Dentrix (I believe they both offer such a service).
2) use an email encryption service (there are free ones)
3) implement an office policy that limits what you are allowed to email to patients such as appointment confirmation. I just met the Practice Administrator who said they have a strict policy against emailing patients or responding to patient emails.
4) get the patient’s permission to communicate via unencrypted email. This is an important piece of information one can gather on the Acknowledgement Form new patients sign. BUT, I would still limit the type of information emailed.
Referring back to your question about treatment, I would not mention specific treatment in an email. For example, an email reminder that the pt has unused benefits would be better than saying “are you ready to schedule for those extractions and implants.”
HIPAA is quite serious about enforcing the regulations; plus the random audits are in full force. Have already met one dental Business Associate that was audited. I just got back from Tampa working with a doctor whose staff gave a patient the wrong records on a CD…patient then complained to the Office of Civil Rights. They are now under investigation and have a narrow window to correct and reply to the complaint.
Linda Harvey is a great source of information regarding risk management and being HIPAA compliant. If anyone needs a speaker for a study club she would be fabulous! Her website is: http://www.lindaharvey.net
Happy Valentine’s Day to all!
Growth
Feb 1st
Most practices we work with believe in continuous personal and professional growth. They realize they and their team have lots more potential to unlock. So…ask yourself:
How do you want to grow personally?
Are you a better person today than you were yesterday?
What are you doing to get your team to grow personally?
Are you learning something everyday? What? Is it positive?
What can you do to help your team better understand the practice mission and vision?
How are you planning to grow professionally this year?
How are you challenging and stretching yourself?
These are not easy questions, most require thought and introspection. Really think about it, “Are you a better person today versus yesterday? How?” It is a challenge, it means focusing on personal growth as much as professional growth or the latest clinical courses and procedures. Improving your clinical skills or learning a new procedure to add to your mix of services certainly helps growth and production in the practice. Personal change is by far harder, and it is what will put your practice head and shoulders above the rest. Numbers are important. How you and the team feel about yourselves and what you are contributing to your community, is far more rewarding. We challenge you to spend the time you need to get your team onboard and focus everyone on working on improving themselves. Growth in production will happen naturally as a result.
Insurance Processing
Nov 6th
We have been in a few office recently that were not using some of the tools we commonly recommend to assist in processing of insurance claims- to refresh your memory here they are again:
1. Insurance Solutions Newsletter – find it at: http://www.dental-ins-solutions.com
2. “Coding with Confidence” by Dr. Charles Blair – also found on the above website. We recommend using the most updated version due to insurance codes changing.
3. Marianne Harper’s Book “Cross Walking – A guide through the crosswalk of Dental to Medical Coding” found on her website: The Art of Practice Management
http://www.artofpracticemanagement.com
4. The website for the National Association of Dental Plans and specifically the free subscription to FastLook which provides current attachment information by procedure code. Sign up under the FastLook tab at http://www.nadp.org
5. For those we have seen since the ADA Meeting know we are recommending you look at “Practice Booster” which includes our first two recommendations. It is more important than ever to be sure you are using the right codes. Take a free test drive of Practice Booster and see what it can do for your administrative team. http://practicebooster.com
6. Always use the latest version of the ADA CDT code book for claim submission
Insurance processing is becoming more complex. From a risk management standpoint you must do all you can to ensure you are using the right codes for the procedures you are doing – it is your license that is on the line. Be sure your team is properly equipped to do the job you think they are doing.
Great Quote from Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh of Zappos
Oct 16th
If you have not ordered shoes from Zappos you are missing an experience – it is a great lesson in trusting the customer as well as providing top notch service. Here is the quote from the book Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh. It is in our resource store and a interesting book to read on how Zappos came about.
“There’s a lot of buzz these days about “social media” and “integration marketing”. As unsexy and low-tech as may sound, our belief is that the telephone is one of the best branding devices out there. You have the customer’s undivided attention for 5 to 10 minutes, and if you get the interaction right, what we’ve found is the customer remembers the experience for a very long time and tells his or her friends about it.”
When is the last time you talked about your patient intake calls as a group? Are your patients and potential patients excited and happy about their interactions with the practice over the phone?
Insights from our Academy of Dental Management Consultants Annual Meeting
Oct 12th
We have just returned from a fabulous educational meeting and networking session in Las Vegas, with the prestigious Academy of Dental Management Consultants. Day one was our members only meeting and we learned the latest from a compliance panel on OSHA, HIPAA, Risk Management and HR. Presentations from members on a variety of topics. 1. Improve scheduling with the use of Onset, a patented delivery system for immediate anesthesia by Onpharma. 2. Using dental retail products to create profit centers in your practice. 3. Improve insurance reimbursement through Practice Booster. 4. Technology updates, which apps can simplify your life. 5. Training techniques to improve learning. 6. Social media and it’s importance in marketing our businesses. Day two was an inspirational keynote presentation by Bill Rancic, from season one of Donald Trump’s, The Apprentice. He spoke on entrepreneurship and the importance of being the conductor of the orchestra, you do not need to know how to do everything yourself. Surround yourself with excellent people who are decisive, creative and never make excuses. Then, trust them to do a good job! The world has changed, and we must change with it!
