How Do We Recession-Proof Our Practices?
Unless you have been on an island in the middle of nowhere, without communication with the world, you must know and feel a significant change in the global state of the economy. There are a few things we should do and a few things we shouldn’t do to help us through these times. I recently read a very good article taken from the “Broadcast Views” 2008 Fall addition of the Seattle Study Club (SSC) newsletter. I’d like to share some of their good advice.
- DON’T cut your fees. When economic times improve, you’ll find you devalued your treatment.
- DON’T stop investing in your practice. Continue to educate yourself and your staff on the latest clinical techniques and advances at seminars.
- DON’T let your patients go without a fight. Make sure all active patients are connected to the practice at all times with prebooked appointments.
- DON’T stop performing comprehensive oral exams. Yes, there may be more “repair verses complete work” done at this time, but we must still educate and inform our patients of their best oral health treatment.
- DON’T compromise your diagnostic philosophy. Be clear and confident.
- DON’T underestimate the power of asking for referrals.
- DO invest in technology. Buy technology that will pay off. If you believe in the American capitalistic system, the economy will bounce back. It always has.
- DO creative financing. Give patients a flexible and convenient way to pay for their treatment. It has been shown to increase treatment acceptance by 22%, regardless of the economy.
- DO hold regular team meetings. Make sure the team is involved in the understanding that a recession is a time to pull together collaboratively.
- DO analyze your break-even cash flow more than ever. Financial ownership assessment is mandatory in hard times.
I hope this bit of advice from our friends at the SSC is helpful in starting your new year off on a good foot, or should I say, on a good tooth. We have been blessed to live in a less “economically challenged” part of the country, but as many of us who have been here a while have seen; what goes up, will come down. But, I wouldn’t live anywhere else. Best to all in ‘09!
Wayne Radwanski, DDS
President CADS 2008-09
