The overriding objective of every dental practice should be to increase practice revenue each year. If revenue is rising, this is a positive sign for the practice. If it's flat or declining, it means immediate action should be taken. Keep in mind that a practice that is in a plateau has actually slowed down in terms of growth, and this represents the first stage of decline.
Communicate with patients about dental insurance benefits. Every September, communicate with patients who have incomplete treatment and remaining insurance benefits to motivate them to schedule treatment and take advantage of their remaining benefits. You should also contact all patients who ran out of benefits in the previous year but still have treatment to be completed each January. These two approaches alone can add significant revenue to a practice.
Don't forget to reactivate overdue patients. Levin Group's new definition of reactivation is scheduling any patient who does not have his or her next appointment. Devoting each day to reactivating all patients who don't have their next appointment will add significant revenue to every practice. Your target is to have 98% of all your patients scheduled at all times.
Dr. Roger P. Levin is CEO of Levin Group, a leading practice management and marketing consulting firm. To contact him or to join the 40,000 dental professionals who receive his Practice Production Tip of the Day, visit LevinGroup.com or email [email protected].
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