I asked Dr. Suzanne Ebert to share the horror stories and what she’s seen go wrong when dentists buy and sell practices. My listeners need to know the dark side, not just the rah rah moments. Dr. Ebert is with ADA Practice Transitions™ and has facilitated agreements with strange requirements (take my wife, please!) but also many that have been a positive life changer for families and communities. Even if you don’t think this is in your near future you never know what life has in store. I’d rather you be prepared so that you know, you can’t say nobody told you that!  😊

Full show notes on the podcast home page! https://nobodytoldmethat.libsyn.com/

Quotes

• “If anyone tells you that you do not need a lawyer, you should look for someone else to talk to.” 
• “2020 was not a good year for most dentists.” 
• “Understand your monthly budget, and YES have a monthly budget.” 
• “(Small towns) want that dental practice to stay open so badly, they will do almost anything.” 
• “A letter of intent done well will set the roadmap for the entire process.” 
• “That (uncredentialed) associate is not going to want to be doing hygiene all day long.”
• “If you are stuck doing hygiene focus on building those patient relationships because it will pay off in the long run.”

Links 

• https://www.adapracticetransitions.com/
• Blog: https://www.adapracticetransitions.com/blog

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Don’t forget to check out my other podcast Chew on This - A Dental Podcast! 

Also! Grab this Ebook that is completely free for you. 50+ pages of knowledge, checklists and job descriptions. Enjoy! 

Click here for the Prepare Protect Prosper eBook

**If you like the show then I’d appreciate a good rating. Tell your friends. Even podcasters ask for referrals!**

• Teresa’s Website- https://www.odysseymgmt.com/ (sign up for my newsletter!)
• Teresa’s Book Moving Your Patients to Yes! Easy Insurance Conversations

http://odysseymgmt.corecommerce.com/Book/ (use ‘newsletter’ for $3 off)

The post-COVID state of collections may surprise you - it’s better than I thought. Andy Cleveland is my guest and is known as the Dental Practice Ninja (hi-ya!). We chatted about collections protocols, small claims court and when to write off balances. Have you ever wondered if you should forgive a balance when a patient dies? What about if you run into a collections patient outside of the office? I always love talking about money and so does he. I hope this episode is helpful! 

Full show notes on the podcast home page! https://nobodytoldmethat.libsyn.com/

Quotes

• “1 in 3 Americans is in collections at any time.” 
• “The best way to fix your collections problem is to fix your insurance system problem.”
• “People beat themselves up trying to get to 98% collections, but sometimes it isn’t possible. Some people just are not going to pay.” 
• “They made more on unemployment than they did at her practice, why would they work?”
• “You don't have to treat everyone to 100% health if it is going to bankrupt you - it doesn't make sense.” 
• “Why are we always talking about insurance when that is only half of the market?”
• “Expect the best, but plan for the worst.” 

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Don’t forget to check out my other podcast Chew on This - A Dental Podcast! 

Also! Grab this Ebook that is completely free for you. 50+ pages of knowledge, checklists and job descriptions. Enjoy! 

Click here for the Prepare Protect Prosper eBook

Links 

Andy’s Info

864-517-2233

Website: Andy Cleveland’s Dental Practice Ninja Website

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AccountsReceivableNinja

LinkedIn: Andy Grover Cleveland - Patient Accounts Receivable Specialist - Business Consultant 

**If you like the show then I’d appreciate a good rating. Tell your friends. Even podcasters ask for referrals!**

• Teresa’s Website- https://www.odysseymgmt.com/ (sign up for my newsletter!)
• Teresa’s Book Moving Your Patients to Yes! Easy Insurance Conversations

http://odysseymgmt.corecommerce.com/Book/ (use ‘newsletter’ for $3 off)

Everyone has a few life rules that shape how they act, interact and react. One of my personal rules is that I wait 24 hours before making any big decisions or purchases. This can be very hard in a world with so much available instant gratification. I look back on some of the biggest decisions I’ve made and am thankful for this rule. I can think of a few big mistakes I would have made had I acted impulsively. 

