The desire for a successful endodontic practice is universal among all endodontists, regardless of any other factor. However, the priorities or methods that go into practice success can vary depending on certain factors. An easy example is age of the doctor. Younger doctors have different priorities than older doctors.
As a coach, one factor that does make a real difference in doctor priorities is women endodontists. Women are often juggling home and family responsibilities in combination with (and sometimes in competition with) their practice responsibilities.
Here are some tips that can add up to a big improvement in the lives of women endodontists. Again, these can equally apply to any practice owner, but in my experience, they tend to be prioritized higher for women.
- Have a professionally trained office manager who you trust completely, and who is enthusiastically aligned to your vision and goals for the practice.
A great office manager understands the business of the practice and can strategize independently and lead the team to carry out your goals without a lot of intervention required by you. - The first patient of the day should be seated and ready for you when you are ready to begin. That means if your day starts at 8:00 am, your first patient should be in the practice before that and have completed all their paperwork and initial process with your dental assistant so you can start on time without waiting.
Starting on time is the first step to staying on schedule and not falling behind or being stressed during the day. - Have a scheduling template that is designed to support same-day emergency appointments … especially in the afternoon. This is essential to be able to accommodate emergency patients while still allowing the doctor and team to finish and leave the practice on time.
Protecting family time is vital, and if all treatment slots are full before the day starts, an emergency case is going to result in the doctor and team running late and leaving late. - Balance the number of days you need to work with your level of productivity on a daily basis. With higher daily productivity, you can reduce your time in the practice with the same results (or better). For example, a doctor working 5 days per week and completing 20 cases (average doctor) can reduce to 4 days per week if their clinical team improves efficiency and can complete 5 cases per day.
The impact of this is powerful in many ways, including days per week, hours per day, and vacation time per year. If a doctor can add two cases per day, they really open up a lot of flexibility and opportunities for free time while increasing their income. - Delegate to your assistants. Doctors should primarily do what a doctor is legally required to do. As much as possible, train your assistants to cover everything else.
A huge time saver that prevents doctor from having to take a lot of work home is to have assistants prep treatment notes and referral reports as the day is proceeding. This can be templated and then the doctor simply reviews, tweaks and signs off.
- Finally, respecting that women doctors are also often taking the lead in childcare, there will inevitably be unplanned situations when the doctor must be absent on short notice (for example, a sick child at home or being called to the school unexpectedly). Make sure your team has a rock-solid process and excellent verbal skills to smoothly reappoint scheduled patients when needed.
What makes a practice really “work” for any doctor is often found in the little details. These details add up and snowball to ideally support the way the doctor wants to work, the team environment that enables them, and their vision for the practice.
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