When most dentists think of production and profitability, the focus tends to be on the attraction of new patients. More new patients equals more profits, right? Not necessarily. The patient retention rate is actually more closely correlated with profitability. This is because attracting new patients is expensive. Patient retention is the key to healthy profits. In this video, Dr. John Meis and Dr. Jason Howell talk about simple patient retention strategies to put into place to make sure patients stay happy and keep coming back.

A budget is merely a measurement of financial success and it’s instrumental in achieving your financial goals.Too often, dental entrepreneurs don’t evaluate their financial results beyond measuring whether there is money in the bank to cover the bills. If there is a more strategic approach, it is generally in the form of measuring financial results against historical results, typically the prior month or prior year.

In this episode of The Strategic Thinker, Spark founders Heather Driscoll and Dr. John Meis lay out some strategies for increasing the effectiveness of company culture, environment, and communication in a dental organization. Research shows that company culture directly impacts the value of an enterprise, so it’s important to put these key cultural assets into place.

In this video, Dr. Jason Howell and Dr. John Meis discuss several strategies dentists can use to increase their production (without needing to bring in new patients). These are specific processes any doctor can use to help them produce more, earn more, and provide better care by helping patients move forward with the treatment they need.

Now more than ever, knowing your cash burn is crucial to surviving uncertainty. Dentistry has been a rather unique industry in that it has traditionally been insulated from economic downturns. Dental organizations, particularly those with a healthy hygiene program have proven to survive during recessionary periods, evidenced by the financial collapse of 2008. Although full cosmetic dentistry practices suffered a bit, those practices that focused on traditional “bread and butter” dentistry survived and even thrived.