 

I take this guideline and apply it to our workplace. Patients, coworkers and even faceless companies can push our buttons. Emotional decisions can have real consequences. Hopefully you don’t have to make huge ones too often but if you do, consider waiting 24 hours for clarity. 

 

Quotes

 

• “The advice I gave my son was to wait 24 hours before making a decision, because the first 24 hours is filled with emotion.” 
• “When you make emotional decisions, they may not be the best decisions made.” 
• “If you are going to come to your boss with a problem, it should not be focused on only you.” 
• “Lead with the idea of how it affects the practice.” 
• “It all comes back to patient care.” 
• For managers: “At the end of the day it is not our practice.As much as we feel it is, as much as we grew it, and even though our blood, sweat and tears went into the practice, it is not our practice.” 
• “I can’t have you love the practice more than the owner does.” 

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Also! Grab this Ebook that is completely free for you. 50+ pages of knowledge, checklists and job descriptions. Enjoy! 

 

Click here for the Prepare Protect Prosper eBook

 

Links 

 

**If you like the show then I’d appreciate a good rating. Tell your friends. Even podcasters ask for referrals!**

• Teresa’s Website- https://www.odysseymgmt.com/ (sign up for my newsletter!)
• Teresa’s Book Moving Your Patients to Yes! Easy Insurance Conversations

http://odysseymgmt.corecommerce.com/Book/ (use ‘newsletter’ for $3 off)

Why do we put up with them? I recently talked with a friend who routinely purges ‘bad’ patients from his practice. We both thought that more offices should do this. I wanted to share my thoughts on rogue patient management with you. Hope it helps.  Schedules full of awesome patients sound pretty good to me! 

 

Quotes

 

• “Imagine if you actually liked all your patients.” 
• “Think about it, how many patients do you have that bring out this high anxiety.” 
• “They have a philosophy where they only see patients they really really like.” 
• “Most of the time when someone has been a wack-a-doo on the phone, they have been a wack-a-doo in real life.” 
• “I understand they need a dental home, but it doesn’t have to be your dental home.”
• “I’ve learned over the years to trust my gut.” 
• “I’m not saying dump all your patients, I am saying dump the ones you don’t like.” 
• “If you are letting reviews hold you hostage then you are always going to be practicing defensively.” 

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Also! Grab this Ebook that is completely free for you. 50+ pages of knowledge, checklists and job descriptions. Enjoy! 

 

Click here for the Prepare Protect Prosper eBook

Links 

 

**If you like the show then I’d appreciate a good rating. Tell your friends. Even podcasters ask for referrals!**

• Teresa’s Website- https://www.odysseymgmt.com/ (sign up for my newsletter!)
• Teresa’s Book Moving Your Patients to Yes! Easy Insurance Conversations

http://odysseymgmt.corecommerce.com/Book/ (use ‘newsletter’ for $3 off)

Edie Gibson is a well-respected hygienist and a personal long-time friend. Although we met while educating about implants one of her personal passions has been to discuss addiction and mental health. I’ve learned over the years that just because someone is quiet and says they’re fine that it may not always be the case. 

At some point you’ll come across someone who needs help. I hope this helps you if you find yourself in similar situations. In the meantime, I’m sending hugs to you. Life can be hard but there is help available. 

Full show notes on the podcast home page! https://nobodytoldmethat.libsyn.com/

Quotes

• “We as human beings are not built, bred or created to be alone.”
• “Addiction is the inability to stop - regardless of negative consequences.” 
• “Thanksgiving through New Years is the prime time when depression kicks in for those who are using and abusing.”
• “Personal responsibility goes out the window, because their obsession takes over.” 
• “You can put your human heart on, and say this is a human being, who may need help.” 
• “Sometimes we want to be the little spoon!” 
• “It’s okay to not be okay, and it is okay to need help.” 
• “Know when enough is enough for you.” 
• “A brief intervention by a healthcare provider has been shown to help people seek treatment more often than not.” 

