The Best-Run Practices Have the Best-Run Systems

In the practice of orthodontics, the keys to long-term success, better staff training, increased profitability, and decreased stress and headaches are effective, efficient, well-documented business management systems.

Every practice is made up of a series of these systems that enable it to run on a daily basis. In orthodontics, there are basically five major systems and eleven minor systems that fit together like the inner workings of a watch. If any individual component part is not functioning properly, then the entire watch will gain time, lose time, or simply stop.

The Major Management Systems

1. Scheduling
2. Patient Finance and Collections
3. Treatment Coordinator
4. Customer Service
5. Practice Financial Management

These Systems are Interdependent

We've all seen practices that have experienced moderate success for more than 20 years with systems that run nowhere near the desired level of efficiency or profitability. With help, these practitioners could have achieved a great deal more.

Since 1985, one of the main goals of Levin Group has been to implement sound and practical business systems within orthodontic practices. In fact, when people ask us to identify our company's mission, the answer is usually, "Improve the lives of dentists".

We can tell you from experience that every day, all sorts of businesses around the globe are struggling to define and refine their management systems. They engage themselves in successful management fads that cost millions of dollars and have fancy names such as business process reengineering, total quality management, and 6 Sigma. In essence, these pre-packaged programs are really all the same as they set out to create step-by-step systems with maximum efficiency and minimum waste.

One of the main goals in managing your practice should be to establish business systems that are both efficient and reproducible. Your current and future team members need to know the exact steps they should take in completing any process.

Are Your Systems the RIGHT Systems?

Most professionals in orthodontics have systems that typically evolve over a period of time without a formal focus on design or maximum efficiency. Randomly developed business systems usually hamper an orthodontic practice and force it to run at least 30% below its growth potential.

Levin Group's customized, optimized management systems are the reasons why clients so often achieve 27-30% growth rates in their first year with us. Substantial growth potential is usually already there within the practice just waiting to be recognized, brought out, and exploited.

Most doctors have had at least some training in management and marketing, but training is no substitute for years of experience in developing and optimizing business systems for thousands of practices. That's the advantage that Levin Group brings you. We haven't just worked in one practice or ten. We've developed and modified our management systems based on broad experience, working in-depth with many, many orthodontics practices.

If your practice's business systems are incomplete or inefficient, you are losing a lot!

You can no longer afford to wait for trial-and-error to improve your business systems. You need a fast, organized approach. It can increase your income $5-7 million over the life of your practice.

Conclusion

It is necessary to review in detail each of your major business systems. Also, you must document each system in a manual by using a step-by-step technique that allows any individual to understand exactly how each management system works. There should be no question as to exactly what steps should be taken and in what order. Finally, you must train and retrain your team on each of your business systems.

Call Levin Group today at 888-973-000 for a no-cost practice analysis to see if you can improve your bottom line by 30% or e-mail a Practice Analyst at Levin Group at lpendleton@levingroup.com or corourke@levingroup.com.