Many, if not most dental practice management consultants recommend extending your operating hours later into the evening. They even recommend opening for a few hours on the weekend. They believe expanding your hours will increase your profits. That’s not exactly true.
Expanding your operating hours may increase productivity, but the quality of your care could suffer. Stagnating quality does not equal increased profits. Take the example of Chick-Fil-A. While other fast food chain restaurants have extended hours and are open on Sundays, Chick-Fil-A’s model allows them restaurants to be closed on Sundays. They still generate higher profits than their competitors and have a stellar reputation for providing unbelievably wonderful customer service, with among the lowest turnover rate among hourly workers. Their employees work hard, but they’re not overworked. Sadly, too many dental practice management consultants advise doing the opposite of this.
Before considering extending your business hours, our dental practice consultants recommend taking a look at your numbers to pinpoint exactly where you are losing profits. Learn where your profit deception zone is. The profit deception zone comprises things that don’t show up in your profit and loss statements.
When your practice relies on increasing patient care by extending your business hours in order to recoup revenue lost in the profit deception zone, you’re essentially allowing your practice to be run by insurance companies and not you and your team. Instead, try focusing on these things to improve and increase profits.
- Pay attention to the numbers: The numbers don’t lie. Pay attention to what’s coming in and what’s going out, down to the last penny.
- Streamline your business and operating processes: You want to work smarter, not harder. To ensure you and your team aren’t throwing away time and money, make sure the systems you have in place work for the team. Automate billing, simplify scheduling with a digitized, user-friendly solution.
- Capitalize on your working hours: There’s a difference between capitalizing on your operating hours and extending your operating hours. Think about your existing patient base. If they are working during your working hours, consider creating two shifts. For example: 10 am to 1pm and an evening shift of 5pm to 7pm. It’s not advisable to do this just on the off chance of attracting new patients. You want to inspire patient loyalty by serving your community as best as possible without risking profits.
- Be realistic about who you are: What do you want from your practice? Set realistic goals by understanding who you are as a dentist and what you want to get out of practicing dentistry.
These tips may seem like a lot, but they will help you to pinpoint your profit deficit so that you can eliminate waste, work smarter, and operate a profitable practice. Remember, longer hours do not automatically mean increased profits, especially when your care is being dictated by insurance companies. What it really comes down to is know your numbers and knowing what you want to get from your dental practice. If you are unsure about setting the right goals for your practice, consider talking to a dental practice management consultant to help you come up with solutions that are best for your dental practice.
