Friday, August 19, 2011

Practice Management Consultants

Do dentists need consultants to advise them on practice business issues?  Well, in my opinion, sometimes yes, sometimes not so much.

There are a myriad of dental practice consultants.  Some are individuals, some are larger firms that advise dental practices on scheduling, marketing, compensation, staffing, customer service, phone skills, billing and other financial and people issues.  Do dentists need to master these issues? Most definitely yes!  Dentists, especially those in solo practice, (which is most dentists) are prone to try to do everything themselves.  In my experience practices can improve if they establish appropriate systems or ways of doing things that are appropriate for their particular situation.  Consultants can help, especially in young practices or those more established practices who are having problems and that have never done a systematic analysis of what they are doing well and what they are doing not so well.  They need good systems.

Over the years, our practice has had many consultants come in and give advice.  We have developed, established, and refined systems. Of course, we still need to adapt and look at new ways of doing things.  Even good systems can become ineffective over time.  Newer staff do not remember the reasons certain methods of doing things were originally established.  Management gets distracted with other issues and lets good systems wilt.  New issues arise.  A good consultant will adapt any analysis and advice to each practice.  Still, I have found that there is a certain point where most advisors simply cannot offer any new or effective ideas.  They tend to charge a lot of money to come in and tell you what you already know.

Good practices, especially well managed larger group practices like ours, have already tried and refined 95% of what is out there.  We have management that is able to analyze data and focus on what works for us.  At this time, there are simply not that many multi-specialty Pediatric Dentistry / Orthodontic practices out there, so consultants do not have a good database to develop useful ideas.  Sometimes I think we could teach them a thing or two.

One time, we specifically asked a well known consultant not to cover certain basic topics we had already addressed, but to focus on certain new concerns we had.  They proceeded to do what they evidently did with all practices, spending an entire day covering the stuff we told them not to waste our time with.  We fired them the next day.  Cookie cutter approaches are not appropriate for most situations.  So, with few exceptions,  practices like ours do not benefit as much from dental practice management consultants.  There is simply a point of diminishing returns.  We can direct our resources, time and combined expertise to determine what works best for us.  Yes, we still need outside advice on financial, technical and legal issues, but for the most part, there seems not much value for unique practices like ours with the management consulting industry as it stands today.  Again, many practices do need advice.  I am not dissing the consulting industry, but a business needs to do what is right and prudent for them.  Sometimes dental practices can benefit from expensive practice management consultants, sometimes not so much.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

I guess I fall more into social media / seo when it comes to consulting - can't speak for practice management.

But, in working with practices in the past, I can tell you that it really can be hard to nail down what kind of information is valuable to a practice and what isn't. The main thing is being a good observer, a good listener and knowing how to apply your research along with feedback that you've gotten. At least that's been my experience.

Dr. Dean Brandon said...

Yes, a good consultant will observe and ask lots of questions. We do use, or have used consultants for technical IT issues, SEO optimization and web design. A dentist cannot do it all.

Shane said...

There seems to be a lot of what you describe out there. Many consultants and other advisors just cover basic information that seems to be common sense or easily learned in the day-to-day practice experience.

I think that where the real value lies is in creating original and unique approaches for practices. Like you said, a dentist cannot do it all and especially when you get into topics like SEO optimization, web design, social media and internet marketing there are a myriad of products, strategies, and approaches out there. A good consultant or advisor's job is to sort through all of these types of options based on verifiable research and suggest certain tactics to dentists that would ultimately benefit their business. This stops dentists from having to spend countless hours figuring this out for themselves, especially when so many "junk" strategies are available online.

karenhicks44 said...

I am not sure where to post my question but, I noticed my 30month(2.5 yr) old has a darker spot on her 1st year molars on the bottom (Im wondering if it could just be a fissure or something as it doesnt look like the cavities I saw online). She hasnt had her teeth very long (first tooth at 15 months). I am hoping its not a cavity but wondering if it is. Her teeth are brushed with flouride tooth paste 1-2 times/daily since 15 months (cloth brushing before then). Could it be anything other than a cavity? if it is a cavity what are our choices of treatment. I dont really want her to be xrayed either. I dont have the best teeth, but we do not share anything, inc food, soothers, etc. She does drink pediasure (high in cal) due to being under weight though which is high in sugar and has had it in bed, but I grab it every night and its never been in her mouth (pooling) when I went to check on her. Thanks

Dr. Dean Brandon said...

karen--Unfortunately, I see very young children all the time with decay. Still, most do not have any problems, at most like you said, stained grooves. Most kids can't tolerate taking good x-rays till they are at least three or four years old-just a cooperation thing...

My advice is to not necessarily look at pictures of decay online, although more information is always good, but to actually have a pediatric dentist take a look. It will reassure you if it is not decay, and if it is a problem, well, you will be in good hands. Good Luck

Fort Collins Dentist said...

Dentistry, from a biz perspective, should operate similar to other businesses. In other words, biz systems should be put into place and followed. If those systems work, use them. If they don't, toss them or improve them.

Cheyenne Dentist said...

I would highly recommend IT consultant services, even if you are a tech savvy dentist. Spend your time doing what you do best: dentistry. Even if it is your hobby, steer clear of maintaining your own website and social media accounts. Definitely have a hand in the content (blog posts, website text, etc.) but leave the technical stuff to the techies.

Kevin said...

This is a great blog. Thanks for this information. I will come back to read more.

Navydent said...

i think dentists must be skilled enough to do it by themselves....

Dr. Isom said...

good consultants will observe and help you create plan. excellent post!

Dental Websites said...

Yes, at some stage dentist do need good consultant. As we are in dental website development and dental practice marketing we have seen many doctors approaching us so we can consult them in their technical problem like website issues, SEO optimization etc.

Even doctors to hire consultant which can help their staff teach how to interact with customers.

A solo practice dentist can not handle many thing alone.

Miami Dentist said...

I think most businesses need to have consultants in business, and not just dental professionals!

And as one person said on here, the internet is one very cost-effective way to work with outside contractors for new business opportunities and growth. Our business has grown rapidly with the internet.

Social media and SEO definitely seem to be the most popular consulting areas among dentists, at least the most successful ones from what I've seen!

Swampscott dentist said...

What I find amazing in dental consultancy is the lack of both an improvement goal and a cost calculation.

A consultant at $2,000/mo who takes up 20 hours of staff time monthly-let's call this another $1,000 in lost collection-ends up costing $3,000/mo or $36,000/year.

A dental practice that has a 10% profit rate must collect in that year $360,000 just to BREAK EVEN in that consultancy's cost. Of course, by then taxes take up most of that improvement anyway.

When a consultant says, I can increase your numbers, I laugh - it's a nonstarter. Give me a firm, money-back guarantee on a SIGNIFICANT improvement in profit, accounting for this extra cost...then we can talk!

ashscottash said...

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dmasud said...

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Since teeth are the most valuable organ to take foods and to talk, we have to take care of them very carefully. The disease of teeth suffers people a lot. The toothache is unbearable. Thus, we are very much cautions of our teeth. We use different kind of toothbrush; paste etc. to safe gourd them. In this array of different kinds of products Braun Oral B Toothbrush is an exception.
The quality, longevity, user friendliness of the product has made me a fan of it.
Lastly, it’s an awesome kit for teeth. I recommend it for all the customers too.