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Visit: http://lnkd.in/b-QskFX …We will review all ORIGINAL submissions for possible publication in a future edition of Dentaltown Magazine. Any questions, e-mail our Editor, Ben at ben@farranmedia.com.
Can’t wait to hear from you and see your original submissions!
Here’s a great blog post from the Harvard Business Review on deadline extension… check it out!
In June, the Obama administration pushed back the deadline for employers with fifty or more workers to provide health insurance for their employees by a full year — until Jan 1, 2015. Admittedly, the implementation of anything as complex as the Affordable Care Act is going to take time, and those involved have been working furiously to try to meet the government’s deadlines. So, at least with respect to this particular part of the ACA, everyone has an additional year to get everything just right. Sounds like a good thing, doesn’t it?
Only — how furiously do you think everyone with this new, extended deadline is working now? Are they still burning the midnight oil… or are they saying to themselves, Let’s take a breather. We’ve got plenty of time.
Read the rest of the article here: http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2013/08/heres_what_really_happens_when.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
A civil lawsuit accuses a Texas City man of failing to control his dog, which attacked a boy so severely in 2011 that it ripped out the child’s teeth. Read the rest of the article here: http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Parents-sue-Texas-City-man-after-boy-s-teeth-4744490.php
That’s one heckuva dog bite! Comment on this below!
Hey gang… Check this out… What would YOU do in this situation??
Philadelphia police are on the hunt for a man who broke into a dentist’s office in the Pennsport section of the city over the weekend: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2013/08/20/burglar-caught-on-video-inside-south-philly-dentists-office/
Comment below!!
Customer service is not a department, it’s an attitude. The purpose of a business is to create customers who go on to create even more customers through word of mouth referral. Every person on the team has complete control of their effort and their attitude, which will determine the overall office altitude.
The Perfect Dental Office Receptionist…
For years I have been saying that you only manage 3 things: People, Time & Money. Today I want to talk about people, specifically, the purrrffectt dental office receptionist. Just like your local professional sports team, trading up for the ultimate players is the name of the game. I want to share what we look for at our fabulous www.TodaysDental.com in Phoenix Arizona were we have been crushing it for over 25 years!
Are you tired of the front desk person who has to “Use” the bathroom just to trim her nails? My team can talk on the phone wearing headsets, which will totally free up both hands, so they can trim their fingernails, toe nails, or even apply mascara while booking a new patient! Who needs to look at a computer screen if you can just remember the details for later while staring into a mirror plucking your eye brows? Did I say ‘Plucking”? I am sooooo sorry; you pluck a chicken and tweeze a brow. No one wants to show up at your dental office only to be greeted by a front desk woman with a 0.01 mm eyebrow hair out of line! GROSS!!!
Personal phone calls are much better than having the other front desk staff have to “Use” the break room to watch TV to hear about the finer points of personal life from Dr. Phil and Oprah when you could be loudly sharing salacious, interesting and 50 shades of sensational details of what is NOT working with you and your lover! This is what makes me want to start taping all phone calls at my office. “This Call May Be Recorded for Quality Assurance Purposes. Incase Dr. Farran’s DVD recorder is broken these calls will substitute for the Jerry Springer Show.
You need to find a receptionist who doesn’t need lunch or even a break. I want the purrrffectt dental office receptionist who can chow down a box of Cheez-It’s while checking people in, checking other’s out, putting the doctor’s needy wife on hold while trying to find her an alcoholic friend to hang out with on Facebook, while sorting insurance checks from the junk mail, while double booking the hygienist just to piss her off, while chugging down a Dr Pepper even if he wasn’t really a Doctor. YEAH Baby! We call her Dr. Multitask and she is the Chief Master Primary “Most Important” Player Goddess on every dental office team whether or not your walnut brain knows it or not! Probably NOT!!! If you have a good one you should thank your lucky stars because I do every day!
How Do You Keep Employees and Prevent High Turnover?
With pensions a thing of the past, most employees don’t have the mindset that they will work for you until they retire! So how do you prevent high turnover and keep those high-quality employees for the long term? Here are a few suggestions after hearing feedback from my employees for the past 25 years:
Corporate Culture: Providing a functional, organized and respectful corporate culture is key to retaining employees. If all team members knows what they are supposed to accomplish (goals and job descriptions) and you have functional, high-energy employees on the team who all abide by your Core Values and who are all striving for the same goals (mission statement), you will have a winning corporate culture and they won’t want to leave!
Pay Your Employees a Good Salary: You should strive at all times to have the best players on your team. Retaining those key employees means paying them well for giving 100 percent and striving daily to take your company to the next level. The key is having hungry, smart, dedicated, humble, well-incentivized people to make it happen.
Recognition: There are two components to recognition. The first one is rewarding someone for contributions and meeting business objectives, basically going the extra mile for the company. The second one is rewarding employees for their dedication or “years of service” to your company. Many large corporations have completely done away with service award recognition and it’s really a shame. I can’t tell you how many people I have talked to over the years who have decided to quit after 10, 15 or 20 years with one company because they don’t feel appreciated for their dedication. They have told me that receiving a corporate card and 10-year pin (for example) was like a slap in the face after dedicating that many years to one company. I know it’s expensive to have service awards in large corporations but they should find a way to make those anniversaries special for the employee.
Daily Recognition: We let our employees know their contributions matter not once a year but every day with a recognition program that allows employees to be nominated by their peers and their supervisors for going above and beyond, whether completing a big project or in a small way contributing to the success or culture of our organization. These nominations are posted continually throughout each quarter on a bulletin board in our break room. The one individual that stands out that quarter for his or her contributions receives a paid day off and we have a recognition lunch for all nominees and a drawing for gift card rewards. You must strive to celebrate success as often as possible and give your employees feedback daily. It takes work to have a program like this but it is so worth it in the long run.
Service Awards: Our service award program does include a small customized gift for each individual along with a monetary bonus based on years of service. The dollar amount of the award, in my opinion, isn’t as important as the fact these people are recognized for their dedication to the company. Our executive team takes it a step further by taking the individual to lunch with his or her team and presenting the service award. This serves two purposes: it recognizes the milestone accomplishment, but more importantly, it gives the managers/executives an opportunity to talk one-on-one with these individuals to find out how we are doing as a company, pick their brains for an hour in a relaxed setting to find out what they would like to see happen in the future and to get to know these individuals that are dedicating their lives to the company.
Remember the key is ensuring you have top-notch employees on your team – it’s an ongoing process as your company evolves. After you find the right team members you then need to reward them for their hard work and dedication – it’s a win-win in my book!
A dental assistant should never leave the operatory once a procedure begins. Your biggest costs are labor, lab and time. Why do you slow down to get up out of the operatory to go get something? Every single thing you need for every single procedure should be carried in the operatory in tubs or already be in every single operatory. Think Logistics! If it takes you 90 minutes to do a crown your overhead is usually 65%. If it takes you 45 minutes it is usually 50%. Labor, your collection policy (not your fee schedule), and the time spent doing each procedure are the largest cost drivers in dentistry.
Don’t forget to tell your patients that Dr. Pepper was really not a doctor! Drinking calories is the fastest way to tooth decay, obesity and diabetes.
True leaders serve the people they lead. The word “Doctor” comes from the Latin word Docere, meaning to teach. All leaders are teachers. Are you teaching the people you lead? Real doctors teach everyone to become doctors themselves.
