Catalyst Fall 2017
Inside this edition of Catalyst Spring/Summer 2018:
FEATURE: Caring for an Underserved Community
Dr. Shaun Rocknak owns the largest dental practice in Cheyenne, WY where he provides general and specialty dental care. Being the first Wyoming dentist to offer IV-sedation, he is also able to treat those with mental health issues and the underserved community. Reaching outside the boundaries of his local community of Cheyenne, his practice attracts about 180 new patients each month, most of them through word of mouth. Dr. Rocknak’s goal is to ensure every treatment plan aligns with his patient’s budget, “The best way I can serve my community is to focus on my patient’s treatment and allow the money to take care of itself.”
OFFICE DESIGN: Can Moving Across The Street Increase Your Production By 20%?
That is exactly what happened when Texas dentist, Dr. Vic Uhrenholdt, built his new practice directly across the street from his existing practice.
PRACTICE MANAGEMENT: The 5-Star Practice – Building Your Fee-For-Service Patient Base
Increasingly, we find practices are anxious to reduce their managed care participation and provide quality care under their office fee schedules. Attracting fee-for-service patients demands a high-level patient experience, and perhaps a different approach than a model heavily reliant on insurance plans for new patient growth. What does a new patient experience look like, that is designed to impress the elusive fee-for-service patient? It needs to be referral-worthy, an experience designed to solicit additional referrals from friends and family. Look through the list and see how many stars you would rate your own practice.
PRACTICE MANAGEMENT: Practice Support Team Faqs – X-Rays, Codes, And Billing
Burkhart’s Practice Support Team receives hundreds of questions each year; here are a few of the most common questions we’ve received recently.
CLINICAL SUCCESS: Veneering Heavily-Worn Dentition
This patient had heavily-worn anterior teeth and wanted a nicer smile. After doing an examination and obtaining records, we decided to do an indirect intraoral mock-up to determine if the projected size and shade of the final result would aesthetically work. After viewing the mock-up, the patient was enthusiastic about proceeding with treatment.
TECHNOLOGY: Kavo™ Introduces Expanded Product Portfolio
For more than 100 years, dental excellence has been an ongoing pursuit of the KaVo™ brand. Dentists worldwide associate KaVo with quality and innovation. This year, KaVo is excited to introduce an expanded product portfolio in North America that includes innovative treatment units and advanced imaging solutions, all under the KaVo name.
GIVING BACK: Getting People Out Of Pain
Have you ever had a toothache? Do you remember the unrelenting pain? Do you recall the type of agony that made you drop everything and rush to your dentist?
A child in a developing nation—or even a nearby community—might wake up one morning and experience agonizing and debilitating tooth pain that feels like nails being hammered into the gums. Because of location or financial burden, these children do not have access to trained dental practitioners. Instead of relief, the child resorts to the only option available, which is: endure the pain.
REAL ESTATE: The Second-Highest Expense In Your Practice
With this many choices to evaluate, and understanding each one affects the final economic outcome, why is it so many practices fail to capitalize on their real estate opportunities?
SUPPLY SAVINGS GUARANTEE: More Productivity, Less Stress
Quality care paired with cost savings allows private practice to flourish through the supply savings guarantee program…
Are you ready to save?
WEALTH MANAGEMENT: Spending Matters
Imagine my reaction, a backwater Registered Investment Advisor, recently coming across this headline in a financial magazine, “Major brokerage firm executive discovers retirement income success is determined more by retirement spending than return on investments1.” Wow, that is what we refer to in our office as a BFO, a “Blinding Flash of the Obvious.” Who would have thought controlling spending to a predetermined amount could be the key to our long-term retirement success? Yikes!
BUSINESS OF DENTISTRY: Are You Leaving Money On The Table?
Most businesses routinely evaluate their product and service pricing, to make sure they reflect the right value for customers as well as the competitive landscape in which they’re operating. While dentists are professionals caring for their patients, they are also business owners and many rarely give their fee schedules an annual exam. Some of the reasons fee evaluations never quite makes it on the “to do list” for dentists include: