Top 4 Dental Practice Recovery Strategies

As COVID-19 seemingly begins to ease its grip on businesses around the world, it’s time to start thinking about the smartest way to reopen your dental practice. Professional Transition Strategies Founder and CEO Kyle Francis hosted a webinar on this topic last week. Here are the key takeaways.

Preparation

Even if this dynamic situation, it’s never too soon to start preparing your team and practice for reopening. Find out who is coming back and who you want to invite back, then contact your payroll company. Throughout this entire process, stay in touch with your team via videoconferencing about what changes need to take place and how to educate patients now and moving forward.

Patient intake

Define your patient intake process with your team. Will front desk staff ask questions regarding patient health prior to them coming in? Will you take your team’s and patients’ temperatures and be prepared to reschedule or send people home? Do you need to update your health history form? Are you purchasing new equipment to ensure safety or making other changes to processes that could change patient flow?

Cash flow

Many patients will have lost their jobs and, in turn, their insurance. To keep cash flow moving, you’ll want to sign up with a company that manages patient membership plans for patients who come in two to three times or more to generate twice the revenue for the practice. Be sure to verify any changes to insurance two weeks prior to your opening date. What’s more, consider outsourcing any outstanding accounts receivable.

Marketing

Now is a great time to think about your internal and external strategy. Use the power of social media to get your message out, particularly with videos that humanize the way your office is handling U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) compliance and new standards for care post-COVID-19. In addition, buffer appointments with an extra 10 minutes to allow for questions.

What’s next?

Watch the full recording of the webinar, then contact the experts at Professional Transition Strategies to get personalized advice on how to conserve cash and protect profitability as you reopen your practice.