There were great receptions for lots of networking and tours of LVI and Zappo’s headquarters. A very busy and educational few days! We even got a picture with Elvis!
The nicest/best things a dentist has ever said to a dental assistant
Sep 27th
These are some of the responses to the question “What is the nicest/best thing a dentist has ever said to a dental assistant?” that Kevin Henry asked and published in the Dental Assistinig Digest. Take the time to say something nice to your assistant and watch them shine!
Thank you.
You are irreplaceable. Great job!
At my last yearly review my boss said, “I can’t think of anything you could do to improve your performance, you’re awesome.” That was really
wonderful to hear.
“I really appreciate what you do.”
That I am an asset to the team!
You are wonderful, and you are the best. You are one of the
smartest people
I’ve met, and you will succeed at whatever you pursue.
That my work is detailed, focused, and patients feel comfortable
in my care.
“You’re the best.”
You have good oral hygiene.
After I complete my work each day the doctor says THANK YOU.
I could not have made it through this day without you. Thank you.
That I am one of the best assistants they have ever had.
You are the best assistant I’ve ever had.
I can’t get through the day without you being here because I don’t know where
anything is.
The doctor told me, “Perfect!” during a procedure.
You have made my job easier, thank you for all your hard work.
You’re the best!
That I was the best assistant he had ever worked with in 10 years and asked if I
had ever considered dental school.
I could not do my job without you.
He said I am a very loyal employee.
After all these years (28) of working together at chairside I can’t imagine what
my life and practice would have been like without you.
THANK YOU
Thank you, I appreciated your help today. Keep up the excellent work.
That I was an excellent assistant!
I’ll explain this to you.
I can’t do this without you.
He really likes my work.
I was the best dental assistant he ever worked with!
You’re the best employee I’ve ever had. You’re the most diligent dental assistant I’ve ever had.
That he was thankful that he could trust me over some other employees and thanked me for being problem free.
Nice X-rays.
“That is just beautiful,” and “Thank you.”
You are doing such a great job and I value you.
You know more than some dentists who are graduating from dental school.
Thank you.
You are my most honest and hard-working employee.
My present dentist said, “I’m so sorry you’re going through such an awful experience. (My dad was dying) Don’t worry about your paycheck,
I’ll pay you for whatever time you need. Take as long as you need.” (He did
just that and he came to the funeral.)
You have finished.
You are an asset to our practice.
“You’re an exceptional dental assistant, above the rest,” “Your good qualities far surpass any negative ones that you may have and you are
excellent with the patients.”
“I can’t manage to work without you.”
The only positive comment I ever got from a dentist was when I was
in school. A dentist exclaimed, “Who took these X-rays?” I told her that I
did. She said they were perfect X-rays, the best she’d ever seen.
“She is the brains of this outfit.”
That I was being wasted at the front desk, and I should be assisting.
(This dentist rarely gave compliments, and this was actually a huge
compliment.)
Raising your Fees
Aug 2nd
Many Doctors have hesitated to raise their fees. Whether it was fear that lower priced competitors would take their potential patients or that they “could not raise fees in this economy”, fees have remained the same since 2009 for many practices. Other practices feel they should “maintain the status quo” because they will only take a bigger write off from an insurance plan. Some doctors have gone so far as to “negotiate” a lower fee with some patients, thinking that if they could get this patient and the case, it would fill the book. Somewhere in this belief is the idea that more patients will offset lower fees, and will lead to higher profitability.
We look at profitability numbers each month with our clients. Our busiest practices are not the most profitable, and the practices that do the most large fee cases are not as profitable either. Why is that? In a word, overhead. The more patients you see, the higher your overhead. The more large cases you do, the greater the likelihood of not pricing the case right for the amount of time it takes and more likelihood there is of providing one or more of those crowns in a multiple unit case, for only the lab fee.
Overhead has not stopped increasing because of the economy. You and your team would like raises, the lab wants to be paid, supplies are costing more – you cannot not raise your fees. We recommend raising fees on an annual basis. Many teams struggle with raising fees because of the anticipated reaction from patients. We hope you are subscribed to Words Matter for some suggestions on how to handle this challenging topic.
Raising your fees is one of the best steps you can take to improve profitability. The chart below shows the relationship between a specified percentage fee increase and the effect this increase will have on profitability.
