The landscape of the dental workforce has changed drastically over the past two years. The shortage of qualified personnel in dentistry results in many employees jumping from office to office and demanding higher salaries. Dentists are being backed into a corner and, in some cases, feel forced to pay outrageous salaries just to attract and retain staff.

However, paying higher salaries doesn’t guarantee that the quality of work is commensurate with the pay. Many dentists are hiring out of desperation and tolerating poor performance simply because of the shortage. The best solution is to hire carefully and keep the good employees that you have.

As an owner–dentist, you are the chief executive officer and head of human resources of your practice. It is challenging to be the main provider, practice owner and leader! Your employees work for you because their job is an integral part of their career path, but employees are most interested in their own personal success. Where do you find the time to communicate with your team, delegate responsibilities, listen to feedback and have the flexibility to solve problems in an ever-changing workplace?

Dental teams are generally self-directed, but they do require information and feedback to know what’s expected of them as far as daily duties. Guidelines and boundaries provide comfort and a sense of security to your employees while encouraging accountability for results.

Performance reviews

The performance evaluation process is a basic responsibility of good management, but you may not be comfortable with this part of your job as CEO of your practice. It’s not easy to play judge and jury over someone else’s work, especially if the assessment affects their salary and their future. Most people think they do great work. Many of them are right … but not all of them.

Performance evaluations are scary for employees, too. From their perspective, the employer’s opinion is going to affect their future, and there’s no guarantee that the doctor or manager really knows the employee’s job and how well they do it. They may fear the rating will be based solely on how well you like them, and you’ll remember only the bad and forget the good. Even when you must provide feedback with the intent of correcting negative behavior or poor performance, it’s important to look for the good things the employee does and use those as motivation.

Employees often expect a salary increase with every performance review, but a performance review does not necessarily mean that a raise will be given. Pay increases should be awarded only when the employee meets or exceeds the performance statements as outlined in the job description.

Performance Review Self-Assessment

The purpose of a performance evaluation is to evaluate your performance results and compare them to the mutually agreed goals we set. To prepare you for our meeting and to help you crystallize your thinking, please complete this worksheet.

1. Based on what you achieved this year, in what areas do you feel that you were very strong? a. Where did you think you could improve?
2. Assign an overall rating to your own performance.
3. What new or improved skills would help you in the coming year?
4. What issue and blockages challenged you during the past year?
5. What blockages must you overcome to achieve your goals this year?
6. What issues or blockages challenged you during the past year?
7. What, if any, blockages must you overcome to achieve your goals this year?
8. Describe your personal development plans for the coming year.
9. Do you require employer support to achieve your goals? If yes, describe the type of support that would be most helpful to you.
10. Do you have any constructive comments or suggestions that

In fact, dentists can run into legal com plications if they reward a poor-performing employee but then subsequently discipline that person. If the employee is terminated, he or she can go to an employment lawyer and claim wrongful termination: “I didn’t know I was doing a bad job. My boss gave me a raise and never provided any feedback. …” The employment lawyer or the labor board may ask to see the performance evaluations that were conducted, and if there’s no evidence of a performance review and the employee was given a raise in salary, that may indicate that the employer was happy with the employee’s performance; therefore, he or she was wrongfully terminated. (Labor laws will almost always side with the employee.)

The performance evaluation process

To provide fair and equitable employment practices, pay increases must be based on merit of individual performance and decided upon by the doctor. Employees often think that they are entitled to pay increases annually and employers are obliged by law to provide an increase annually. That is not the case.

Employers are not obliged to provide pay increases beyond the minimum standards under the state or provincial labor laws.

If an employee is eligible for a pay increase, it should not go into effect until he or she has worked at the practice continuously for one full year before the increase and there is no interruption of earnings. Wage adjustments may be provided annually, based on the results of the individual’s performance as well as the practice performance. You need to have enough money in the budget in place to ensure that you can afford to provide.

At the beginning of the review, have employees read the self-evaluation out loud. Listen carefully to how they answer the questions, because the listener sets the tone for the meeting. Conduct the performance review in a quiet area where you won’t be disturbed. Stay objective and focused on the individual results as well as those of the overall practice. Be specific when giving feedback, both positive and negative. Although you are reviewing the past performance, focus on the future. Help the employee to realize their true potential by setting a career path and focus on long-term goals.

