{"id":208,"date":"2010-12-27T08:37:53","date_gmt":"2010-12-27T15:37:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jamesmcanally.com\/post\/2483259920"},"modified":"2019-10-23T18:52:00","modified_gmt":"2019-10-23T22:52:00","slug":"dental-consultant-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themcanallysellingsystem.com\/dental-consultant-4\/","title":{"rendered":"A Dental Consultant-A look back at James’ predictions….."},"content":{"rendered":"

A Dental Consultant-A look back at James’ predictions…..<\/h1><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"Dental<\/span><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

As a dental consultant I have to be very focused for my program members on events both past and current and how they apply to the economics of dentistry and where we are headed.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s funny to look back over a decade ago. An article rejected for publication at the time by those \u201cforward thinkers\u201d at Dental Economics\u2026\u2026was the seed of genesis of an International consulting business (Big Case Marketing) and the foundation of a sales training program aimed at doing just what\u2019s described in the article (allowing appropriate fees for the most trained in the profession)\u00a0 via the McAnally Selling System<\/a>………<\/p>\n

Spot on as our UK members would say\u2026..<\/p>\n

The \u201cBIG\u201d story that wasn\u2019t surfacing yet in the year \u201802 was middle class demographics and income changes that have made selling bread & butter services to the masses a harder proposition.\u00a0 In case you missed it, middle class wages are at where they were in the nearly 70\u2019s AND with two people working.\u00a0 Wal-Mart deserves a medal of honor for prevention of social class warfare since it\u2019s one reason most \u201cmiddles\u201d are enjoying every day items that otherwise would be out of reach.\u00a0 That enjoyment goes a long way with keeping the pitchforks from being gathered in mass.<\/p>\n

For those focused on middle class selling who think they\u2019ll stay on top of technology and treatment changes courtesy of that strategy, from my perspective as a dental consultant—- good luck\u2026.!!!<\/p>\n

Enjoy stepping back in time and then move on to make a decision about your next decade.<\/p>\n

Doctor, Stop Undervaluing your Services.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Take the lead and listen to your dental consultant.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Every one of your patient\u2019s dental benefit maximums has peaked for the rest of your<\/strong> practice life.\u00a0 Your patients must pay 5-10% more out of pocket expenses each year forever or you must personally eat this cost from your salary.\u00a0 Is this a bad dream?<\/p>\n

Fellow doctor, get used to these concepts; they are the operating guidelines for the rest of your practice career and are rapidly becoming reality.<\/p>\n

What can you reasonably do to guide your practice thru these economic realities and minimize their impacts?\u00a0 This is the first part of a series of articles about the ongoing evolution of fee for service dentistry and what you can rationally and practically do about it in your own practice.\u00a0 By the end of the series, you will have learned how to help ensure annual income growth by having fair fees seeing fewer patients, and with less stress.<\/p>\n

Capitation is D.O.A. in dentistry but the PPO and Delta fee control system are the new mantras in benefit land.\u00a0 More restrictions on covered care, exclusions of preexisting conditions, exclusions for new treatments, and lower maximum allowable charges are as predictable as tomorrow\u2019s sunrise.\u00a0 Paralleling these changes in benefits is the common complaint among many colleagues that fundamentally they believe their fees and annual incomes are not coincident with the level of care and service they provide to their patients.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve scanned the pages of any reputable business publication in the last few years, it isn\u2019t hard to find salary data from occupations requiring equivalent experience, skill sets, and education to see that there is some good evidence to validate these feelings.\u00a0 We all see those lottery size salaries of high profile sports figures but lets look at other more equivalently skilled occupations.\u00a0 Over the past six months, casual observations have shown that senior airline pilots, the local friendly news actor in the second level news market, and even a significant number of MBA\u2019s bring home the bacon to the tune of $300-500K per year.\u00a0 Don\u2019t get me wrong its fantastic that people in those occupations earn those salaries.\u00a0\u00a0 Why shouldn\u2019t a highly skilled caring dentist who serves and important role in society be able to earn the same if they are providing a great service and public good?<\/p>\n

