Do you need more new patients in your dental office? Are people in your community able to find you and learn more about your practice?  And if you do need more patients, should you outsource your marketing or do it yourself? How do you ensure you’re spending your advertising dollars wisely? Dr. John and Wendy sat down with Cassidy Dustin of Gargle to answer your questions about marketing and patient flow. Listen to today’s episode to learn how to build a predictable, manageble stream of patients into your practice each month. Gargle is a preferred partner of The Team Training Institute. If you need help with marketing and patient flow, learn more about them here: https://www.gargle.com/

Rising dental hygiene wages and shrinking reimbursements are creating major challenges in dental offices. Many practice owners are asking themselves, “Is it even possible to be profitable with hygiene, or should I find ways to cut these losses?” With the right tools and training, dental hygiene can not only be profitable, it can be a thriving part of a dental office. We’ve seen it over and over again in practices across the US and Canada.  Recently, Wendy Briggs hosted a call with practice owners to discuss these challenges in hygiene departments and make recommendations. In part two of this presentation, you’ll get insights into how to provide comprehensive hygiene care to patients efficiently and profitably each day.

Did you know…? According to the ADA, dental assistant and hygienist vacancies have resulted in a 10% drop in dental practice capacity nationally. The ADA's Health Policy Institute also estimates that 1/3 of dental assistants and hygienists plan to retire within the next 5 years.  Additionally, insurance reimbursements continue to fall and overhead continues to rise causing a financial squeeze in dentistry. In today’s episode, we’re sharing a recording of a recent call Wendy Briggs hosted with dental practice owners to talk through these dental hygiene challenges and her recommended solutions. In this recording, you’ll get insights into how to run a hygiene department efficiently and profitably while providing comprehensive care.

How does The Team Training Institute help dental practices grow?   In this 3-part series, Dr. John Meis and Wendy Briggs are sharing the details of their practice growth model so you know how to make improvements to your practice and empower your team to deliver the very best patient care.  In today’s episode, you’ll learn how to create optimal patient flow in your office. Patient flow is crucial for a successful practice. It’s important to have enough patients to sustain the business while also ensuring the team can deliver world-class care during every appointment. Today, you’ll learn how to determine whether you need more new patients and strategies for filling the schedule. You’ll also learn how to alleviate any capacity issues that may exist in your practice to allow you to provide comprehensive care to your patients. *In this episode, Wendy mentions that our quarterly Practice Growth Retreat is coming up October 18-19 in Denver, CO. At each retreat, we allow a select few guest practices to attend with complimentary guest pass. If you’re interested in joining us, click here to learn more: https://theteamtraininginstitute.com/guest  

How does The Team Training Institute help dental practices grow?  In this 3-part series, Dr. John Meis and Wendy Briggs are sharing the details of their practice growth model so you have insight into how to make improvements to your office and empower your team to deliver the very best patient care. In today’s episode, you’ll learn how to create a more efficient dental office. Efficient delivery of care is essential for a smooth-running practice. When efficiency drops, appointments run behind, patients get frustrated, and fewer procedures get completed.  Keep in mind, efficiency doesn’t necessarily mean moving faster. Hustling can cause mistakes and hurt the office atmosphere. Listen to today’s episode to learn exactly how your office can become more efficient and effective each day. *In this episode, Wendy mentions that our quarterly Practice Growth Retreat is coming up July 12-13 in Miami, FL. At each retreat, we allow a select few guest practices to attend with complimentary guest pass. If you’re interested in joining us, click here to learn more: https://theteamtraininginstitute.com/guest 

How exactly does The Team Training Institute help dental practices grow and thrive?  Plenty of consultants and experts claim to help businesses grow, but it’s difficult to know their approach and their strategies until after you’ve invested significant time and money into the process. Today, Dr. John Meis and Wendy Briggs are sharing a behind-the-scenes look at their practice growth model so you have clarity on exactly how The Team Training Institute works with dental offices. They are sharing the details of their approach and which systems they focus on when they work with dental teams. In today’s episode, you’ll learn what this practice growth model looks like, the 3 key components, and how these pieces work together to transform offices.  Over the next couple of weeks, they’ll be diving into each area of this model and sharing more information about how to grow your practice.

Dr. Eric Tobler began his career as a dentist in his family’s office, working alongside his dad and his brother. As his career progressed, he learned more about practice management and developed an interest in dentistry’s innovation and technology. Today, Dr. Tobler is the Clinical Director for Mortenson Dental Partners and helps integrate new technology into their practices. He has keen insight into what’s useful in dental practices and how to introduce new equipment to teams and get results quickly. In this episode, you’ll learn: The importance of early success with new technology How to get the team on board with new equipment What to do when a new piece of technology is rejected by the team How to evaluate new technology and decide what to purchase Recommendations on what technology to bring into your practice Dr. Tobler will be taking the stage at our upcoming practice growth conference, The Champions of Dentistry Summit, happening April 25-27 in New Orleans. He’ll be talking in depth about which emerging technologies are worth investing in and how to seamlessly implement new equipment into your practice.  In-person and virtual tickets to the conference are still available at http://www.championsofdentistry.com 

Dental practice success depends on getting patients into the chair for the care they need. Without effective phone calls and scheduling, practices miss opportunities to deliver treatment.  Today, Cory Pinegar is joining Dr. John Meis and Wendy Briggs on The Double Your Production Podcast to talk about the challenges of converting phone calls into appointments. Cory is the CEO of Reach and he’s sharing how to capture more incoming calls and boost the conversion rate. In this episode, you’ll learn: How missed calls impact practice performance (on average, about 30% of incoming calls are missed) Scripts and scheduling tips for reactivating overdue patients How dental practice call volume fluctuates throughout the day and how to staff for those peaks How to supplement call support in your practice to get better phone call results   To contact Cory or learn more about Reach, go to https://www.getreach.co/ 

