by 
The crystal ball for a successful group of dental practices may be an illusion, yet we seek the insight this legendary ball potentially has to offer. Removing the smoke screen and obtaining the clarity of this crystal ball requires the right focus by those operating the dental practices. This focus requires enhancing your dental operations systems – and this can be a daunting task. It is no secret that running your practice or a group of practices does not typically come with an instruction book, and not to mention, this evolvement must happen with current operations in progress.
One of the key items to have in place are operators with an open mind. Those who have the instinct to recognize that something needs to be modified for growth and then guiding everyone to see the bigger picture. Implementation is always more difficult than conceptualizing, as implementation requires understanding from those completing the processes. The evolvement of your practice or group is consistent whether those running it have the ability to see it or not. What is currently working may not always be what works and what is not working may work in the future. You may need to tweak it, or even create a whole new system. How is this evaluated?
There are two very simple focuses that can provide great insight into your practices. They include your consumers and your boots on the ground team members. You are thinking, this is so obvious, yet many practices and groups fail to seek insight from both parties consistently.
How often have you asked your team members what they believe could enhance the practice and grow it to the next level?
How often have you asked your patients what drives their decision to complete their treatment with your practice?
Dentistry is a service business, and is run by people for people. Investing in your team member’s needs, wants, and desires will provide great insight and clear up that crystal ball on next steps. As humans we all crave to be understood and appreciated. Your team members can provide you with understanding on operational flow, scheduling concerns, provider roadblocks, and believe it or not – critical items around team members effectiveness in their roles. In addition, seeking outside understanding from your peers and advisors within the industry to verify you are on the right track in your thinking can challenge your operational roadmap and guide you toward something that will yield even greater returns. These results will come using their insight and assistance in enhancing current operational systems and best practices. Now, because you have involved your ‘boots on the ground’ team members, as they had a hand in writing this operational playbook with you – the buy-in for implementation will be easier and beneficial for all positions.
As an emerging practice or group of dental practices, your operational playbook can evolve with the right people working alongside you toward the goals of your businesses. Enhanced Practices brings to life concepts that can be easily implemented into your daily operations and brings industry leaders with strong backgrounds in growing emerging groups to assist your efforts in growing into a flourishing into a Dental Service Organization. The goal of Enhanced Practices in your emerging group is to guide and nudge your thinking and processes into even greater returns and allow you to provide duplicatable operations in the markets you choose to provide services.
