The 5 Components to a Successful Practice

Episode #361 with Dr. Len Tau

Do you want to be the person who loves going to work every day? With a few changes to your thinking, you can! In today’s crossover episode, Kirk Behrendt and Dr. Len Tau talk about the five components you need to achieve a better practice and better life. A successful practice doesn't have to mean long hours, drama in the office, and no work-life balance! To find out how to overcome these challenges you may have, listen to Episode 361 of The Best Practices Show!

Main Takeaways:

Create a plan and stick to it.

Have a function accountability chart.

Use metrics and data.

Surround yourself with the right people.

Be clear about your core values.

Have systems and checklists for everything.

Quotes:

“You don't have any rules. You can set your own rules. You don't have to go into insurance if you don't want to. You can do anything you really want when it comes to your dental practice. But it’s amazing to me, over the years, how many people have not wanted to go into solo practice, and they wanted to join a group practice, they wanted to join a DSO, they wanted to be an associate. They don't want the freedoms that dental practice ownership allows.” (7:11—7:35)

“Yes, running a dental practice is not the easiest thing. You have patient issues, you have money issues, you have staff issues. There are so many complexities to running the business. But it gives you the freedom that most professions don't give you.” (7:35—7:47)

“Everybody’s got to have a plan, an “A” plan, your one-page strategic plan.” (17:36—17:41)

“You're going to run into what's called the ceilings of complexity, Dan Sullivan called that years ago, where you just can't do any more. And what you have to do as an entrepreneur is you've got to make them simple again. Now, “simple” is not “easy.” It’s not. Simple requires thinking. It requires all of this. And on your plan, when you're thinking about your future as a dentist, it’s got to be thought out really well.” (19:22—19:42)

“There's never, ever, ever, ever, ever a reason to see a patient after 5:00. You can't give me one. Because if you see a patient after 5:00, that screams to me you don't give patients a good enough reason to come in the hours before 5:00, which screams to me also you don't value what you do.” (23:01—23:19)

“You've got to have metrics. You've got to have KPIs (key performance indicator).” (25:20—25:23)

“You're never looking for perfect. You're just looking for progress.” (26:48—26:51)

“We don't have to be perfect. It’s called dental practice for a reason — because you don't have to be perfect at it.” (27:24—27:29)

“What's your PPV (production per visit) as a practice? You already know what it is. So, if it’s $421 an hour, we’re going to go to $435. It’s not about money. A lot of times, it’s about scheduling. It’s about being a little bit more efficient. When you go over to $435, it has a dramatic impact to the rest of the formula.” (29:49—30:09)

“A second [leading indicator to know] would be number of visits a dental practice has in a month, whether it be through hygiene, doctor, whatever. If you have 310, we go to 325. You're now multiplying those two numbers, which has an exponential impact on the outcome. (30:09—30:25)

“It’s very important to know your gross and net collections percentage. People always say, ‘Well, my collections are 100%.’ Well, you're collecting 100% of what you could collect. But I really want to know the discrepancy between what your gross production is and your actual collections, because that tells me everything. Because you might be at 99% or 102%. That's awesome. But what you don't know is that your real collections percentage is 66%, which means you write off a third of all...