For more on this topic, go to www.dentaleconomics.com and search using the following key words: Sikka Software, Dental Practice Optimizer, Dentrix, Eaglesoft, PracticeWorks, MOGO.
Have you ever wondered where industry would be without some — definitely not all — of the technological advancements we have witnessed through the years? Not only in dentistry, but all around us? These life-changing developments are as much daily necessities as the air we breathe; items so vital to a modern day lifestyle that we often feel frenzied when their access is limited or disappears. When you find something that works, like mobile wireless technology, you seek to use it for as many applications as possible.
I think loupes are just as necessary. I like to have fun with my Next Level clients, and sometimes I’ll hide their loupes when visiting their dental office. Witnessing doctors’ rattled reactions can be quite amusing; it’s as if I had stolen their cell lifeline! I think you get the picture. Loupes have become part of the dental landscape. I recommend hygienists use them, too. Thanks to loupes, dental diagnosis, as we know it, will never be the same.
I have been observing a guy in California for several years whom I believe has the ability to attach "loupes" onto our often confusing practice-management software. We could possibly survive without Dentrix®, Eaglesoft®, PracticeWorks®, or even MOGO®, but we would like these gorillas to do more.
Some doctors have the expectation that their management software will run the office for them. Sikka Software Corporation offers the only software I have found that provides what I call the "MACS Data." It Magnifies, Aligns, Configures and Simplifies data for efficient use.
Dental Practice Optimizer® from Sikka Software is the "loupes" that will enhance your ability to see your practice operate like never before. Think of how many fractures you may have missed in the past. Consider that you may be missing the "fractures" within your practice, too. Consider that these "fractures" are the profit bleeders of your game.
I refer to them as blind spots — the things that you don’t know that you don’t know. They simply haven’t been on your practice management radar. Now they can show up in your e-mail daily, weekly or monthly. They can even be sent automatically to your printer.
Let me give you a couple of examples. My favorite tool that Sikka Software offers is the morning meeting reporting system. Each day measurable practice information is routed directly to your e-mail. There is something quite appealing about receiving things proactively versus tirelessly searching for answers. With this mechanism, I can conveniently view clients’ daily updates from my laptop!
I am a huge fan of world-class "huddles" that inspire, inform, and prepare teams to win daily. At Next Level, we teach dental practice teams that the primary objective of the daily meeting should be to create a game plan to gain patients who accept treatment, pay, and refer others.
Of course, at the end of the day, it’s equally important to report team and individual performances. It is also fundamental to establish daily primary outcomes by position. This holds each team member accountable to those endorsed daily goals. In my experience, no tool has helped accomplish these principles better than Sikka Software’s Morning Meeting Report.
The Morning Meeting Report provides a variety of information that assists dental practices with managing time, patient retention, and finances. A new patient list allows dental teams to discuss patients’ personal motivators and possible barriers toward receiving recommended treatments.
A list of daily scheduled patients shows outstanding balances so a practice can determine who needs to visit the "money lady" before that person’s appointment. My personal favorite is a section that lists outstanding treatment patients. With this tool, hygienists no longer need to hustle around each morning, sifting through patient charts.
The research has already been done. A dental practice with Sikka’s software operates like this: each morning team members arrive … the appointment coordinator prints reports for the morning huddle … all gather around with time to spare, and review and plan for the day ahead.
This saves not only time and headaches but also condenses and magnifies the key business indicators that will allow a practice to survive and thrive in today’s economy. You will no longer feel that urge to call your study club buddies to seek comfort and justification when your numbers are down. All of the answers lie within you, your practice, and your team. Having the right tools in place can help you find them.
If you were to design your fantasy loupes, they would be able to see from different angles and at different levels of magnification. As loupes for your practice, Dental Practice Optimizer does exactly that.
From a big picture dashboard, you can zoom into practice analysis, patient analysis, and providers. Information is just a click away. This program lets you set the date range for the information you are viewing. A further zoom-in lets you delve into the nitty gritty and find those overlooked fractures.
We have everything to succeed in dentistry. We have an established internal repeat-business system. We have our mother’s voice ingrained in our heads telling us to see the dentist twice a year. We have loupes to diagnose and deliver world-class dentistry. Now we have Sikka Software to magnify and simplify dental data so that we can efficiently and accurately take actions to win. Like other technology adopted in your lifetime, you will wonder how you ever lived without the Dental Practice Optimizer.
Gary Kadi is president of Next Level Practice and author of the best-selling book "Million Dollar Dentistry." He helps turn dentists’ offices into multimillion dollar businesses. For more information, visit www.nextlevelpractice.com.
