Treasure Discovered at ADA

The 152nd session of the American Dental Association is in full swing in Las Vegas. While shopping around the floor for what’s new and helpful to my clients I was able to come across a few helpful tips from some industry leaders. Here is what I found:

Dr. Lorne Lavine directed me to his favorite Intraoral camera, The Claris i4D, by Sota. This camera has the best resolution and is compatible with your practice management software for a reasonable price. The ADA special is $2,750.

I have always liked Sidekick by Infostar. Click here for their website. This patient education system is interactive and converts from English to Spanish. It is now tablet friendly which means you can use it on your iPad! I am really in love with the use of an iPad in your dental office.

Speaking of iPad use, Chase Health Advance Financing options now has an app for patient financing from the chair on your portable tablet. They also offered an excellent Social Networking resource entitled, Getting Started with Social Media. Contact Chase at 1-888-388-7633 to request this well written resource guide and ask about the Facebook connector to Chase’s financing options.

For patient loyalty rewards, Loyal Patients, Inc. continues to improve the level of gifts and discounts on hotel, travel and shopping that can be given to your patients for referrals (in states that allow this) and for good patient behavior such as keeping appointments as scheduled. They have additionally added a feature that enables your patient to email their friends directly from their reward site touting this reward program to their friends! Loved that! Gary Serota can be reached at garys@loyalpatientsinc.com.

I further explored the scientific nature of Onset anesthesia buffer by Onpharma and found that it is given a 4 1/2 star rating by The Dental Advisor. (a 92% clinical rating in 394 uses) Contact Onpharma for an Introductory Special at 800-347-1330.

Lastly, one year ago, I discovered Isolite systems. Isolite Systems ends the tongue wars, eliminates shadows, provides uninterupted hands-free aspiration and frees your assistant for other things. All that, and it speeds up procedures by 30 percent, so you can go home early or see enough patients to earn $85K more per year. Are you feeling the love?

Signing off from Las Vegas for now. Going to see Donny and Marie…

Enlightening

I love Las Vegas. The lights, the variety of things to do. The lights. We can see the strip from our living room window and we keep the curtain open all night long just because it is beautiful to see the lights from this city that never sleeps.

I am in Las Vegas for the annual meeting of the ADMC. It is a membership group of the brightest dental consultants in the country. We reconnect and become one in this beautiful place. Many would say that the number of smiles from this group of practice management consultant would light up a room. Like the lights here in Vegas.

A few light bulbs went on in my first few days here. Here’s a summary of what is enlightening for your practice.

First day Members Only at ADMC:

From Linda Harvey, I learned that every dentist should be sure to check their malpractice coverage and be sure that it includes protection against cyber risk and administrative complaints. We also learned from a panel of risk management specialists including Mary Govoni, that the High Tech Act, which many are aware of, has no mandate and there is presently no way to enforce paper-free charting. The 2012 date will come and go. Medicare and Medicaid are offering incentives to submit every claim electronically. But there appears to be a slow approach to completely converting to paper free charting.

From Cindy Ishimoto, we learned that there is an early onset anesthesia that is a game changer in the scheduling of patients. Onset® anesthesia, using a revolutionary, patented device, combines or buffers the anesthetic with sodium bicarbonate. This strikes the perfect Ph balance in the body resulting in a pain-free injection which acts rapidly. See what people are saying about it here. No More Need for the dentist to wait for anesthesia to set in. Much more can be accomplished in a day because the dentist is not having to wait for anesthesia to work!

From Dr Charles Blair, we saw a new software program called PracticeBooster® which is the CDT in a user friendly format. Any procedure can be called up online with descriptions, visual examples of the procedure and what to include to insure best coverage for the patient. He is offering a test drive so if you would like to see it, then contact me for the sign in information.

We heard from guest speaker, Bill Rancic, of The Apprentice. He spoke on the subject of Innovation and Leadership. Several pointers from Bill Rancic include;

The world has changed, you must change. It’s the key to succeeding. He saw his Cigar of the Month Club take a nose dive when the .com boom occurred. He resisted that it would affect his business and lost it because he was unwilling to accept that the world had changed.

Be the conductor. Like an orchestra conductor. Don’t believe that you have to know how to do everything yourself. Surround yourself with excellent people and trust them to do a good job. Hire people who are decisive, creative and have a never make excuses mindset. And remember, the role of the owner is to never bury their potential.

ADMC’ers are a fun crowd. In addition to several great parties, I also met Dr. Howard Farran of Dentaltown and Dr. Mark Duncan of LVI. Watch for future posts coming from the ADA.

We’re still in Vegas…

To Facebook or not to Facebook? That is the question.