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Resources from the episode:

• Life's Healing Boundaries
• Boundaries  Drs. Cloud and  Townsend  
• Edie Gibson LinkedIn
• Edie's Website
• Charlie Mackesy's book
• COVID-19 Mental Health Resources from the ADA

Don’t forget to check out my other podcast Chew on This - A Dental Podcast! 

Links 

Download an Ebook that is completely free for you. 50+ pages of knowledge, checklists and job descriptions including the Dental Insurance Coordinator Mini-Guide. Enjoy! 

Click here for the Prepare Protect Prosper eBook

**If you like the show then I’d appreciate a good rating. Tell your friends. Even podcasters ask for referrals!**

• Teresa’s Website- https://www.odysseymgmt.com/ (sign up for my newsletter!)
• Teresa’s Book Moving Your Patients to Yes! Easy Insurance Conversations

My friend Kevin Henry joins me to illuminate the case of Dr. Seth Lookhart and his manager Shauna Cranford. You may know the doctor best as the Hoverboard dentist - he worked on patients while riding his hoverboard! I know! Hidden in the legal case documents are a bunch of texts between the doctor and manager. They showed just how they planned to get as much reimbursement as possible. Honestly, the hoverboard is the tamest part of the whole case. 

We took a little creative license and read the tweets in character. Ethical challenges exist in our daily dental lives. These texts are an example of ethics being thrown out the window. We hope it’s as educational for you as it was for us. 

Also! We wrote an Ebook that is completely free for you. 50+ pages of knowledge, checklists and job descriptions. Enjoy! 

Click here for the Prepare Protect Prosper eBook

Quotes

• “These text messages are something else.” 
• “Nothing deleted, is ever deleted.” 
• Dr Lookhart: “Let’s build a practice around it: Sedation. Let’s Medicaid it up!” 
• When doctors take blind advice from employees: “If someone tells you ‘oh it’s okay’ is it really?”
• Kevin reacts to his character statements: “I felt slimy saying that.” 
• New dental motto? “Grip and rip and make a denture.” 
• “Our patients don't know better and they trust us.” 
• Teresa is appalled: “Office Manager to Office Manager, shame on you.” 

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Resources from the episode:

• Article About Case: Hoverboard-Riding Dentist, Found Guilty of Fraud, Is Sentenced to 12 Years 
• Court Documents: State v. Seth Lookhart, Shauna Leigh Cranford, Lookhart Dental LLC Information 
• Chew On This Episode about Hoverboard Dentist

Links 

**If you like the show then I’d appreciate a good rating. Tell your friends. Even podcasters ask for referrals!**

• Teresa’s Website- https://www.odysseymgmt.com/ (sign up for my newsletter!)
• Teresa’s Book Moving Your Patients to Yes! Easy Insurance Conversations

http://odysseymgmt.corecommerce.com/Book/ (use ‘newsletter’ for $3 off)

Master communicator Katherine Eitel Beltshares different ways she coaches offices through difficult conversations. Whether it’s the team, doctor or the patient, you’ll have to deal with intense and surprising situations. Katherine has some great diffuser solutions. Her talk about setting your own boundaries really resonates with me. I have personal boundaries but what are my business ‘heck no’ lines in the sand? Check out Katherine for communication workshops - she’s popular for a reason!

 

Episode 69 Highlights 

• Executive Brain and Lizard Brains
• Practice Equals Mastery, Not Understanding 
• New Managers and Communications
• Coaching Models and Growth Culture 
• Vision, Missions or Driving Forces - what are they?

 

Quotes

 

• Regarding office culture and communication: “If they were a challenge for people before COVID, they are a full on fire now.” 
• “We are all hardwired for survival.”
• “I think there is a way to have conversations on your feet, feeling guided and confident.” 
• “We have amazing millennials working for us, and I don’t know what we would do without them. They bring so much to the plate.”
• “That old-school supervision model… has changed.”
• “Our goal is to have a breakthrough on whatever is holding them back.”
• “If you try to align a team with a vision they don’t understand, you will seem like the big bad manager.” 
• “You can be empathetic and still hold your line.” 
• “You can’t motivate your team if they are falling asleep during your presentation.” 

