The latest numbers from Sikka Software are out and, if the last four months of 2017 are anything like the first eight months of the year, dental practices around the country should benefit from their finest year since the dawning of this decade.
We recently extracted data from Sikka’s collection of numbers taken from Sikka Software that has been collected from more than 12,500 dental practices from around the United States. We looked specifically at the gross production by the dentist during the first eight months of the calendar year. Here are the average numbers discovered from January through August from 2010 through 2017, per dentist per practice.
2017 – $44,731.16
2016 — $42,542.39
2015 — $40,722.33
2014 — $39,451.40
2013 — $39,393.72
2012 — $38,914.22
2011 — $38,680.15
2010 — $38,487.96
As you can see from above, numbers from 2017 are trending higher than 2016, continuing an upward trend that has been in existence since 2010. However, the jump in gross production from 2015 to 2016 and 2016 to 2017 has been higher than at any previous time in the decade.
So what is causing the jump over the last two years? We asked Jan Keller of Jan Keller Dental Consulting for her thoughts. She believes the numbers show that those who invested in systems are seeing their hard work pay off.
“In the past eight years, practices that had invested in time to educate his or her team on the systems in place to handle financial arrangements, insurance, continuing care, scheduling and treatment acceptance experienced increases in both production and collection,” Keller said. “These might have even been small changes but the dentists and team members who took the time and effort to constantly monitor their numbers and benchmark critical areas allowed for the practice to make modifications to the systems which contributed to the improvements and increases.”
Keller also believes it’s not just about crunching numbers but basking in the small victories along the way as well.
“I know practices who celebrate their victories and milestones and it makes a world of difference for their team members and the environment within the practice,” Keller said. “If you’re only watching numbers but not giving updates and high-fives along the way, you are missing a key part of the team feeling like they are an integral part of the growth of the practice.”
Keller also believes today’s technology has made a difference for dental practices.
“Another area that helped practice realize this increase was the embracing of technology and the use of social media to market their practice,” she said. “The younger generation is using social media and technology to guide them in the decision-making process and also to connect with their patients more closely than ever before.”
Note: 2017 is almost over and it is time to set your fees for the new year. Get a head start with a free 10 procedure fee survey for your zip code from the app Practice Mobilizer at www.practicemobilizer.com. Or, if you want more in-depth information, you can purchase a full fee survey with over 600 procedure codes for 3 zip codes at store.sikkasoft.com/FeeSurveyforDentistry
This article was originally published November 21, 2017 on DrBicuspid. You can view the original article here: http://bit.ly/2hH433z
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