In a previous blog we shared ways to expand your word of mouth referrals by using Facebook. In the last two weeks, Jamison Consulting has been able to share tips for finding a great dentist. I hope it helps you and your practice. What is the use of having a Facebook business page if you are not going to promote it or if you don’t have anyone “Liking” your page? Having a successful business page doesn’t take luck, just a little old fashion planning and promoting. Below are a few tips to help you obtain a successful business page. 1.  After setting up your business page, the first goal should be to obtain a simple username or simple URL that will be recognizable for your brand.  The default URL that Facebook gives you is a long string of letters, numbers and characters that is not easy for people to remember and it is not attractive to use on promotional or advertising material. Once your business page obtains 25 “Likes”, you can request a username of your choosing at http://www.facebook.com/username.  Your username should reflect your industry or company name for brand recognition. If the name you select is already taken, then select another one that will set you apart from your competition. Once you have obtained your unique username / simple URL, you are ready to promote your Facebook page on your website, business cards and advertising material. 2.  You may be asking - “How  do I get those first 25 “Likes” to get a unique simple user name?” One solution is to encourage existing Facebook friends and colleagues to “Like” your company business page. Administrators of business pages can suggest or recommend the page to their entire friends list or a select few of their Facebook friends. The link is in the top right section of the page and says “Suggest to Friends”. Once a person “Likes” the page, they can promote your business page on their wall by selecting “Share” from the left column on your page. If you wish to maximize word of mouth marketing, use Facebook. If you found these tips useful, please follow me at:www.facebook.com/laurajamisonconsulting. The tips this week were submitted by Lori Piencykoski of Netco Design. Follow Lori at: www.facebook.com/NetcoDesign.

Find your Social Networking “Voice”

Social networking is an essential part of staying in touch. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and  blogging enable today’s business owners to expand their relationships with their consumers. This isn’t extraordinary to know. It just makes sense that your business can benefit from the interaction, as well as the credibility that comes from having a following. Facebook is the easiest place to start. So that you can increase the number of patients (customers) that are following what you do, here are a few easy tips (in case you missed this in my enewsletter) to get started:

1. You can easily contact all of your patients via email to invite them to “Like” your business page. Contact me or ask a FB savvy friend to show you this simple process.
2. Talk about Facebook with your patients. Regularly invite them to “Like” your business and watch for special offers.
3. Include your Facebook enrollment URL in your email signature to make it easy for patients to quickly link and connect.
4. Promote your FB page on all printed materials. This should be used as consistently as you use your logo on all letters, postcards, business cards, brochures, and post-operative instructions.
5. Remember who your biggest fans really are. The Moms in your practice are the ones making appointments for their children and husbands. They are lunching with their friends. And many of them are posting on Facebook. So take good care of your Moms!

Dentistry has a Heart Month

Did you know that heart disease is the number one killer of women? Not breast cancer, not car accidents. Heart disease. One in two women will die of cardiovascular disease. Dental patients will be interested in knowing that their untreated periodontal disease causes the C-Reactive Protein (CRP) from the liver to become elevated. This increases the plaque deposited in the arteries which creates clots and blockages. The oral systemic link is something that can be brought to your patient’s attention by simply promoting Dentistry has a Heart month in February.

My mother had a heart attack several days ago. I was passionate about the dentist’s role in helping their patients become knowledgeable about the effect of inflammation before. Heart disease is preventable for many. You can help your patients. For ideas on how to promote the oral systemic link go to www.dentistryhasaheart.com.

I wish to thank all my friends and peers for their well wishes during my mom’s recovery. There is still more healing to occur. I will keep you posted.

Are We Having Fun Yet?

OMG! I was invited to go to Zappos.com headquarters outside Las Vegas today. Tracy Guerrera, office manager extraordinaire, of Dr. Gregory Langston’s office, and I made the trek out to their main call center. Upon arrival, we were impressed before entering the building. No huge sign. The taxi driver wasn’t sure we were in the right place. Until….. we saw a parking lot filled with tents and shoe vendors. Our visit started with an educational experience. We learned about hiking boots. Vendors set up tents to demonstrate their product for all of the Zappos employees in the parking lot. Employees on a break were streaming from tent to tent reviewing the new product. How often do you bring in product reps to teach your team about what’s new?

Receptionist offers bottled water and energy drinks.

In a non-descript building, we walked through the front doors to find a Halloween themed reception desk. We were offered bottles of water and waited for our tour. While waiting we noticed bookshelves filled with well known books on the subject of customer service. Our tour group consisted of 15 people, mostly employees of a local company on a field trip. I was already enthralled by what I already knew about the Zappos culture. To know more about Zappos, check them out online. The most well known feature of their company is the culture. The most important message delivered throughout the tour was that the culture focuses on “customer loyalty” which is more profound than “ customer service.”

Tracy working as a member of the team

Teams select themes for their grouping.

