Do bonus systems actually work in a dental practice?
Most of them don’t, which is why I tell dentists to throw out whatever patchwork bonus scheme they’re running. The common ones reward activity that has nothing to do with the practice actually winning, or they pay out no matter what, so the team stops connecting effort to reward. A bonus that fires every month regardless of results isn’t a bonus, it’s just delayed salary. The two structures I’ve seen genuinely move behavior tie the team’s reward to outcomes they can actually influence, and they scale to the size of your practice, because what works for a three-person office breaks in a fifteen-person one. Before you bolt another incentive onto your team, ask one question. Does this pay people for results the patient would feel, or just for showing up. If it’s the second one, scrap it.
If the answers you are finding here resonate with you, my team and I work with a small group of clients each year. The next step is a complimentary Discovery Consultation and Practice Review with Dr. McAnally.