Discuss any issues or blockages that they experienced as well as the strengths in their job performance. Then begin.

If you’ve never conducted a performance review, here are some suggestions. The first step is to provide the employee with a self-evaluation form, similar to the one above.
Give the form to employees two or three days in advance of the meeting, which will allow them enough time to reflect on their performance and to formulate some questions in preparation for the review. This process helps them develop an objective view of their own contributions to the practice, and is an opportunity for them to have a voice with their employer. In busy offices, there is very little time to have a one-on-one dialogue with each employee, which is one of the benefits of the annual review.

To help the employee prepare for the meeting, have them complete the following questions:

1. Based on what you achieved this year, in what areas do you feel that you were very strong? Where did you think you could improve?
2. Assign an overall rating to your own performance out of 10.
3. What new or improved skills would help you in the coming year?

your evaluation of their performance. It is helpful to have the employee’s job description and assign a rating to each duty that he/she performs based on what those duties are. This will help the employee to feel that they are receiving a fair and objective evaluation based on their actual daily duties.

Wage adjustments

A wage review should be a separate process that is conducted only after all the performance reviews have been completed. Wage adjustments should be based on the following criteria:

• Results of the employee’s performance evaluation, which includes ratings on attitude, enthusiasm, punctuality, reliability, communication skills, etc.
• Overall financial performance of the practice.
• Everyone’s level of responsibility. Should an employee not meet the expectations of the role, opportunities for improvement should be discussed and they should be provided with a time frame in which to display visible and consistent improvement, as well as written guidelines to follow. No pay adjustment should happen during this time of reevaluation, and progress should be closely monitored. A date should be identified when the dentist and employee can meet again to discuss any progress that has been made, and what should be included in the team member’s action plan.

Wage increase guidelines

Annual increases are not a right of the employee. If the practice is not doing well financially, it would not be wise to increase costs by granting increases. The
best time to schedule performance reviews is before the end of your fiscal year, when you are setting your operating budget for the coming year.

You may wish to grant increases using the following guidelines:

No increase: If an employee’s performance is not up to acceptable standards, they should be advised that there are gaps in their performance and how they can be growth opportunities. You may wish to help the employee to set goals and timelines for performance improvement. Once these goals have been met, a wage increase may be granted as of the improvement review date; however, backdating of increases should never be considered.

3%–4%: A 3%–4% increase may be given if an employee’s performance is usually up to expected standards. There may be minor inconsistencies in performance during the year, but these have typically been addressed through discussion with the employee and are not serious enough to warrant formally setting goals for performance improvement. This adjustment would provide for a cost of-living increase.

5% or more:If an employee’s performance consistently meets expected standards and they demonstrate that they’re willing and ready to fill in and help wherever necessary, a 5% increase may be warranted. An increase of 5% or greater should be awarded to only top performers.

A good human resource infrastructure that has measurable performance objectives, role clarity and consistent performance feedback will help your employees feel valued and connected to you and the team. Striking a balance between being involved enough with your team members so they feel your direction and support can easily be maintained by conducting annual performance reviews. Employees want to be treated as people first and workers second. Remember, happy employees affect your bottom line!

Employees who feel empowered perform better. Information about job performance is the path to employee empowerment.

To empower your employees is to do three actions:

• Give them the freedom to get a job done.
• Provide them with the right level of support to get the job done well— information, training, resources, etc.
• Create measurable, objective targets to help them be accountable to produce the right outcomes.

Inspire your team to want to be part of this journey and help them to discover what they can do to create their own path forward. Help them do their job well by providing them with the time, tools, training and support that they need, then hold them accountable for the results and pay them accordingly.

SANDIE BAILLARGEON, DENTAL OFFICE CONSULTING SERVICES

Despite the many benefits of opening a private dental practice, it does not come without its challenges. It can take a great deal of time, effort and patience to open and manage a dental hygiene practice independently. In order to make this process easier, we have created a simplified plan providing information on all of the steps dentists or dental hygienists should take to start their own practice.