Every aspect of the tour through the call center was refreshing and FUN!! Cubicles were decorated to match employee’s personalities and teams had theme rooms for their meetings. How many dentists allow their team to decorate their employee lounge?

Staff meeting room (Each had different theme)

Business books for employees AND tour participants! Raving Fans included.

The tour began and ended in front of a book case. Well known books on customers service including, Blink, Tipping Point, Raving Fans and Good to Great. Upon arrival, I understood that it was a lending library for employees. Upon departure, we learned the books were available for our taking as well. As long as we paid it forward. Incredible. Trust, encouragement and genuine interest in employee’s well being = incredible customer loyalty. What keeps you from having fun at work? It pays incredible dividends.

One wall covered with bedsheets for written suggestions

Appreciation notes for employees

Bye for now- off to the AADOM meeting

Lazy days of summer

Summer has flown by. Baseball keeps my family busy and this summer has been no exception. Wil’s team earned a spot in the state championship tournament and that’s where they finished their little league career. His team practiced every day that they were not playing in a tournament. Batting cages, drills, fielding practice. Even scrimmage games. That took much of my time this summer but when they played practice games and made errors, it occurred to me, “This is why we scrimmage.”

Several dentists that I have spoken with had a rough July. It seemed that the schedule really slowed down. My suggestion is to scrimmage when you see those holes in your schedule. Don’t put your head in the sand. Don’t be lazy about your practice’s results. Determine what your weaknesses are and role play. Rehearse. Be sure that your phone is answered professionally. Enhance your new patient’s experience. Look for patients who are seated and tell them you appreciate their loyalty. Ask for referrals. And if you need help with any of the above, call me.

Don’t let the lazy days of summer get you down. Let it be the break that you need to truly accomplish something that you have put off because your patient schedule kept you busy.

Lost?

I am still in awe of the TV show Lost. I will miss it. If you are one of the millions of fans that watched the final show of the TV series, Lost, then you may be like me. I loved the story. I found myself frustrated and bored by some of it but the story was always compelling, rewarding and worth coming back to.

In the final show, we had closure on many questions. Yet, the series allowed us to hold on to the belief that life is a process. It is a journey. When it comes to dental management I always encourage my clients by reminding them that success is not the end of the process but enjoyment in the process itself.

My enewsletters continue to give you rewarding tips on the practice of dental management. This week’s newsletter is filled with topics and headlines for writing email newsletters. Write your story and allow your patients to know you better and enjoy your dental family. The newsletter does not have to go out via email frequently but they can be compelling, rewarding and worth coming back to. To sign up for Jamison Consulting’s biweekly newsletter go to www.jamisonconsulting.com and sign up.

This blog is just part of the story.

Sometimes the news is not good

What to do when the news surrounding you is not good? Several people close to me have endured some catastrophic events recently. It is hard to know what to say, what to do. The only thing I can come up with is to listen to your heart and ask others for their advice.

One of my friends lost her 7 year old daughter two weeks ago. After a brave battle with cancer, little Hannah, died on March 19, 2010. Her mom is a woman of great faith. It is her belief that Hannah is in heaven and having faith has helped her through this difficult time. It’s a strong guide - faith. Do you have faith in your life? Belief in something bigger than yourself. Do you believe that you are working in order to give testimony to that faith. It can move mountains.

My sister-in-law and my brother are currently awaiting surgery on my 4 year old niece’s arm. A fluke fall has led to a catastrophic injury. Dr. Walker in Boston is operating today to examine the extent of necrotic tissue and to see if little Lucy will be able to keep her arm. My sister-in-law sought out the very best in the specialty for Lucy’s care. Seeking out advice gives reassurance. Do you seek out the very best advice for the troubling issues facing you? Why go it alone?

Troubled times lead to asking for help. Have faith that you will find the right person to help you.

Boom Boom Pow

I was supposed to be with my client and friends in New Jersey tonight. Weather dealt the northeast a Boom Boom Pow. So a girlfriend and I scooped some tickets on the street and went to see the Black Eyed Peas. Wow! It is always amazing to watch performances that are so well orchestrated. This was an awesome visual and experiential concert.

The weather has dealt many dentists a blow this week. Days are coming and going with no patients on the schedule.  If your schedule has lots of time available already, then you may have just discovered how you are able to be more productive in fewer days. Every scenario leaves an opportunity. On a day when patients are unable to be seen, get some practice. The Black Eyes Peas delivered a highly professional, jaw dropping product. It takes practice. If your weather prevents travel, use the internet to find seminars on www.dentaledu.tv. Assign different seminars to individual employees. Share best notes with one another by instant messaging or perhaps a conference call (arranged by the phone company). Remember, the weather doesn’t have to leave you feeling helpless.

Tonight’s going to be a good, good night…. ooh, hoo.