|
|
Funding Your Retirement Through Effective Practice Management
When I consult with dental practices, I often find that many doctors do not have a dental practice business plan for the year. I also find systems within the practice that are under-performing. It is precisely in the lack of planning, setting goals and having practice systems fine-tuned to perform at productive levels that retirement dollars are lost to the practice every year. These are dollars that could be produced and collected if the doctor and staff knew where to look and what to do.
Dental Practice Business Plan
A business plan for the dental practice defines all the important practice numbers. A new plan should be put together every year as the practice changes and has different financial needs. The business plan should include: the number of work days for the year; production and collection goals for the day, month and year; a competitive balance of fees; and a budget for overhead expenses. All of these numbers are put together in a way that will meet the financial goals of the doctor, including the doctor’s income, retirement contributions, practice overhead expenses and capital improvements.
A team cannot know if they are meeting goals unless goals are defined, monitored and discussed. Also, something cannot be improved unless it can be measured. Being able to measure goals will provide more accurate data to the doctor and staff to make adjustments throughout each month and year that are necessary to reach the practice goals.
When goals are not defined, shared with the team, worked toward, or monitored and discussed as a team, the additional profit needed for retirement contributions can get lost.
Practice Systems
Practice systems are the frameworks in which teams need to function. Be sure to have fine-tuned systems in your practice for: new patients, scheduling, collections, treatment tracking, internal marketing and patient satisfaction, and monitoring practice goals. These systems determine the amount of dentistry a team can produce and collect each day. If these systems are not well developed and used, new patients, production, collections and future treatment will be lost each day. It is in this loss that retirement dollars escape being picked up.
How Many Dollars Escape?
You would be surprised at how it all adds up. For example, when goals are worked toward with excellent scheduling and collecting methods to produce and collect an extra $250 a day, 16 days a month, this equates to an additional $48,000 in production per year!
It is well worth the investment of the doctor's time and effort to put a business plan together and have good systems to work with in the practice. If you would like assistance in accomplishing these ideas in your practice, a practice management consultant can help you define financial goals, put together a business plan, improve your current practice systems and coach your team to success to help you find your retirement dollars year after year! Don't leave those untapped dollars behind anymore! Find them to fund retirement plans for yourself and your staff!
|
|