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Resources from the episode:

 

-Courageous Conversations On-Demand Workshop (released January 2020)

-Courageous Conversations Live Virtual Workshops 

-Vision Calibration Retreats (Virtual and live) 

Facebook  @lionspeak.net 

Twitter

LinkedIn = @lionspeak

Instagram = @lionspeak_communication

 

Links 

**If you like the show then I’d appreciate a good rating. Tell your friends. Even podcasters ask for referrals!**

• Teresa’s Website- https://www.odysseymgmt.com/ (sign up for my newsletter!)
• Teresa’s Book Moving Your Patients to Yes! Easy Insurance Conversations

http://odysseymgmt.corecommerce.com/Book/ (use ‘newsletter’ for $3 off)

The upcoming year is already looking remarkably busy on the insurance side. I wanted to give you three areas to watch that will affect your practice. Throughout the year I’ll keep you updated on this podcast and in my newsletter. I appreciate that you see me as a resource, and I will continue to monitor carrier and revenue cycle management news for the industry. Thanks for helping the podcast grow this past year – I very much appreciate you. Here’s to a fantastic 2021! 

 

Episode 68 talking points:

 

1. National Council of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) adopting the ADA’s recommendations for dental insurance guidelines. Covered topics:
2. 1. Network clarity
   2. Virtual credit cards as payment
   3. Ensuring that pre-authorizations are held accountable when treatment is performed 
   1. Lots of institutional opposition (hospitals and American Medical Association)
   2. Administrative burdens and concerns over lower provider fees are cited as reasons
   3. Judges are not so convinced: Why is an X-ray price 'unknowable?' (recent court case)
   4. Will it affect dental?
3. Legislation requiring pricing transparency in healthcare passed as part of the 2021 Budget Plan
   1. Overturns McCarran-Ferguson Act that removes antitrust restrictions from carriers
   2. Hopefully will encourage more competition in the carrier market 
   3. Did  insurance companies stop innovating because they didn’t need to? 
   4. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) predicts “more instability in the health insurance markets and, therefore, higher premiums.”
4. Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act 

 

>> Grab the 50+ page Ebook “Prepare, Protect and Prosper” here! Psst, it’s free 😊 

Resources from this episode:

• National Council of Insurance Legislators approves model dental benefits legislation
• Surprise Medical Bills Cost Americans Millions. Congress Finally Banned Most of Them.
• Surprise Medical Billing Fix Included in COVID Relief Bill
• AHA seeks emergency relief to block enforcement of price transparency rule
• Congress passes Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act
• Congress acts to restore competition to health insurance by removing 75-year-old antitrust exemption
• https://www.naic.org/documents/government_relations_201202.pdf
• Podcast episode discussing the Delta Dental lawsuits

 

Links 

 

**If you like the show then I’d appreciate a good rating. Tell your friends. Even podcasters ask for referrals!** 

 

• Teresa’s Website- https://www.odysseymgmt.com/ (sign up for my newsletter!) 
• Teresa’s Book Moving Your Patients to Yes! Easy Insurance Conversations (use ‘newsletter’ for $3 off)

This episode gets clinical but administrative folks need to know the why behind the treatment your doctor prescribes. Perio disease is linked to so many systemic ailments but did you know there are different bugs behind the disease? It’s why some patients respond well to SRP while others need more specific measures. We also discuss some of the conversations to have with your patients so they “get it.” Check out the graphics of these test results. Those alone are great education!  

 

Episode 67 Highlights 

• What Is Bacteria testing?
• The role of patient education
• Pets and periodontal disease
• Oral Systemic Link is more supported than ever
• Transmission of disease (even kissing!)

