Dear DrBicuspid Member,
The major cause of stress in most practices is not "difficult" patients. It's outdated, undocumented, or improperly used practice management systems. When systems are not working properly, the results are inefficiency, miscommunication, and poor coordination among team members -- all of which contribute to stress, according to Dr. Roger P. Levin.
Two Colorado orthodontists are suing Comfort Dental, claiming they were forced to use inferior dental labs owned by the company. The dentists, who run clinics under franchise agreements with Comfort Dental, say they were threatened and intimidated when they used higher-quality labs. Read Features Editor Donna Domino's article here.
At some point in a dentist's career, the purchase or sale of a practice will need to be considered. To enable the owner-dentist to become more savvy when selling a practice, consultant Thomas Climo, PhD, explains the four methods of valuing dental practices in this three-part series. Part three discusses the EBITDA and market rate multiples approaches.
Executives from DentaQuest recently spoke at a national health plans conference on how medical insurers can be innovators by including dental services. In this Second Opinion, they write that oral health professionals have long understood the connection between oral and overall health, and that consumers see value in having dental benefits. Read their column here.
As Dr. Levin noted in his column, the business and practice management aspects of your practice often cause more stress than treating even difficult patients. How do you handle this stress? What systems do you use that work well? Let me know or comment in our Forums. Thanks for reading DrBicuspid.com.
