Dental Practice Management: Grow and Let Others Grow!

 

Dental Practice Management: Grow and Let Others Grow!

Dear All,

It is in almost every group or discussion forum, there is a discussion of fellow dentist criticizing/badmouthing the other in front of patients or ridiculing his/her work or charges. Unfortunately, in our profession, unlike hotel management students, we do not undergo a grooming school, and our work behavior is based on what we learnt in the clinic we did our observer ship. All of a sudden, from doctors we become businessman from the 1st day of our clinic opening. Though, not any expert or fault free, after 8 years of practice, I feel mature enough to share my thoughts to fresher who are about to start or recently got into practice.

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1. Stay Focused:

Your practice doesn’t grow 1% by bringing down someone else’s name nor would the other practice go down even 0.5% with your fruitless efforts. Concentrate on your work.

 

2. Filter Unnecessary Talks:

Patients would love to share their bad experiences with previous dentist. Curtail those talks and stick to basics of chief complaint, followed by diagnosis and treatment plan.

 

3. Use Alternate Terminology:

Instead of telling the patient, “Bahot bekaar filling ki hai aapki” “Filling you are having is hopeless” modify your talks like, “There are some issues with the filling and hopefully I will be able to address them better.”

 

4. Learn From Those Who Run Referral Practice:

Your oral surgeon doesn’t tell the patient that you have messed up a 3rd molar extraction. He simply does it and sends the patients. He is even ready to bear the complications which you might have made. Treat patients from other clinics in a similar way.

 

5. Keep Your Charges Justified:

Sky has no limit, but ground has. Keep your charges for every procedure in a justified manner. Keeping them too low cannot kill your competitor. Moreover, you lose growth and clinical expansion.

 

6. Don’t Be Overawed:

Meeting dentists from metros, don’t be influenced by their lifestyle of Mercs and BMWs. It is just a part. You never know what they went through to achieve this, including legal battles and strokes. But they have the best lawyers and best hospitals to keep them running. So run a healthy practice and have patience.

 

7. Stay Connected:

Meet your colleagues to share knowledge not grudges or discuss charges.

8. Do Not Out Rightly Reject Fellow Dentist’s Treatment Plan:

Everyone has his own way of thinking. If the other feels, his way would provide relief and long term solution, respect it. Be a doctor, not judge. Tell the patient, “I would or I can do it this way, please make a decision and chose your treating doctor.”

 

9. Stay Alive:

Don’t leave your hobbies. Cricket, music or dance or whatever, for me photography as a recent hobby, relaxes you so much that you, by default, stays away from unnecessary stuff. Don’t leave them, rather inculcate one.

 

10.Take Care Of Yourself:

Dentistry is a killer. It will break your back and neck. Let it not break your heart by going green with jealousy.

 

As always, keep smiling!

Source : DentistFriend

Myths & Facts About Doctors

 

Myths & Facts About Doctors

Myth 1: "Only medical profession is a noble profession"

 

Fact: Every profession, whether of a teacher, soldier, tailor or shopkeeper, is noble, if done with sincerity and integrity. A careless doctor can kill one, a careless  driver can kill dozens, a careless engineer can kill hundreds..

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Myth 2: "As it is a service to humanity, doctors should not run after money."

 

Fact: Money is an important measure of success. Running after it is not good for anybody, but earning more money by doing more work is not a moral crime. And all who advising doctors, themselves running after money, aren't they?

 

Myth 3: "Most of the time, doctors do not understand the disease and write unnecessary and costly drugs and advise tests and treat on a trial basis."

 

Fact: First of all, the doctor patient relationship is based on trust, if you do not trust your doctor, go to another one. Medical science is a lifelong learning process, and all treatment, to some extent is based on trial and error. The same medicine, which works for one patient may not work on another. 

 

Second, the responsibility of providing quality drugs at affordable prices lies not with the doctor, but with the state authorities, just like providing for better roads, unadulterated quality food and dairy products, uninterrupted power and water supply etc and etc. Like cloths, cars and mobile phones, costly drugs are generally better than cheap ones. However, if the government makes it mandatory to write generics, it should ensure quality and the consequence of poor/non efficacy should not be blamed on doctors.

 

Third, tests are done for patient’s own safety. Just like wearing a helmet or seat belt, investigations increase the safety. Most of the doctors in india are trained to work on clinical hunch and common sense and not rely too much on tests, and advise much less tests than what is actually written in the book or done in the developed world.

 

Myth 4: "Treatment costs are increasing irrationally."

