Dental Tribune US Edition, Vol. 5, No. 19

action. Otherwise, they are going to be on the misery march to retire- ment for many, many years. Searching for answers In nearly 30 years of working with dentists, I know how incredibly diffi- cult it is for dentists to acknowledge that they don’t have all the answers. They don’t have the training or the expertise to deal with the multitude of issues and problems that come up just by nature of running a business. Yet, I also know that once they reach a point when they have had enough — when the thought of walking through the doors of their practice generates so much anxiety and unhappiness — it is often at this point that they will finally seek out a company that can help them realize the dream they had given up hope of ever achieving. These dentists finally come to terms with the fact that sometimes it takes someone else besides the den- tist or his/her spouse to look at the practice and objectively assess what is working and what isn’t; iden- tify why production is down one month and up the next; figure out why a group of people cannot gel into a team; discover why collec- tions, patient numbers and overhead aren’t where they should be in spite of a team’s best efforts. Yes, it takes a lot of soul search- ing, but at some point the dentist decides that he/she is finally sick and tired of struggling. She isn’t going to compromise any more. He has studied, read and attended all the practice management con- tinuing education courses he can and to no avail. She has tried to fix it herself year-after-year. In the end, no matter what these dentists do, it seems that the same problems with the same systems or the same people persevere. When a dentist accepts that he/ she doesn’t have to have all the answers and picks up the phone to call for help, this is the point at which a dentist can begin to build an entirely new practice and, more importantly, an entirely new and satisfying career in dentistry. Consider your practice. Aside from simply feeling things should be better, there are a number of tangible indicators that your office could benefit from bringing in a consultant, such as: • You have holes in the schedule that go unfilled, yet patients must wait more than three weeks to get an appointment. • You either don’t know what your patient retention is or it’s below 95 percent. • Gross salaries are more than 20 percent of income. • Overhead is more than 55 percent of practice income. • There are no performance mea- surements in place to evaluate employees. • Job descriptions are either non- existent or unclear. • Staff conflict is a common distrac- tion. • Practice production has leveled off or declined. The list goes on, but the bottom line is you really don’t like going to work. I dare say, it’s time to hire a management consultant. Check experience and references There are many consultants out there, and, obviously, I firmly believe that McKenzie Management is the best. Yet, no matter whom you hire, be prepared to be completely honest with him/her. Just as your work with patients, if they are not honest with you, you can’t meet their expectations, the same is true with your management consultant. Explore what the different com- panies have to offer. You want an experienced consultant who can address the specific challenges that your office is facing. You need a consultant who can help your team implement systems that will benefit the total practice. You want a consultant who can effectively explain the recommen- dations, the “why” behind them, and provide access to training and tools that will enable the team to effec- tively implement your vision. Talk to the CEOs of these firms and ask questions, seek references and talk to those references. Do the consultants you’re considering have a reputable company behind them? Do they have the expertise necessary to address the challenges specific to your practice? Will they customize their recommendations to address your needs? Will they be there for you in the long run to help you overcome hurdles that will arise along the way? Do they offer training and educational materials that can help specific members of the team? Can they explain to you exactly how they have helped other practices? Will they seek not only your input, but that of your team as well? Finally, will they tell you what you want to hear or will they tell you the truth? It is that last point that is the most difficult for anyone. Just like the patient who doesn’t want to hear that he needs three crowns, you’re likely not going to want to hear everything the consul- tant needs to tell you. However, it is in listening that you learn and it is in learning that you can take the steps necessary to build the practice that you thor- oughly enjoy walking into every day of your career. DT Practice Matters DENTAL TRIBUNE | September 20108A AD f DT page 6A About the author Sally McKenzie is CEO of McKenzie Management, which provides success-proven man- agement solutions to dental practitioners nationwide. She is also editor of The Den- tist’s Network Newsletter at www.the dentistsnetwork.net; the e-Management Newsletter from www.mckenziemgmt.com; and The New Dentist™ magazine, www.thenewdentist.net. She can be reached at (877) 777-6151 or sallymck @mckenziemgmt.com. Is it time to accept that you don’t have all the answers when it comes to run- ning your practice? (Photo/oscardds, sxhc.hu)