1. Sort Out Your Financial Situation

Starting a dental hygiene business can be an expensive project, especially if a dentist has just left dental school or is early on in their career. In order to determine whether you have the ability to open your own business, estimate initial costs including office location, staffing, tools and more. This can be an overwhelming job for anyone, so work with an accountant. They can help you determine your financial situation, organize your funds and plan to meet some of your financial goals.

2. Determine Potential Growth

A business plan is a detailed strategy that outlines the finances and expected growth of a dental office. Its information gives you an idea of the way that your business can grow depending on decisions regarding your team, clients and work. This can help make your life easier and simplify business planning.

Despite its usefulness, it can be difficult to determine a business’s potential value. Professional dental accountants can help dental hygienists and dentists create business plans and determine the potential growth of their dental offices.

3. Find A Location For Your Business

Developing a business is all about meeting the demand for a service or product. This is why a location’s market and demand for dentists should be one of the main considerations when deciding where to open a practice. For example, areas like Vancouver, B.C. or Toronto, Ontario are likely to have a number of practices but experience a high demand for dental services due to their large populations. A rural area in Ontario may not have as much demand as Vancouver, but it may lack a dentist who specializes in a specific area of dentistry.

When considering where to start your business, consider the demand, pre-existing market, pricing and close proximity to other things like schools, banks and other amenities.

4. Hire Staff For Your Dental Practice

In order to build a comprehensive dental practice, a dentist will need to hire various team members whose job is to contact clients, treat patients and other tasks.
When hiring, make sure to choose people who can complete these tasks with ease and a sense of professionalism. For the most part, clients’ perception of a dental practice is based on the dental hygienist who treats them and the office clerk that helps them. This makes it incredibly important to hire a dental hygienist and office staff that are friendly, kind and professional.

5. Meet Licensing & Legal Requirements For Dental Practices

One of the first steps to start in starting a dental practice is to meet the required legal and licensing requirements. In order to be certified to legally practice in Canada, both hygienists and dentists need to have completed dental school. They must also pass a licensing examination in the province or territory that they wish to practice in.

Similarly, a dental office must choose between three types of legal structure: sole proprietorship, partnership, or corporation. A healthcare attorney can help make this process a lot easier as they guide owners through the steps of completing paperwork and acquiring their necessary licensing.

6. Purchase Equipment

Dentists and dental hygienists use a variety of state-of-the-art technology to complete cleanings, x-rays, surgeries and other treatments. Without these tools or pieces of technology, it is nearly impossible for treatment to be completed. As a result, it is important to purchase the necessary equipment and technology before patients start visiting the office.

7. Get Insured

While liability insurance is needed for every business in Canada, dental hygiene work is unique and includes different considerations to work with patients. Talk to a trusted insurance professional to learn about some of the policies you need to protect both your business and your patients.

8. Create A Marketing Plan

Most dental professionals fail to consider how important a marketing plan is for their business. A detailed marketing plan establishes a dental practice’s brand and attracts new patients to the practice. Every Canadian dental practice needs:

• A logo
• A professional website
• A social media presence
• Traditional print ads
• A way to generate leads

A marketing strategy is a vital part of growing your business into a thriving practice, so it shouldn’t be taken lightly. Take the time to market your practice by tapping into current trends, sharing your vision, and describing why people should choose your practice over others. If you lack some time or skills to develop your marketing strategy, hire the services of a dental marketing agency.

Tips For New Dental Practices

• Create a great office culture. It is important that the people who work for you feel cared for and appreciated because it boosts employee satisfaction and productivity. Whether you do this by praising each dental hygienist individually or hosting lunchtime parties, it will be sure to boost team satisfaction.
• Prioritize patients. Your patient base is the most important aspect of running a dental practice. It is important to make patients’ experience your top priority. This can be done by ensuring patients are comfortable at all times, being friendly, and having flexible payment options.
• Get help from other professionals. Starting and getting a business off the ground can be a difficult task. Rather than trying to do it alone, seek help and resources from other professionals. A lot of strategists, accountants, and dentists can help make starting a business easier. For example, the Canadian Dental Association offers many resources for dental professionals who are hoping to start their own practice.