 

Fact: As compared to western world, treatment costs in India are still very low, and many foreigners are coming here for this reason. And it would be worthwhile to think about any other service or product with as rapid advancement in technology and equipment as medical science, whose cost is not increasing

 

Myth 5: "Doctors are next to God."

 

Fact: Doctors are as human as can be. They also get tired, fall sick, have family commitments, get upset and stressed sometimes and can suffer from all the frailties of a human being. If anyone wanted to be treated by God then they can visit the temple.

Source : DentistFriend

5 Time Management Tips For Private Dental Practitioners

 

5 Time Management Tips For Private Dental Practitioners

Time once gone does not come back. Therefore, it is essential to utilize every minute of life in a useful way. Every day, dentists are facing various cases in their dental career and have several other responsibilities too. This makes it necessary for us to stay active round the clock. If you can manage your time well, then you can achieve all the best around you.

Here are some of the best time management strategies which will help you utilize your time well without getting stressed or aging too soon! 

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1. Plan your day: 

Get up early in the morning and plan your day for just 10-15 minutes. Write down the tasks in a sequence of the priority. For instance, write in the arrangement of high, medium and low priorities. Then execute them. You can even have virtual assistants for yourself to handle the routine online tasks. Trust me; this saves an ample of time on daily basis. 

 

2. Stay on top of your appointments:

As a dentist, it is your prime responsibility to make sure that every patient is served well and his dental problems are cured at the earliest possible time. Make sure you give the time to every patient in a range and not exactly in hours. This is because you can have an extended patient procedure. It will make the next patient wait for too long. So, don’t over promise. Just be flexible and make this clear to your patients too. They will thank you for your genuine concern! 

 

3. Use technology:

Yes! Make technology your friend. Make sure that you gradually start utilizing various time-saving apps. These apps serve the best for everyone irrespective of your experience of using such apps. Put reminders and just focus on your patient cases. You will get reminder alarms at the set time. You can then finish off your tasks. Just use one app and keep things simple. I assure you that you will never forget any of your tasks throughout the day. 

 

4. Automate whenever possible:

You can use various invoicing and patient payment software to make your clinic’s accounting smoother and faster. These days there are several levels of software available for the dentists and dental clinics. Always talk to the respective company regarding how they will save your time with their innovative services. Get the best one for your clinic. Remember that automation is for the long term, so make sure you choose the best one. 

 

5. Be prepared for emergencies:

You are a doctor, and in the clinic, you can anytime face an emergency. So you need to be prepared for it. Educate your team at the dental clinic regarding the common type of emergencies which usually happen in the dental clinics. Make sure they have a clear concept of it. It ensures that you don’t waste valuable time at such crucial moment. 

 

Thus, every dentist can utilize these simple yet effective strategies to ensure a boost in their dental career. Time is highly valuable. Value your time, and it will value you twice. 

Source : DentistFriend

Will GST Put Dentistry In A Big Loss Or We Can Outperform Against GST?

 

Will GST Put Dentistry In A Big Loss Or We Can Outperform Against GST?

I am Dr. Nilesh Bhimani (B.D.S.), a senior Dental Surgeon from Surat (Guj.) & I would like to throw some lights on effect of GST on Dentistry! Goods and service tax (GST) is one of the most revolutionary step in history of Indian Tax System and future will witness it's real effect. Healthcare services are exempt from GST according to GST Act, 2016. So we don't need to charge GST on out treatment charges as we are not selling products, we provide only healthcare services.

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There is a lot of buzz about GST; I see many people are talking and discussing whether GST is good or bad on the contrary I know many dentists who neither care for the GST effects nor even willing to know how it is actually going to affect the future of private dental practice. I am writing this blog for all those dentists who are curious & wish to know the after effects of GST with the hope that you will take it positively.

 

Let's understand how GST is going to affect future and success of your private dental practice. Here are few points which I noticed and would want you to pay attention.

 

A. All standard Laboratories have transform tax statement from 5% VAT to 12% GST, means 7% rise on lab bills.

 

B. All material companies have changed taxation from 5-12% to 12-18% or up to 28% in few cases, means 7-16% rise in billing. 

It's a big amount really..!

 

C. My clinic electricity, telephone , SMC tax, stationary, maintenance, printing, magazines or other monthly based expenses rise from 5% VAT to 12% GST, means 7% rise.

 

D. My clinic Insurance, Membership fees, Conferences fees etc will be also raising to some extent.

 

E. My staff salaries, doctor's salaries etc will have to be raised in coming months as they have to compensate for their increased expenses due to implementation of GST.

