If you watch the news for more than five minutes, you know that inflation is real, and it affects both you and your patients. In the current environment, practices should work to increase production by at least 12% and decrease overhead by 4% to 6%. Practices working in these directions will not only offset inflation but increase profit margins and profitability.
Decrease no-shows. No-shows create unused chair time that can never be recovered. Think of it as working against volume, and volume is your friend when you need to increase practice production. Don’t fear the idea of increasing volume. This can be done efficiently and in a low-fatigue manner. Implement a system to decrease no-shows and simultaneously set a limit for the number of no-shows for any patient before that patient is politely asked to find another practice.
Don’t forget to watch your spending. Lowering overhead will help offset inflation. The first strategy might be to put off a purchase that you don’t need right now. You can also consider waiting until you can pay for it in full rather than borrowing money at higher interest rates. Another strategy is to swap out certain products for ones that are equal in quality but less expensive.
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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