5 Ways to Increase Your Dental Practice Profitability

1. Increase Patient Retention Among Existing Patients

When it comes to increasing profit margins, many practices overlook their current clients. They believe that they need to attract new clients to earn more, but this is not entirely true; patient recall is incredibly important to the success of your dental practice.

Happy patients are guaranteed to come back and purchase your services. They do not need to be won over like new clients—they are already loyal to your business. That’s why it’s incredibly important to ensure patient satisfaction continues.

Approach patients and survey them about their experience at your dental office. Don’t just choose clients that give you great reviews—make sure to choose clients that have left a negative review to give you unbiased results.

Gathering feedback will allow you to improve your services and patient experience. Happier patients mean a bigger profit margin for your business.

2. Enhance Your Practice’s Marketing Efforts

Marketing is an important part of creating a profitable practice. It’s how you attract new patients, and new patients help you earn more. That is why every dental practice needs a comprehensive marketing plan.

Most dental practices use outbound marketing strategies like billboards, brochures and postcards reminding patients to book appointments. While these are effective strategies, they can cost a great deal of money. You need to pay to design your marketing materials, print them off, and either mail them or post them somewhere that current and prospective patients may see. Dental offices should continue to use these methods if they are profitable, but they should also consider expanding to online marketing.

Online marketing is a type of inbound marketing. Inbound marketing is where patients come to you, rather than you go to them. Think about it this way: instead of mailing a brochure to a new patient, you can use specific tactics to show up exactly where patients are searching online. Since you are right where they are looking, they will come to you for their health decisions instead of another practice.

Reach out to a marketing agency that can help you boost your company’s reputation through digital marketing. They can build out a digital marketing campaign for your practice and help you attract more patients to your office.

Did you know that social media affects customer loyalty? You can build greater loyalty among your patients by using social media.

3. Improve Your Practice Management

A successful dental practice is a practice that has a smooth, efficient way of operating. Everyone knows their responsibilities and the entire team collaborates to ensure patients are seen, treated, and satisfied with their service.

Practices can achieve an efficient, high-quality standard of service by improving their practice management. Set out core expectations for your staff, provide professional development opportunities and support.

Great management will improve efficiency and overall quality of treatment, ensuring patients are seen and satisfied.

4. Rely On Your Dental Assistants More

Many dentists often like to position themselves at the heart of every treatment. They see every patient that walks through their doors, complete treatments, administration tasks, and run the business side of their office. While this is great, it does have its downsides; it can effectively slow down practices and reduce the dental offices’ limit, thus treating fewer patients.

Many dentists need to take a step back and accept that their assistants can perform specific treatments and duties on their own. Not only will this help reduce the responsibilities dentists have, but it will also increase the number of patients that your practice can treat in a day.

So, rather than trying to run your entire practice by yourself, rely on the other professionals on your team. You can increase your profit margins by leveraging the skills of your dental assistants.

Dental assistants can complete cleanings, take x-rays, and apply sealants alongside their other tasks. It will help reduce dentists’ responsibilities and increase patient capacity. That way, a dentist will only need to be involved when it comes to completing a treatment plan, performing mandatory and elective procedures, and more.

Be sure to hold staff training before giving your assistants their new duties; training will ensure that staff members understand their new duties before putting them into effect.

5. Better Your Accounting & Bookkeeping

Much to many dentists’ surprise, their dental practices are earning more profits than they expected. But, these profits are being distributed to cover other unnecessary costs, thus reducing their practice profits. A financial plan can help.

Take a close look at your accounts and books to find ways to increase revenue. Many dental practices often overspend on supplies or dental insurance. While these costs may seem minimal, they can greatly impact the amount of money your dental practice earns and keeps.

If you are struggling to find costs that you could reduce or eliminate, seek help from a professional accountant. An accountant that specializes in the dental industry can evaluate your books according to industry standards, offer suggestions, and help revise your strategies to save more money.

What Does A Successful Dental Practice Look Like?

If you’re looking at it from a cynical perspective, the most successful dental practice is the one with the most revenue production. And in a way, that’s correct. But if your dental practice is set up to maximize income above patient experience, for example, by purchasing cheap equipment and rushing patients out the door, you’ll end up losing money in the long run when customers don’t come back.

