Dental Drills Bits

This is a question Sandy Pardue gets quite often in her events, so we decided to cover it here! Here are a couple things you want to do: You need a time clock software. (Sandy recommends a software) Don’t give everyone access to change their time clock. Create a policy, and be super specific in this policy. (Sandy gives us great examples). What to say if someone still violates the policy? (Sandy provides us with what to do, a script, and how many times should we allow it). How to present the overtime policy at a team meeting.

In this episode Sandy Pardue gives us the 5 action steps every single practice owner should be taking to get an incredible amount of momentum happening in the beginning of 2022. The last thing you want to do in 2022 is play catch up or start off slow. And you especially don't want your team knowing or feeling it is slow! We discuss: 1.Invest 139 dollars in a book called: National Dental Advisory Service.  2.Keep educating patients. Most practices have another practice within their practice, 1 million or 80k in unscheduled treatment. Now is the time to contact them. 3.Find out who has unused insurance benefits. 4.Keeping the chairs filled and asking them if they have anyone in the family that needs an appointment. 5.Promote more elective procedures. Verify that you are doing specific procedures.

This has happened to all of us! We call a patient to confirm their appointment but they don't answer. You call them again... and still no answer. Do you just consider them as a cancellation, a no-show, do you double book that time slot just in case, are you just going to hope they show up and leave them on the schedule?! Sandy Pardue gives us the exact steps and instructions we must take to handle patients who do NOT confirm. She gives us specific scripts, how many attempts we should make on a confirmation, what needs to be said, and where to discern and make moves in this situation.    

In this episode Sandy shares with us the 4 key actions that you must create. This is 4 specific lists that you must create in your practice, and then it forms into a system! This system will prevent empty slots in your schedule, contribute to more collections, meet the needs of your patients who NEED to be seen soon, and minimizing unscheduled treatment . This system is something that's missing in so many practices, so we encourage you to start NOW with the "4 Lists System" if you haven't yet.

In this episode Sandy Pardue gives us her "3 Day Report" that will increase collections and decrease broken appointments. This will also answer the main question "should we schedule the patient first and then collect payment OR collect payment and then schedule the patient"? Sandy teaches us step by step how to do this. We also discuss scripts on what to say to patients who are past due on their payments, how to do health credit ratings on patients, and how to create a "scheduler" in your practice who is responsible for the WHOLE schedule.

This was a VERY hot topic so Sandy and I decided to dive further into it and even provide you with scripts and cancellation policies to format and say. We need to understand that broken appointments WILL happen but it should not be the norm. We need to also understand that charging patients for this is a band-aid to the problem, not the solution.  So what are the proper steps and procedures to take when this occurs? And how can we minimize broken appointments? In this episode Sandy lets us know exactly what we need to do.

In this episode we discuss a situation where an employee was sexually harassed by an existing patient. This really happened! This could also happen in your practice. So what are the proper steps and procedures to take when this occurs? Do you let it slide once? Do you address the patient in that moment? Do you call the authorities?!  In this episode Sandy let's us know exactly what we need to do in this situation.

Practice owner (and longterm user of Sandy's systems) Dawn Kulongowski is an open book today; sharing everything she's enjoyed about Sandy's systems after using them for nigh a decade. With her trademark infectious laugh, Dawn shares amazing and absurd stories with Sandy and Richard.

Accounts receivable looks awful. Insurance is just out of control. Does that describe your office? If so, don't be surprised. This is common! Sandy sees this on the regular. She and Richard teach us the proper workload split with front office staff, getting accurate insurance date before they deny something, so that--above of all--we can turn things around by asking patients and insurance for our money...healthily!   Sandy@ClassicPractice.com 1-800-928-9289 www.ClassicPractice.com

Whether you have to re-allocate existing staff, or hire new, Sandy shows us super specific ways to forge our own front office dream team. Today's subject: your receptionist. What kind of person do you need to work the phones? What does a new patient letter look like? When should they be written?

Sandy continues her from-the-ground-up scheduling philosophy. Richard asks about scheduling to a goal, keeping goals consistent, and the checklists and metrics your scheduler MUST know.   Sandy@ClassicPractice.com 1-800-928-9289

When Richard asks Sandy about her scheduling philosophy, she shares her from-the-ground-up dream schedule. Oftentimes, practice owners inherit scheduling systems from sellers. But startup or acquisition, you can start working these systems into your practice now.   www.ClassicPractice.com 

Who's picking up the phone when your practice is closed? Is your front desk demonstrably disappointed and surprised when patients call in to cancel? Sandy digs into these situations and more. Plus, she shares a super-simple secret to learn about broken appointments well before they happen.

Being bad on the phones is the best way to drive away good patients. Sandy and Richard jump right into the best practices in phone etiquette. Grab a pen and take notes as Sandy gives us actionable gems about how many times you should let it ring, empathetic tone of voice, and why being assigned to the phone is not a bad thing--at all!

Richard and Sandy discover where dentists fail to take charge; keeping a "scoreboard", developing a lifestyle of learning, and how not to be afraid of your team. Listen now.   Sandy@ClassicPractice.com

As Sandy continues showing the process of working with her and her team, she talks keeping a 'scoreboard', firing the wrong people the right way, and how she trains your team to build out (and sustain) new, effective systems!   Sandy@ClassicPractice.com

Some of us have reached the point where we don't want more money; we want less stress! Sandy teaches us when it's right to hire a consultant (and when it's wrong). Having helped countless practices uproot deep-set problems, she also shares what it took to help one practice shake free of the stress caused by hurtful employees unwilling to change. Plus, what it's like to work with Sandy and her Classic Practices team.

Last week Richard and Sandy discussed urgency with regard to team members. We now uncover the steps to take to maintain that same sense of urgency when communicating treatment plans to our patients. Sandy gives warnings about consistently mentioning a timeline, proper handoffs to team members, educating patients on the dangers of waiting, and more...

Richard and Sandy jump into a conversation about urgency. With only a little urgency, we can fill dropped appointments faster, collect more overdue accounts, and reduce the amount of diagnosed treatment that goes unscheduled--plus, the simplest thing in the world your team could be doing now to get started. ** Take an online sample Wonderlic test now.

Dr. Richard Low joins the legendary Sandy Pardue in a brand new season of Dental Drill Bits! Today, after asking Sandy to sound off on the subject of morning huddles, we get a constant stream of actionable info. Who should attend, team members' actual responsibilities, and the antidote to the perceived need to micromanage are all covered in detail.