Dentrix Profitability Coaching Case Study

Recognizing a Need to Understand the Business

Dr. Modesto had a previous employee who took care of everything on the administrative side, but when that employee left, Dr. Modesto realized she’d been so focused on the clinical side that she didn’t know a lot about the business side of her practice.

It was eye-opening to see what needed to be improved. “Aging reports were my number one challenge. Recall was another one,” she said. She realized that she needed help to understand and improve her business.

To guide her through the process, Dr. Modesto turned to Dentrix Profitability Coach Ginger Wills, a dental industry professional for more than 19 years, who helps practices be more profitable by using key performance indicators from essential reports.

When Ginger met with the office the first time, she analyzed their situation to give them tailored advice. For one thing, they weren’t maximizing Treatment Planner. They were also struggling with high credit balances and had a high percentage of over-90-day claims.

Expert Advice Led to Big Improvements

To avoid the change process being overwhelming, Ginger broke down goals into manageable tasks, with assignments to work on before the next meeting.

Bella Smile’s profitability coach also helped them understand how to use Dentrix better to improve recall, among other things. Office Manager Brittany Johnson notes, “We thought our hygiene was good when we started at 61 percent. When we finished, we were at about 92 percent. It was a huge improvement.” Being able to consult with an expert in this and other areas directly led to the practice increasing from 900 active patients before coaching to 2,100 after.

Resolving Issues

The Bella Smile team went through several coaching sessions over 12 months. In addition to Ginger, a Henry Schein One trainer worked with the front desk, helping to boost their confidence in asking for payment and increasing cash flow.

One of Brittany’s assignments was to resolve accounts on a 27-page aging report, which she decreased to seven pages, with only one page of active claims. Dr. Modesto worked to resolve mistaken patient credits, a report with more than 32 pages with at least 50 patients on a page.

Ginger noticed the hard work of the entire staff and its positive impact on profitability. She observed, “The over-90 claims decreased significantly. The office also updated the status of patients who had not been in the practice in the last 18 months. Through their efforts, Bella Smile’s accounts receivable decreased from $31,754 to $7,149 by the end of the program.”

Along with these improvements, everyone felt much more confident using Dentrix. Brittany noted that, “There’s so much that you can do in Dentrix that it could be a little overwhelming. We can use the software better now.” For instance, an assistant created templates for every procedure, and the office also attaches fee schedules in advance. Dr. Modesto appreciates the improvements in these and other workflows so she can focus on patients during visits instead of the computer.

“Bella Smile’s over-90-day claims decreased significantly (going from a 27-page to a seven-page report, with only one of those pages active claims). AR also decreased from $31,754 to $7,149.”

Ginger Wills,
Dentrix Profitability Coach

Exceeding Goals

That improved focus on patient care has led to a busy schedule. “It is very rare to have an opening now,” Brittany said. “Ginger taught us that if hygiene is full, the doctor’s schedule will be full. Now both are very full.”

She continued, “We are cutting back on days we’re open, and we’re still exceeding goals. We’re scheduling correctly. We’re sharing the knowledge from our profitability coaching with others on the team. The patients are coming back and retention is wonderful.”

Dr. Modesto agrees, “We know that we can work smarter now.” But, she notes, “If a doctor thinks this is going to create a miracle — no, it’s a lot of work. You have to get involved. There’s no way for a practice to be successful if everyone doesn’t care.” The Dentrix Profitability Coaching program helped everyone, from the dentist to the front desk, to be more committed to its success.

“Working with our profitability coach Ginger was a huge value.” Brittany summarized. “She actually cared. If you want to learn and grow, if you care about your patients, I would strongly recommend going through the Profitability Coaching program.” Dr. Modesto added, “I would definitely strongly recommend it. We’re very happy.”

STRATEGIC PRACTICE GROWTH SIMPLIFIED

Every dental practice wants to grow and be more profitable, but growth brings with it some real challenges and risks that must be addressed. If not, practices face real logistical challenges and potential service disruptions when deploying new computers, network equipment and digital imaging systems at new locations.

As Perkinson and Associates adds its tenth office location this year, Henry Schein and TechCentral solutions will be essential to helping the Perkinson team address growth–associated challenges. With TechCentral providing much of its IT support, Perkinson has simplified the logistics of bringing new offices online, delivering the seamless site–to–site interconnectivity that the practice needs.

“With so many locations, we have a different model than most practices,” Roberts says. “It can be a real challenge to figure out the best way to provide digital services to all locations, all hosted from servers located in one office. Henry Schein's team and TechCentral solutions provide a methodical approach to ensuring that everything works together. As we've expanded our operations over the years, TechCentral solutions helped us to grow strategically and continually provide improved patient care.“

This case study is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or professional advice. You should not act on the basis of any material contained herein without obtaining proper legal or other professional advice specific to your situation as needed. The views expressed by the individuals or other third parties herein are those of the individuals or third party and not, necessarily, of Henry Schein One, LLC. Certain components of the products may be provided by third parties. Henry Schein One, LLC, and its affiliates are not responsible for, and expressly disclaim, all liability for damages of any kind arising out of the use of those third-party products or services.