The most successful dental practices focus on a balance between the values of outstanding customer service, efficient practice management, and unique marketing strategies. Quality service lies at the heart of any successful dental practice; without proper dental care, you will not be able to establish a reliable patient base, which is the most important factor for continued success.

Attracting New Patients

One of the hardest questions for a new dental practice owner is how to attract new patients. The first step is to ensure patients can find you. For this purpose, your website and social media platforms are key. Maintaining an easy-to-find, well-organized website with content that clearly describes the services you offer will let your potential patients know exactly what to expect. Including a straightforward portal for booking online appointments will also create easy pathways for a new patient to engage with.

Once you’ve received an appointment booking or two, the next step is providing an exceptional patient experience. Friendly service and effective treatment speak for themselves and are the number one reason why a patient returns for recurring business. Once you have a reliable network of existing patients, encourage patient referrals by offering a contest or handing out referral cards. If the patient experience is appropriately friendly and professional, your patient base will begin to expand by itself.

Efficient Practice Management

Once your practice is more established, it’s time to start looking for ways you can improve on your existing systems. Developing effective leadership strategies and efficient managing systems will help your practice provide better dental services, save money, and foster a culture of improvement within the office.

Dentists are required to juggle many roles within a dental office and are not necessarily suited for the task of office management. Identify potential leaders within your team or hire a qualified applicant to manage instead. Hiring or training a skilled employee for office management and scheduling will free up hours for dentists to visit patients. Creating such a role will also provide a new perspective to review your current dental systems.

It’s important to frequently check your booking, scheduling, and payment systems to see if there is any potential to improve the communication network in your office. Many brands of online software can drastically reduce the amount of bureaucratic red tape around scheduling and paperwork that cuts into your valuable hours. Ask your team for opinions on where to start – they’re the ones who deal with the existing system.

By consistently implementing new systems and encouraging feedback from your team, you can create a culture of improvement that will motivate employees to search for new solutions.

Financial Management Strategies

The most basic rule of any business is “you need to spend money to make money,” and a dental practice is no exception. Remember, patient satisfaction is the most important factor for success. Frequently research the newest oral health technologies, upgrade your office every few years, and train your team to make sure your company is always providing cutting-edge oral care.

Since dental care is often quite expensive, your patients will also appreciate flexible financing options. Not everyone can afford dental insurance and will hesitate to visit the dentist as a result. By offering monthly payment options, partnering with local social programs, or accepting third-party credit, you can open up your dental practice to a lot of thankful patients.

Lastly, consider setting up an automated payment system with billing software. Processing insurance claims and calling former patients can eat away at your valuable schedule. Automated billing can help remove the headache and streamline the appointment process for dentists and patients alike.

Be Unique & Professional

Even if you have an established patient base and efficient management system, that hardly makes your practice stand out from hundreds of other practices. It’s important to identify what makes your practice unique and to effectively communicate that to your target audience.

One of the first steps you can take is to identify potential services you offer that your competitors don’t. Highlighting these services in your marketing strategy is an easy way to distinguish yourself from the dental practice down the street. However, many dental practices offer similar treatment options and there aren’t many services you can provide that would really excite your patients. Sure, you could offer free ice cream, but it’s important that you remain professional too; patients need to be confident in their dentist’s abilities above all else.

Connect With Community Members

The best way to shine the spotlight on your dental practice is to engage with local communities. Potential patients are more likely to trust a business with a friendly, professional identity. You can communicate your personality by maintaining a presence and answering questions on your website or social media platforms. Attending local events where you can promote your brand and introduce yourself to your neighbours is also a valuable marketing strategy.

However, don’t get caught up in marketing. Make sure you ask your patients how they are doing, what their family has been up to, and make an effort to take an honest interest in your patient’s lives. Sincere, professional communication is the best way to make your practice stand out by encouraging a culture of safety and comfort. A new patient is looking for a comfortable environment as much as an effective treatment when they’re considering a referral, second appointment, or leaving a review.

Final Thoughts

Overall, a successful dental practice is built from a core of quality service. As a dentist, making sure your oral health care treatments are safe and effective is the number one priority. Then, by optimizing your office management, engaging with your patients, and making your business stand out, your dental practice will reach new levels of success. Try out our strategies today!