Questions to Ask Yourself If You Want to Rejuvenate Your Practice
By: Charlene White
Orthodontic Consultant for Progressive Concepts
For years, many consultants told orthodontists that their practice would start to decline by the 20th year. This concept was based on referral sources’ aging. I have been consulting in orthodontics for over 20 years and have not found this to be the case. Many of our clients just had their best year and are celebrating their 30th year in practice.
Keeping your practice current is a choice that you as a doctor make. A well established practice has some competitive advantages if it positions itself properly. Big advantages may include an excellent reputation, a surplus of funds to invest, a high base of patient referrals and clinical experience. In order to build on these strengths and keep the practice thriving, a doctor must focus on creating a state-of-the-art image.
There are a few actions that you need to take to make sure that your practice does not fizzle out. Questions to ask yourself about your practice to keep it alive are:
Are your investing money back into your practice?
One of the key advantages that a doctor who has been in practice for 15+ years has is he or she has more money to reinvest into the practice. Typically, the younger doctor has a lot of debt to pay off that was incurred during school. If the senior doctor makes the mistake of consistently investing money elsewhere besides back into the practice, the image of the practice will decline. While placing funds in external investments is a good idea, it is important to continue to reinvest money in your practice each year in order to maintain your position in the marketplace.
A doctor who has a successful practice will often become comfortable with his or her financial return and may not feel the need to reinvest in the practice. The practice for these doctors then takes on an outdated image and over a period of time can lose referrals. Additionally, new patient numbers will likely decrease.
Would you describe your facility as “state of the art?”
I was consulting in a long-term client’s office one day and visited the patient bathroom. The toilet paper holder was falling off the wall, which was not in line with the image of the practice. I discussed this with the client and he agreed. That discussion led to a complete renovation of the office. We laugh about it now and discuss how my trip to his patient bathroom ended up costing him a lot of money; however, he gets many compliments each day that his office is state of the art.
In order to stay current, you should remodel your office approximately every seven years. Color and trends are constantly changing in terms of design, and patients and parents like to see change occurring in the office. Imagine what it says about your practice if a patient’s family members are treated in your practice and they comment that nothing has changed in the past 15-20 years. As your practice matures, make sure the design of the practice projects a current image.
Do you have an excellent location?
Location! Location! Location! We have all heard that statement many times before. Moving is not fun, but sometimes very necessary in order for the practice to thrive. If the economy declines in a particular area, the orthodontic practice will certainly decline. The orthodontic office needs to be located in an area where there are families who can afford orthodontic treatment. The orthodontists should stay in touch with the demographics of the area and can make the move before things go downhill too far or too fast. No marketing plan can overcome a poor location. This is absolutely essential to marketing your practice long-term.
Clinically, have you continued to maintain excellence?
- The following is a list of items that are important to reflect clinical excellence:
- Up-to-date mechanics
- Beautiful results that create full smiles, attractive profiles and attractive smile lines
- On time finishing (20-24 months)
- Utilize comfortable, long working wires
- Offer various types of brackets and esthetic options
- Offer non-compliance therapies
When an orthodontist holds on to old-fashioned mechanics and keeps the patients in treatment too long, this hinders the growth of the practice. Parents are more educated than they ever have been before in terms of orthodontic treatment. The mature orthodontist needs to continue his or her clinical education every year.
Have you taken control of your schedule so you can reach your production goal and see patients 12-14 days a month?
As an orthodontist matures in their practice, if they do not take control of their schedule they will suffer from burnout. Orthodontists who have been in practice more than 14 years need to curb their patient days to at least 12 but no more than 14 days per month. This enables them to establish balance in their life and enjoy their practice long term. Doctors may even continue on their career path for many years and see patients as few as 10 days per month. With the new technology available to orthodontists today, you are able to increase your production and see fewer patients a day in fewer days per month.
Charlene White is an Orthodontic Consultant with 25 years of experience in the orthodontic management field. Her company, Progressive Concepts, specializes in orthodontic consulting services, orthodontic practice management workshops, orthodontic group seminars and orthodontic training products. Doctors, staff and patients all benefit from Charlene's services. We invite you to join the other 4,500 successful orthodontic practices that have benefited from Charlene White's consulting services. She can be reached by phone at (800) 445-7805 or via e-mail at charlenenw@aol.com.
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