 

F. Most important is my personal expenses.

 

Now onwards my life insurance policies, general insurance policies, lifestyle expenses, food bills, school fees, Tuition fees, shopping , holidays (which is maximum like 28% on luxury holidays)everything I do on my day to day expenses will rise like anything. Friends, We say everyone that we don't need to add GST on patients treatment bills because we are exempted.

 

But are we really exempted on GST even after paying all above expenses?

There is only one solution for all above and that's none other than RAISE YOUR TREATMENT CHARGES!

 

From 1 July onwards minimum 10% rise on your treatment charges would only compensate for the GST which you will pay now onwards & don't think that you have raised charges, instead you have compensated your loss only.! In addition, 6-8% is your inflation rate which means every year your cost of same expenses increases at this rate over a period of one year. So 6-8% hike in charges will again compensates loss of steady income year by year.

 

So Friends, 16-18% (10% GST effect + 6-8% Inflation) rise in your treatment charges will only make you stable in your income year by year. Those who can add more than 18% rise in charges are real brave dentist and I will be happy to add them in my friend list. In fact, this is the best chance to raise your chrages as a momentum. Agreed people will ask you that it is not in your branch but you can tell them that your lab bills, material expense, clinic expense everything rise by more than 10-15% and so you have no other option if you want to justify but most of the times people will automatically justify you without asking about it.

 

I have tried to give you some striking GST effects on your dental practice. Hope we all put a step ahead for a successful dental carrier! Try it today..! Keep Smiling

Source : DentistFriend

Being Dentist: Saturation In Dental Profession; Fact Or Myth?

 

Being Dentist: Saturation In Dental Profession; Fact Or Myth?

As a dental student or professional, it is really disappointing to hear someone saying "Why did you choose to become a Dentist? There's no scope in Dentistry."

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How can anyone say that about our profession?Initially we resist to such comments but then seeing the situation of young dentists; some of us end up believing that dentistry has no future in India; few manage to opt out of the profession but majority has to continue dentistry. Recently there have been some cases of dentists committing suicide out of financial frustration which is very sad... 

 

 

Let me put you across some facts & figures 

 

1. I have some references which say that there are approx. 300 Dental Colleges in India & approx. 25,000 new dentists join the battle every year. 

2. As per DCI there are 3 lakh registered dentists in India till date (2015) who are serving to the population of approx 128 cr. 

I do agree that, the situation of young dentists in India is not that good. There are limited job opportunities for dentists, few patients & has cut throat competition. On the other hand if we look at the figures of developed countries such as US, the scenario is quite surprising. In the US, dentists are amongst the highest earning professionals & dental treatments are the costliest.

 

 

Why dentistry is amongst best professions in The United States? 

You will probably say, that US is a developed country and there is no saturation. Let me give you some figures provided by ADA. As per the American dental association there are 1.5 Lac dentists in US serving to 32 Cr populations. 
If we try to match the ratio of “Population: Number of Dentists” between India & US then it will be like this

 

Population	Number of Dentists
128 Cr.	3 Lac	Actual ratio of India
64 Cr.	1.5 Lac	Actual ratio divided by 2
32 Cr.	75 K	Actual ratio divided by 4
32 Cr.	1.5 Lac	Actual ratio of US

 

In the above table, one can see that there are only 75 thousand dentists to serve 32 crore population in India where as in US there are 1.5 lakh dentists to serve the same population i.e. twice the number of dentists in India. If these are the figures then why dentistry is amongst the best professions in US and we are still complaining?
 
Are we really facing saturation?
If you feel there's saturation at present then just think about the situation 10 years down the line when there will be additional 2.5 Lac dentists in the country. 
 
I believe that, saturation in not there in our profession
Saturation is in our minds which doesn't allow us to see the future possibilities..
 
The dentists in US are not only facing competition from local dentists but also from dental graduates from countries like India, China and many other countries. Just imagine what will happen if government allows dentists from neighboring countries to practice in India after clearing an entrance exam?
 

In India, increasing number of dentists is not the main problem but the status of oral healthcare awareness amongst the population is. Oral healthcare awareness is one of the biggest reasons that differentiate Indian & US dentists. In India less than 20% of population has awareness about oral health while in US more than 80% population pay attention on their oral health. 

Just imagine what can happen if we could turn this 20% into 80%
I know it's not going to happen overnight but it's possible

Source : DentistFriend