2024 Success Guide for Dentists: 4 Areas to Optimize for Higher Profits [Free Resource]

In 2023, the dental industry faced a nationwide staffing shortage, the rise of emerging dental groups and DSOs, and the development of artificial intelligence. As a dental business leader, you faced each of these challenges and opportunities with confidence.

But as the new year approaches, you may not feel as confident that your dental business will reach its maximum financial potential in 2024. You made some New Year's resolutions in mind for your business, but where do you start?

We’re making it easy for you to know where to begin optimizing your dental business for higher profits. Welcome to our 2024 Success Guide for Dentists: 4 Areas to Optimize for Higher Profits. 

In addition to covering the 4 areas that should be addressed as you head into 2024, we’re giving you a free resource to help you monitor each area throughout the year: The Dental Business Goal Tracker. You’ll receive the goal tracker immediately in your inbox after completing the form below. 

Now, let’s cover the 4 areas of your dental business you’ll need to optimize and track for success in 2024… 

1. Evaluate and streamline your current workflows and operational practices

Think about your team’s current workflow for moving through the revenue cycle. Is the process a rushing river? Does it move seamlessly and swiftly from the patient’s first call for an appointment to collecting payment for their visit?

Or, is their process a clogged creek? Are there pinch points, bottlenecks, and debris keeping your revenue cycle from flowing freely?

The dental revenue cycle has 7 steps: 

Step 1. Patient registration

Step 2. Insurance verification 

Step 3. Presentation and acceptance of treatment

Step 4. Claim submission 

Step 5. Insurance payment posting 

Step 6. Accounts receivable (AR) management 

Step 7. Patient collections 

Now think about the steps within each step: Each part of your revenue cycle has its own process that must be performed correctly before team members can move to the next step in the revenue cycle. 

To evaluate the effectiveness of these workflows, ask:

• Are these steps clear to your team? 
• Do team members complete each step efficiently, accurately, and consistently? 
• Do all team members have the time, knowledge, and experience to perform each step of the revenue cycle with confidence and competence?

If your answers to these questions are anything other than, “Yes, absolutely,” then you’ve uncovered a part of your dental business that needs to be optimized for higher profitability.

When your revenue cycle flows freely, that means cash is flowing freely, too. It’s worth your time to ensure your team collects from both payers and patients with ease to avoid claim denials and payment delays. 

Related: Does your dental RCM process hurt your bottom line? Answer these 5 questions to find out

2. Survey your patient experience to improve patient retention

Without your patients, you don’t have a dental business. It’s that simple. 

If you’re regularly losing current patients without bringing in new patients, your bottom line will suffer. Therefore, you need happy and satisfied patients who will return to your dental practice, and ideally recommend your services to their friends and family.

Patients who refer new patients to your dental practice are your most effective marketing tool, and their recommendation costs you nothing. But you won’t receive referrals if the patient experience is anything less than positive.

A few things that negatively affect a patient’s experience at your dental business: 

• Lack of transparency or clarity during the treatment presentation
• Problems with their bill and out-of-pocket costs
• Unpleasant check-in or check-out experience
• Long wait times

Your patients need convenience and transparency from you and your team, especially when it comes to their treatment, how much it costs, and the process of paying for it. 

One way you can evaluate your dental patient experience is by sending virtual surveys to current patients to gather feedback online. You can then use their complaints and kudos to make improvements where needed, as well as celebrate successes with your team. These surveys could be sent out annually, bi-annually, or even immediately after the patient’s visit. 

When your patients have a positive experience and feel they can trust their dentist, they will return — and they’ll bring their family and friends with them. As a result, you’ll see your bottom line skyrocket without the expense and hassles of marketing.

Related: 3 surprising ways your dental patients get benefits from RCM services

3. Update technology that is causing revenue leaks, and leverage modern methods

Another part of your dental business that needs to be optimized for profitability? Your technology. 

You might need to update or replace your current tech tools, or even add new ones. To start your tech assessment, ask yourself: “Are there any manual tasks my team completes that could be automated or use assistance with AI?”

Adding new technology to your dental business can be intimidating because of the learning curve, but it can radically transform how smoothly your business runs.

If your tech is out of date — or non-existent — you could face errors and omissions that lead to denied insurance claims, unpaid patient balances, or accusations of fraud. All of which lead to leaks in your revenue.

A few technical areas of your dental business that need to be automated and stay updated for an optimized business:

• Patient registration and check-in/out
• Practice management software
• Insurance verification
• Patient billing
• Appointment scheduling 

Related: 3 reasons to automate your patient billing services ASAP

Automation and up-to-date technology reduce errors and speed up processes, guaranteeing higher productivity and more revenue with fewer delays and less worry.

4. Assess your employee’s satisfaction and improve your turnover rate

As we mentioned before, there has been an ongoing, nationwide staffing shortage across the healthcare industry. Hopefully, you’ve weathered the storm successfully so far. 

As the staffing shortage continues into 2024, it’s vital that you retain your current employees to prevent disruption to your business operations. The higher your turnover rate, the less stable the work environment of your practice.

In other words, constant change in staff can lead to chaos within your team and your office. Roles may not be clear, someone may get overwhelmed by picking up the slack from a person that left, and meanwhile, unassigned tasks slip through the cracks, etc.

This chronic disorganization will lead to costly errors and delayed or diminished revenue. And it can start a downward spiral…

Related: 3 reasons DCS customers aren't feeling the dental staffing shortage

All of this chaos contributes to a toxic work environment for your employees, which will — you guessed it — create even more turnover. Even if your employees are willing to stay in an unhealthy work environment, their performance will be less than ideal due to stress, fatigue, underlying resentment, or burnout.

In 2024, prioritize creating and sustaining the most pleasant and healthy workplace possible. 

You can start by surveying your current employees on their job satisfaction, and gather their opinions on what needs to change to improve their experience and your staff retention, which will improve their overall productivity.

Making asked-for changes will be worth it when you don’t have to continuously hire new employees due to dissatisfied ones walking out. You’ll also avoid the inevitable — and unavoidable — productivity lags while you and your team take time to train a new hire, time that’s taken away from patients and everyday tasks.

Remember: Happy employees mean higher productivity, which leads to higher revenue.

Use our free resource to give your dental business a financial checkup

We’ve shared 4 areas of your dental business that you should optimize for higher profits. 

Now we’re sharing our free resource to use as your 2024 goal checker to make achieving your business’s New Year's resolutions easier!

Fill out the form below to receive The Dental Business Goal Tracker straight to your inbox. 

Face 2024 head on with financial security and confidence

To recap, for higher profits in 2024, improve and monitor the following areas of your dental business: 

• Workflows and processes
• Patient experience, retention, and referrals
• Technology and the addition of automation
• Employee satisfaction and retention

Our Dental Business Goal Tracker will make it easy for you to monitor each of these parts of your dental practice so that you can reach your financial goals.

DCS works with dental businesses of all shapes, sizes, and specialties to help reach their financial goals, whether they’re New Year's resolutions or everyday efforts.

And remember: Our full-service revenue cycle management expertise will transform every area of your business discussed in this article, as well. 

Reach your goals confidently with DCS on your side: Book a call today.