Dental Tribune India Issue

 You are giving raises based on longevity rather than productivity/performance.  The hygiene department is not meeting the industry standard for production, which is 33 percent of total practice production.  The recall system, if there is one, is not structured to ensure that the hygiene schedule is full and appoint- ments are kept. Maximizing productivity. Hand-in-hand with practice ove- rhead is production, and one area that directly affects your production is your schedule. Oftentime, new dentists simply want to be busy, but it’s more important to be productive. Follow these steps to maximize productivity. First, establish a goal. Let’s say yours is to break $700,000 in clinical production. This cal- culates to $14,583 per week, not including four weeks for vacation. Working 40 hours per week means you’ll need to produce about $364 per hour. If you want to work fewer hours, obviously per-hour production will need to be higher. A crown charged out at $900, which takes two appo- intments for a total of two hours, exceeds the per hour production goal by $86. This excess can be applied to any shortfall caused by smaller ticket procedures. Use the steps below to determine the rate of hourly production in your practice. The assistant logs the amo- unt of time it takes to perform specific procedures. If the pro- cedure takes the dentist three appointments, she should record the time needed for all three appointments. Record the total fee for the procedure. Determine the procedure value per hourly goal. To do this, take the cost of the proce- dure (for example, $900) divide it by the total time to perform the procedure ($900 ÷ 120 min- utes). That will give you your production per minute value (= $7.50). Multiply that by 60 minutes ($7. 50 x 70 = $450). Compare that amount to the dentist’s hourly production goal. It must equal or exceed the identified goal. Now you can identify tasks that can be delegated and oppor- tunities for training that will maximize the assistant’s func- tions. You also should be able to see more clearly how set up and tasks can be made more efficient. A career in dentistry is one of the most personally and professionally fulfilling fields you can choose. With the right team, clear leadership and effective business systems, you can enjoy tremendous personal success and lifelong financial security for you and your family. DT Dentaltribune|July-September, 2010 Practice Management 7 SallyMcKenzieisCEOofMcKenzie Management, which provides success-proven management solu- tions to dental practitioners nationwide. She is also editor of The Dentist’s Network News- letter at www.thedentistsnetwork. net; the e-Management Newsletter from www.mckenzie mgmt.com; and The New Dentist™ magazine, www.thenew dentist.net. She can be reached at (877) 777-6151 or sallymck@mckenziemgmt.com. About the author