Do's and don'ts for watching your overhead

Practices must watch their overhead more carefully than ever before during the COVID-19 pandemic. Even a 1% rise in overhead represents the loss of $1,000 of income on every $100,000 of production. This means that an $800,000 practice would lose $8,000 a year of income on that 1% overhead increase.

Evaluate practice materials. In many cases, there are less expensive materials of high quality that can perform just as well. Ask yourself this: Are you using the materials because they are absolutely the right ones, or are you using them because it's simply become a habit?

Don't forget about magazine subscriptions. One forgotten area of overhead waste is magazine subscriptions. Practices sign up for them, don't use them, and then forget about them. Do you really need subscriptions for services that you may or may not be using? When you're analyzing your expenses, don't forget your monthly subscriptions.

Dr. Roger P. Levin is the CEO of Levin Group, a leading dental management consulting firm, and one of the most sought-after speakers in dentistry. Levin has authored 65 books and more than 4,000 articles on dental practice management and marketing. You can sign up for the Levin Group Tip of the Day.

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