% Fee Increase
| 3% |
5% |
10% |
||
| 80% |
15% |
25% |
50% |
|
| 75% |
12% |
20% |
40% |
|
|
Overhead |
70% |
10% |
16.6% |
33% |
|
% |
65% |
8.6% |
14.3% |
28.6% |
| 60% |
7.5% |
12.5% |
25% |
|
| 55% |
6.7% |
11.1% |
22.2% |
|
| 50% |
6% |
10% |
20 |
When is your next fee increase?
Dental Fees are on the Web for your Patients
Jul 21st
There are websites designed to help consumers estimate what dental services will cost them. One for you and your team to check out is:
http://www.fairhealthconsumer.org
On their website they state: “Fair Health is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to help consumers understand the out-of-network reimbursement system and estimate out-of-network medical and dental costs. Our free website has an easy-to-use cost estimator tool to help with your health care expense planning. We also offer clear and unbiased educational articles and videos about the medical and dental reimbursement system.”
Fair Health was formed in 2009 as a result of a fraud investigation by then NY State’s Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. The ADA granted access to the CDT codes in February of 2011. They will have medical information available in August of 2011.
We have always recommended that you submit your full fee to the insurance company on a dental claim form. It now becomes even more important to not submit contractually discounted fees. Not only because this will skew the maximum allowable fees determined by carriers based on data submitted by practices but it will skew the costs posted on websites like Fair Health. This will cause consumers to question the fees you are charging when they have a “non-biased” resource about what your fees “should” be.
Have a team meeting and make sure everyone knows about this website and how your fees compare to what is posted on the Fair Health website. Talk about how to deal with patient’s concerns and what to say. As always if you need help, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.
Part 2: What Questions to Ask when Networking. More low cost ways to market your practice
Jun 6th
When networking you want others to feel good about themselves, and, to feel good about being in a conversation with us. We want to ask questions that make others feel good about us as people, even though we have just met and they hardly know us.
Here are our top 10 questions that are not sales oriented in any way. They are friendly and fun to answer and they will tell you something about the way a person thinks. In one conversation you will not use all these questions. We recommend knowing them well enough to ask the ones you feel are appropriate for the conversation and the time frame available at your networking function.
Here are the 10 questions:
1. How did you get your start in your business?
- People like to share their story
2. What do you enjoy the most about your profession?
- The people you want to associate with will love to answer this question
3. What separates you and your company from your competition?
- Gives them permission to brag
4. What advice would you give someone just starting in your business?
- Mentor question
5. What one thing would you do with your business if you knew you could not fail?
- What are your dreams question
6. What significant changes have you seen take place in your profession through the years?
- Mature business owner question
7. What do you see as coming trends in your business?
- Be a speculator question
8. Describe the funniest (or strangest) thing you’ve experienced in your business?
- War Stories question
9. What have you found to be the most effective ways to promote your business?
- All small businesses market in some way
10. What one sentence would you like people to use when describing how you do business?
- Customer service question
These are questions people will enjoy answering. You are not being nosy. Again, don’t plan to ask all 10 questions in one meeting. This is not an interrogation, these questions are meant to establish initial rapport. When someone answers a question use genuine curiosity, try saying “tell me more”. Learn as much as you can about your fellow business owners in your community, there may be opportunities to cross promote your business or create a small business breakfast group. The more people you know, the more people who know you, the larger your practice will become.
What is one networking event you could attend in your community?
Part 1: Networking at business functions or social events. A low cost method to promote your practice
May 26th
Chamber of commerce, or other business functions, and social events, are excellent sources of networking if used correctly.
Follow these 10 tips for successful networking:
1. Adjust your attitude. Realize that the purpose of attending this function is to work and build your network.
2. Work the crowd. Be pleasant and approachable.
3. Prepare a quick 30 second introductory “elevator” speech to help others understand what you do for patients and how your services benefit others.
4. Introduce yourself to someone new. If possible have that person be a center-of-influence person or someone who is in a complementary profession. Look for cross-promotion opportunities.
5. After the introduction, invest 99.9% of your time asking the other person about their business. Refrain from talking about you or your business.
6. Ask for their business card. (Never attend a function without your business cards)
7. Introduce this person to other people you know at the function.
8. Follow up with a “nice to meet you email”
9. Follow-up regularly with articles or information relevant to their business or your shared business concerns.
10. Give referrals to others.
Keep in mind networking is first about what you can do for someone else, not what they can do for you. If you help others, you will receive help in return, it may not be an immediate payback but it will come with time.
Always remember people find it irresistible when you recognize them and know their name (not just their teeth or dental challenges). This quote says it all:
We are all so vain that we love to have our names remembered by those who have met us but once. We exaggerate the talents and virtues of those who can do this, and we are ready to repay their powers with lifelong devotion. The ability to associate in the mind names and faces is a tremendous asset to a politician, and it will prolong the pastorate of any clergyman. William Lyons Phelps