This combination of economic changes in benefits and the real world economics of fair value for our occupation\u2019s service to society are the signs and symptoms of a new malady in the profession called \u2018service undervaluation.\u2019
\nSo, how did we get here and whose fault is it?\u00a0 Let\u2019s look at all the parties that we typically point the finger at when we are unhappy with something in our profession.
\n1)\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Moving collaterally on the food chain, let\u2019s pass the buck to the accountant and the attorney.\u00a0 Shouldn\u2019t they have advised us of what the future held and how to avoid the approaching train wreck?\u00a0 If we learn best by example then we should have been paying closer attention to their billing and fee structures.\u00a0 They charge for the real value of their skilled time.\u00a0 When was the last time you filed a claim for your \u201cfree\u201d preventive checkup at their offices or paid for their services over 4 months with no interest?\u00a0 You probably noticed that physicians were left out of this equation.\u00a0 By now, everyone should know what has happened to the average physician\u2019s income.\u00a0 If not, a striking example is a colleague of the author\u2019s father who was a general physician 25 years ago and at the time earned the equivalent of $300,000 in today\u2019s dollars.\u00a0 Now it is not unusual for a general physician to earn a maximum salary of $120,000.
\n2)\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0The insurance company?\u00a0 Arguably, part of the undervaluation of fees has arisen due to doctors unwittingly agreeing to a reduced rate in fee inflation as benefit levels stagnated over the last 25 years.\u00a0 Three generations of dentists have played \u2018Dr. Milquetoast\u2019 and felt personally responsible for their patient\u2019s benefits buying less dentistry each year and subsequently kept the rate of increase in their fees lower as the solution.\u00a0 These insurance folks are smart cookies, know what they are doing and are doing a great job of controlling their cost and increasing their reserves.\u00a0 They\u2019ve even got some of those well-compensated MBA\u2019s to make sure they increase market share, grow their business, and stay successful.\u00a0 With the market system, they have just as much right to operate in this manner as any other for profit business.\u00a0 Unfortunately, some dentists believe that because these companies are so big and have smart business people working for them that they are the best party to attach value to the service they provide.\u00a0 Even worse, many in the profession have convinced themselves that the benefit company is their friend (i.e. Delta).\u00a0 It is hopefully obvious to the majority that your business interests and their business interests are at irrevocable polar extremes.
\n3)\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Is it our patient\u2019s fault?\u00a0 We all feel that they don\u2019t value our skills enough and they always complain that we are already too expensive.\u00a0 Besides they would really rather purchase some other more practical consumer good like a ski boat or a vacation to Disney.\u00a0 Earth to dentists\u2014-Depending on your belief system, your fighting 5000 or 5 million years of human nature and in the words of Will Rogers\u2019 \u201cit ain\u2019t gonna\u2019 change\u201d.\u00a0 Trust me.\u00a0 I\u2019m a third generation dentist representing nearly 100 years of clinical dentistry and there is a fundamental truth about fees and that is no matter what you charge whether it is 10% of the guy next door or 1000% of the guy next door, your patients all think your fees are too high.\u00a0 In all seriousness, how can we expect people to value things like a preventive prophy when their benefit plan says 100% coverage (AKA \u201cfree\u201d)?\u00a0 I\u2019m not saying you should install a cash register as the ultimate artificial heart.\u00a0 You can and should empathize with your patient\u2019s and give them choices on how they pay for your services which their insurance doesn\u2019t cover as \u201cfree\u201d.\u00a0 In our society, it is up to each patient to individually determine what value, if any, they place on dental health and whether they want to budget any of their income to our excellent yet mostly elective service.
\n4)\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Non-production staff must somehow be part of the problem.\u00a0 Guess again.\u00a0 Those hard working assistants and business office staff earning $25-30K a year would always like your practice to make more money so that they can be better compensated for their skills.\u00a0 Better compensation means continued skill improvement with things like communication skills that will enhance your productivity and bottom line.
\n5)\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0What about the big guys of \u201corganized\u201d dentistry?\u00a0 Be ye lover or hater of the moribund bureaucracies of indecision and bickering that characterize organized dentistry (starting with the American Dental Association and working your way down and laterally) the very real fact is that anti-trust issues prevent the blanket directives to the profession on these subjects that would save us.\u00a0 Can you imagine the public relations nightmare of reading in the daily paper about your friendly and benevolent state attorney general on line at the cash cow of dentaldom to ride the new gravy train of \u201cbig dental.\u201d
\nEvery one of these examples of analyzing the pointed finger all lead to back to the\u00a0 undervaluation in what you provide in your practice on a daily basis as a clinical dentist.\u00a0 So what is the underlying problem?\u00a0 Ladies and gentlemen, the problem is a leadership issue.\u00a0 It\u2019s a leadership issue at your practice level and it rests squarely on the shoulders of each individual doctor as the CEO, business owner and planner.\u00a0\u00a0 Doctor, you can be guaranteed that if you take up the leadership mantle to find solutions that your staff and spouse or significant other will be right in line behind you and be your biggest cheerleaders.\u00a0 Your patients, god bless \u2018em, will mostly adapt and fall in line or leave for less greener pastures and offices adrift without leadership.\u00a0 They will be replaced by other patients that want better service. The reality is when you rock the fee boat patients always leave for cost reasons.\u00a0 You shouldn\u2019t take it personally. If you decide to be proactive instead of reactive or complaining, you\u2019ll be a happier doctor, have happier patients in the long run, and positively impact the future generations of dentists who follow.<\/p>\n

So, what\u2019s the next step with determining where your practice is headed with its relationship to these changing realities of dental benefits and fee structures?\u00a0 Are you going to take my advice and run a report on the demographics of your practice including age range, number of patients, etc.\u00a0 Then run 3 reports detailing your contractual insurance write-offs for the last three years.\u00a0 Finally, run reports for each individual carrier that you are contracted with and the numbers of patients covered under the carrier.\u00a0 Armed with this information, you\u2019ll start to make rationale decisions about \u201cwhat\u2019s next.\u201d<\/p>\n

I am here to help………..check out my website here<\/a> or try my #1 top selling book on Amazon.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

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