How can I get my Dental Practice off of PPO's?

Many see the PPO as a necessary evil to keep their dental practice alive in this day and age. I happen to believe that you don't have to allow your practice to be dominated by PPO's if you do a few simple things to decrease their impact on your practice.  Now I am not suggesting that everyone should get off the PPO, but if you want to decrease their impact on your practice, here are some tips on how to accomplish this.

1.  How good is your case acceptance? Most practices I see have about a 55% case acceptance rate with the help of insurance. If you were to simply dump the PPO without making some improvements in this area, you are asking for trouble. Improvement here is a must before you can even consider making changes to how many PPO's you have in your practice.

2.  How do you currently acquire new patients? Do they only come to you because you are on various insurance lists? If so, you will obviously have to make some changes here. How else can you attract new patients, preferably cash paying ones? There are lots of answers here and Groupon is not the answer!

People judge you by what you do--and by what you say. Here are nine phrases that should roll off your lips every single day.

Whether at work or at home; drama needs to be left at the door.  Fundamentally, drama is just simply bad.  It is pervasive.  Such a common denominator for the stress, lack of performance, and overall tone set within the Dental Practice or any workplace.  

Often times we see a trend of coworkers or others that find entertainment in watching or contributing to the struggles of those individuals. Therefore, the focus must be on setting expectations to reduce or eliminate the workplace drama.  

Habit 6 discusses very simplistically the imperative need for "group thinking, brainstorming, ...synergy."  Let's face it, two minds are better than one in your Dental Practice. The overall approach when teamwork and open-mindedness are encouraged is highly effective in every dynamic. Synergy will allow you and the team to uncover and invent ideas that might not otherwise be discovered alone. As the entire team begins to interact and brainstorm ideas regarding the practice, they will also allow the influence of your leadership and other team members to offer insight on strategic planning moving forward. It will be captivating to listen to the experiences and expertise being demonstrated throughout this time. It is a must to set aside appropriate time and planning for such Team Building Time.

Your Dental Practice must be as openminded as the leader that is driving the influence. Thus, if you want to expand, grow, or simply maintain a healthy practice; a synergistic approach is essential for accomplishing those goals! Hopefully, you and the team are really driven in providing the level of excellence necessary to foster the "value" in the relationships throughout your Dental Practice. The labels of each team member should be placed aside. Every Team Member within your Dental Practice should be valued as an important factor in the practice. Take a step back and truly evaluate the Team as a whole. Allow the differences and experiences to be valued and respected. Once the Team realizes the value that "a Synergistic" approach offers the practice, the strength as a Team is recognized. Suddenly, those differences become stepping stones for strength to build upon. The level of respect amongst each Team Member of your Dental Practice will become so high that if a disagreement arises, a genuine effort to minimize the effect will be sought. An effective suggestion would be to create a mission statement for your Dental Practice, encourage the team to live it in their hearts and in their minds!!!! If there is already a mission statement in place, have each Team Member verbalize it to you and other Team Members. This will allow each Team Member the opportunity to share it as they perceive it.