 

Quotes

• “Office managers make things happen in the office. They look at the numbers and see what's going on."
• "Let the patient know bleeding gums are not healthy. Healthy gums do not bleed." 
• Why we test: "By doing a culture it lets you know how bad the infection is." 
• "We never recommend or prescribe a Z-pak"
• "You can go in and scale all day and it wont touch P. Gingivalis." 
• "They can put dogs on an antibiotic before the appointment to reduce inflammation." 
• "A lot of us have put on the covid-19 (lbs)!"
• "Inflammation is everything."
• "I learned that perio disease was transmissible through kissing when I was single!"
• "Single people: your second date is a dental appointment." 
• "Do a bacterial test before the ultrasonic treatment and make sure they haven't been on an antibiotic for 6-8 weeks." 
• On new recommendations: "Let's come up with a different system to get you healthy." 

 

Links from the episode:

• CELL-TO-CELL COMMUNICATION – ORAL HEALTH AND SYSTEMIC HEALTH  Expert Version  
• Connect with MicrobeLinkDx on Instagram and Facebook
• Website: https://microbelinkdx.com/
• PDF that shows sample reports and information: http://www.ataleoftwohygienists.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/MicrobeLinkDx-Sample-Reports.pdf http://www.ataleoftwohygienists.com/listen/microbelinkdx-sample-report
• Medical billing resources
• • Links2Success: Dental Practice Consultant | Insurance & Billing
  • Insurance Billing Outsourcing, LLC – Experience Higher Revenue & Lower Stress

 

Order your free kits here and use Teresa10 as a promo code. You'll receive a courtesy off of your first testing order. I don't receive a kickback for this 🙂

Links 

**If you like the show then I’d appreciate a good rating. Tell your friends. Even podcasters ask for referrals!** 

• Teresa’s Website- https://www.odysseymgmt.com/ (sign up for my newsletter!) 
• Teresa’s Book Moving Your Patients to Yes! Easy Insurance Conversations (use ‘newsletter’ for $3 off)

Certified Fraud Examiner and good friend of the show Susan Gunn is back! She details the case of the Collin Street Bakery embezzlement. It was a small business with high revenues - sound familiar? Take the lessons from this case and do an assessment of your office. Are you at risk? To be honest, your practice is always at risk. What matters is how fast you find the shadiness. 

 

This thief was pretty eccentric. Did you know they made mattresses from horsehair? Who knew! 

 

Episode 66 Highlights 

• Money In, Money Out - Susan’s podcast
• Entitlement 
• Collin Street Bakery’s embezzlement case
• Horse hair mattress
• Evolution
• Steps you can take 

 

Quotes

 

• “Embezzlement is not limited to dentistry.”
• “Over 8 years He wrote 888 checks that totaled $16.6 million."
• Jaw dropper: “They bought a $40,000 horsehair mattress.” 
• Owning “gold bars is a next level thing.”
• “I think bringing in an outside auditor is one of the smartest things you can do as a small business owner.”
• “The most money an embezzler will take is at the end.”
• Sometimes this is true: “Lying can be common (among trusted employees)."

 

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Resources from the episode:

 

• Just Desserts - article about the case
• Discovering An Eight Year Long Scam | American Greed | CNBC Prime
• Collin Street Bakery | Collin Street Bakery
• ADA Survey: Employee Theft in the Dental Practice
• Horsehair mattress!
• Bernie Madoff - Movie, Sons & Ponzi Scheme
• Harry Markopolos's book on the Madoff case: No One Would Listen: A True Financial Thriller

 

Susan's Podcast:  Money In, Money Out - Financial Organization For Your Practice Susan's Website:  SusanGunnSolutions.com Susan's Book:  Money In, Money Out Available On Amazon  

Links 

**If you like the show then I’d appreciate a good rating. Tell your friends. Even podcasters ask for referrals!**

Teresa’s Website- https://www.odysseymgmt.com/ (sign up for my newsletter!)

Teresa’s Book Moving Your Patients to Yes! Easy Insurance Conversations

http://odysseymgmt.corecommerce.com/Book/ (use ‘newsletter’ for $3 off