Since the establishment of the first dental school, now a museum, in 1828, dental medicine has become a crucial component of a healthy lifestyle. In 1840, the first dental college, Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, opened in Maryland, improving dental education, and subsequently, the services offered to American patients.
With the declined rates of dental insurance in the United States, 85 million people have no such coverage, according to The Washington Post. Therefore, being able to offer better care, customer service, and overall satisfaction is crucial to the success of dental practices fighting over Americans’ hard-earned dollars. Consider, only 60% of adults aged 18 to 64 had a dental visit in the last year.
Yet being able to create a satisfying overall experience for all patients is beyond many dentists’ ken. Dentists, after all, don’t go into dentistry for customer service, bookkeeping, or marketing. Even so, those are essential to any dental practice’s growth and success.
What Stands in the Way of a Successful Practice?
There are four main obstacles to great dental office management and professional success: scheduling, supply, marketing, and customer service. If any one of those is lacking, then customers and business partners – not to mention respect – will all be lost. It’s just a matter of what will go first. It’s for this reason that the American Dental Association maintains the Directory of Dental Practice Management Consultants; consultants are instrumental to the success of any practice.
How Can Dental Office Management Consultants Help?
Dental practice consulting provides dental offices with ways to grow more efficiently through a customized solution for every problem. If the client is an established practice, dental office management consulting can redirect the business to new avenues for success. There are four main things that dental office management consultants can improve on.
- Scheduling
Consider, one of the biggest problems medical practices face is their inability to schedule appointments quickly for their patients. It’s one of the main reasons so many patients are opting for urgent care centers instead. The point is this: if you do not make yourself available to your patients, they will find someone who will. A consultant can train dental offices to better schedule openings and appointments as needed. - Supply Upkeep
According to CBS News, over 60% of billings in a dental office go toward overhead. One of the main overhead costs is supplies. In order to do business, dentist office management has to be on top of maintaining relationships with reputable vendors. Naturally, this has a direct impact on the quality of care. Dental office management consultants can help develop a system for maintaining supplies, relationships, and patients. - Effective Marketing Strategies
Marketing is one of the most important tools in the growth of a dental practice. According to a study from Mountainview Learning, something as minor as the size of a practice’s logo on its building and promotional materials can gain or lose 50% of customers’ attention. Consultants help practices form a sensible, effective marketing strategy to help business grow. - Customer Service
Regardless of anything else a dentist offers, customer service will make or break them. As a recent study by Yasar University demonstrates, businesses that do not incorporate the essentials into their customer service will retain 42.5% fewer customers than those who do.
Dental practices do not have to improve every facet of the business by themselves. With dental practice consultants, dentists can do the dentistry and let the consultants take care of the rest.