Bulletin, November 2004

Exclusively to Clients and Friends
of Advanced Practice Management

The Rossi Dental Dow Jones—Third Quarter 2004:

Production was up 5.8% and Collections up 5.5% compared to the first 3 quarters of 2003.

Exams were up 2.4%, New Patients were down about 4%. Downtime in hygiene was up 6%. Downtime in the Doctor’s schedule was down 11%.

As usual our office received a fair number of calls in September from Dentists who were concerned about keeping their or the hygienists’ schedule full. This is a seasonal phenomenon. Our data shows that September is the biggest cancellation month of the year and one of the lowest hygiene months of the year. The Doctor’s schedule follows so late September and early October can be light for some Dentists. If your schedule seriously gapped out, this can be an opportunity to re-gear your and your staff’s effort to revitalize the practice. However, you can take some comfort in knowing that if you experienced lightness this last September, you were not alone.

Want Ad Counts

Average Sunday Want Ad Counts
# of Advertised Openings
Hygienists Assistants Front Desk
Sept ’02 10 29 10
Sept ’03 9 27 12
Sept ’04 6 10 6

As you can see from the graph, September openings for front desk and hygienist positions are down, and assistant positions are way down from the previous two years. To give you another perspective, in March 2002, the average number of Want Ad positions for hygienists was 23 (versus the current 6).

Statistical Snapshots/How Do You Compare?

Here are some additional statistics from our 9/04 Dental Dow Jones.

Production Per Hour Worked
Mean 5%tile 75%tile 95%tile
$432 $285 $506 $620
Hygiene Production Per Hour Worked
Mean 5%tile 75%tile 95%tile
$107 $76 $113 $137

Please note these are drawn from mature practices in our client database. Our clients are more productive than average as reflected in the ADA statistics. We will be updating those (the ADA statistics) for you in the not too distant future.

Your 2005 Calendar.

It’s not too early to begin your planning for 2005 now.

For starters lay out your vacation and Continuing Ed times. Ask the staff to synchronize their time off if possible. As I wrote you in a previous bulletin, when you are working you want to have the whole crew there and when you are not there, you want to avoid paying for make-work. To the degree that you can coordinate your time off you’ll profit.

Also keep in mind seasonal events. If September is always light for you, for example, then take time off in September! And if you have a busy family practice, August isn’t a good time to take a vacation. In your calendar note events such as: the Minnesota Star of the North meeting, fee revisions, performance reviews, staff meetings and marketing events (e.g., direct mail & Yellow Page renewal).

Get one of those grease pen calendars that you can put in your staff lounge. This is also a good place for people to put their Birthdays, Anniversaries, etc. down too. Good for the team. You can get such calendars at Office Max or Office Depot.

Yours truly,

BillBlueSig

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