What’s Eating Into Your Profits?

Sponsored: A-dec

Analyzing the financial health of your practice is a good time to look beyond the obvious at the hidden costs that impact your profit margin. Here are some considerations that may be under the radar.

1. Ongoing maintenance
   When your equipment isn’t working efficiently, neither is your team. Unreliable equipment that’s constantly breaking down or out of service not only cuts into the profit margin, but it frustrates doctors and dental teams – and it’s no secret that retaining top-notch doctors is an important factor in the success of group practices.
2. Patient perception
   Growing your patient list is top of mind for increasing profits. But what about how patients (current or potential) feel when they visit your facility? If your practice is dated compared to the one down the street with the brand-new office and state-of-the-art equipment, it’s hard to compete. A calm, modern environment communicates a level of comfort and reassurance that your dentists are also high caliber. Environment drives perception. (That explains why patient treatment plans tend to be congruent with facilities.)
3. Physical discomfort
   Ergonomics is a tough concept to grasp since it’s not a tangible concept: Yet the cost of a physical disability that originates from the dental occupation is quite real in terms of worker’s comp and downtime. The most common injuries in dentistry (tendonitis, pinched nerves, ruptured discs in the neck and lower back, or carpal tunnel) develop slowly over time, and if not addressed properly, become debilitating and career ending. The only way to prevent injury is by selecting the right equipment and practicing ergonomic positioning as much as possible. Equipment that places everything at the fingertips allows doctors to sit properly and work comfortably decreasing stress and fatigue, and increasing overall productivity.

4. Ownership costs
   Distinguishing between products to make confident purchase decisions in the first place is challenging. But have you followed the total cost of the equipment beyond the acquisition phase? The major component that separates superior quality from low quality is what A-dec coined the Total Cost of Ownership. Because these costs are not always quantified, they are often overlooked. The cost of ownership concept is truly about value – not only the value of the product, but also the value of a customer’s time and productivity:
   Cost of acquisition
   Cost of operation
   + Cost of maintenance
   TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP

Whether it’s physical discomfort and exhaustion that have affected the dentist, or down equipment that’s out of service waiting for parts, all mean not having patients in the chair. And zero dollars from the treatment room, mean zero dollars in revenue. If you would like to talk about ways to remedy the hidden costs that are eating into your profits, feel free to reach out to the A-dec Special Markets team at 1.800.547.1883, or email [email protected].