Dentists could open another clinic by buying another practice so long as they consider factors, such as its location, equipment, patient base, etc. (Nuss 2016). Dentists should research different clinics to buy “as early as possible, even two or three years out” (Blatchford 2016). Once they own another practice, they “will take on much more stress, responsibility, time at work (much less time at home), debt and risk…” (Williams 2016). Opening another practice could be profitable for dentists, but they must consider many factors if they want to increase their revenue.
Dentists must adapt to the needs of another practice in order to make profit. Another practice means that the cost of their overhead and marketing significantly increases (Blatchford 2016). Dentists must consider the “supply costs and lab bill,” “the percentage of [their] clinical dentistry (all procedures performed as well as dollar revenue) that is referred to outside dentists,” “staff overtime,” etc. (Ting 2016). Dentists usually earn profit once they meet fixed costs such as “rent, utilities, insurance, salaries, etc…” (Williams 2016). With these costs in mind, dentists need to “[centralize] practice management software (and subsequently all practice data)” in order to “easily and efficiently centralize operations” and “[create] standardization from office to office” (Nuss 2016). By doing so, dentists can maintain “consistency in performance while reducing overhead” (Nuss 2016). Centralization also allows billing activities, such as sending claims to insurance companies, to be conducted at a main office, “[reducing the dentists’] overhead per office and [streamlining] the collection process” (Nuss 2016). While the main office deals with billing, the rest of the employees “can focus on patient interaction, case presentation, and other activities that directly impact production” (Nuss 2016). Eric Nuss, who “leads the Business Solutions Department of Henry Schein Dental,” states, “If a group practice expands without implementing the technology necessary to decrease its per office overhead, it will have increased its ability to produce through growth, but done nothing to broaden the gap between production and overhead. Thus profitability will be flat” (2016). Also, dentists should make the effort to maximize production and quality while “using the fewest resources” in order “to spend more time on true work, activities [the dentists’] customers (patients) are willing to pay for, and less time on waste, activities that don’t add value for [their] customers” (Nuss and Bahri 2016). Also, dental practices may need to make another contract with their insurance company if they run another clinic (“CDA addresses questions about changes in provider contracting” 2017).
The dentist must make sure that they have enough funds to open another practice. They must address and change some aspects of their business, such as their financial systems and logistics, in order to run all of their clinics efficiently. Despite the stress and responsibilities managing two or more practices, dentists could profit, while providing dental procedures to people in other areas.
Works Cited
Blatchford, Christina. “Making plans for smooth transitions.” Dental Economics, September 22,
“CDA addresses questions about changes in provider contracting.” CDA, September 11, 2017.
https://www.cda.org/news-events/cda-addresses-questions-about-changes-in-provider-contracting.
Nuss, Eric. “The path to multipractice ownership Part 2: Building.” Dental Economics, April 19,
Nuss, Eric and Sami Bahri. “The path to multipractice ownership Part 4: Getting lean.” Dental
Economics, June 14, 2016. https://www.dentaleconomics.com/articles/print/volume-106/issue-6/practice/the-path-to-multipractice-ownership-part-4-getting-lean.html.
Ting, David. “The right time to expand your dental practice (Part III).” Dental Economics,
October 26, 2016. https://www.dentaleconomics.com/articles/print/volume-106/issue-10/practice/part-three-the-right-time-to-expand-your-dental-practice.html.
Williams, Nate. “The Multi-Practice Model: An Epidemic in Dentistry.” Practice Financial
Group, December 4, 2016. http://www.practicefinancialgroup.com/multi-practice-model-epidemic-dentistry/.
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