Victoria Roos Olsson is an expert in leadership development and has coached leaders across the world for the past 20 years. She works closely with the FranklinCovey innovations team and is one of the authors of FranklinCovey’s bestselling book, “Everyone Deserves a Great Manager: The 6 Critical Practices for Leading a Team.” Today, she’s joining Dr. John Meis and Wendy Briggs on The Double Your Production podcast to talk about the leadership skills needed to create a strong, positive atmosphere in your dental practice. In this episode, you’ll learn: How to spark real employee engagement (and why reasons for engagement differ from person to person) Why intentionality is crucial in building and maintaining a great company culture How to keep a company culture strong and positive (and how to correct behavior that doesn’t align) How to maintain good energy throughout the day by managing 5 key things We’re excited to announce that Victoria will be joining us as a keynote speaker at our upcoming Champions of Dentistry Summit, April 25-27 in New Orleans, LA. To join us for the conference, register at http://www.championsofdentistry.com 

Dr. Paul Schempp is a behavioral scientist and professor at the University of Georgia where he studies decision making. Through his vigorous research, he’s uncovered how to make better decisions consistently and how to avoid bad decisions. Today, he’s sharing: How great decision makers use data to predict their future environment One skill that separates great decision makers from those who are mediocre How to make good decisions in the midst of uncertainty The neuroscience behind high-pressure decisions Why it’s important to think through contingency plans How the Dunning-Kruger Effect impacts decision making And more… Dr. Schempp will be joining us as a keynote speaker at this year’s Champions of Dentistry Summit in New Orleans. At the conference, he’ll be sharing the science behind the most impactful dental practice decisions.  We can’t wait for his session and we’re honored to share the stage with him this year. If you haven’t yet, you can get your tickets to the 2024 Summit here: http://championsofdentistry.com/

Money conversations can be awkward, and talking to dental patients about the cost of care can be daunting and uncomfortable for both the patient and the team. Today, Dr. John Meis and Wendy Briggs are sitting down with Jay Letwat from Sunbit to talk through ways to make these conversations easy and straightforward so patients get more options and more access to the care they need. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why outdated thinking around financing causes added stress for patients and the team How old financing models and tools prevent patients from taking advantage of payment options How to talk about financing in a way that feels easy and smooth for patients Why the fear of treatment cost can lead to missed appointments and how to get in front of it Verbal cues that indicate a patient is interested in financing options How production and case acceptance rise with third-party financing  To learn more about Sunbit’s payment technology, go to https://www.sunbit.com 

In today’s episode of The Double Your Production Podcast, Dr. John Meis and Wendy Briggs are answering a common question we hear from clients at The Team Training Institute, “Should owner-dentists and associates attend team training days?”  If you’ve ever booked an in-office training day with us, or are considering it in the future, it’s important to know who should be in the room in order to get the best results.  In this episode, you’ll hear Dr. John and Wendy’s thought process behind these decisions and their advice for getting the most out of a training investment.

In Part 3 of this series, Dr. John Meis and Wendy Briggs are sharing the best technology to use to raise case acceptance in your practice. One of the most important pieces of case acceptance is educating patients and making concerns visual for them. Because patients usually can’t see what’s happening with their teeth, they don’t understand the severity of the disease or decay. If dental offices can make these things visible to patients and improve their awareness of the problems, patients begin to understand the necessity and urgency of treatment and will more readily move forward with needed care. The tools discussed in this podcast help to make oral health more visual for patients and help dental teams run more smoothly and effectively.  Listen to hear Dr. John and Wendy’s top recommendations.

In Part Two of this series, Dr. John Meis and Wendy Briggs continue to discuss how to raise the case acceptance rate in a dental practice by creating smooth, effective patient handoffs (or trust-transfers). Patient handoffs are a little-known secret to great case acceptance because they’re an important opportunity to build trust, demonstrate excellence, and ensure understanding with patients. When handoffs are handled poorly, patients lose confidence in the recommended treatment and hesitate to move forward with their needed care. When handoffs are done right, patients are put at ease and more readily accept treatment. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why most handoffs should be done in front of the patient (and how to include them in the process) How to use smooth patient handoffs to build trust and connection with patients How to structure a handoff to make sure the team is communicating the right things quickly and efficiently How smooth team transfers can help doctors preserve more of their mental energy throughout the day

In this 3-part series, Dr. John Meis and Wendy Briggs are explaining ways to increase the case acceptance rate in a dental practice.  When a practice doesn’t have a well-defined and consistent case acceptance process in place, patients don’t get the information and reassurance they need to move forward with necessary dental care. When this happens, their health declines, the team gets frustrated, and practice performance declines. But what we’ve learned working with practices across the US is that with a few key systems in place, the case acceptance rate can rise very quickly, leading to healthier patients and a stronger practice. In part one of this series, you’ll learn: ·         How diagnostic inconsistencies hurt patient trust and lower the case acceptance rate ·         The importance of clear diagnostic criteria across the team ·         How to strengthen patient trust and connection ·         How the team can support and echo each other in patient conversations   Listen now here or at www.theteamtraininginstitute.com/podcast

When you talk with the team about your practice goals and share key performance indicators (KPIs), are they excited and motivated to reach those numbers or do their eyes glaze over? Today, we're sharing a segment from one of our recent practice growth retreats. In this session, Heather Driscoll is talking about what you can do to create more excitement and energy around your biggest goals. Very few dental professionals wake up in the morning excited to increase production by a certain percentage or improve accounts receivable. But, they do wake up excited to connect with patients and improve their health. So, it’s the job of the leadership to connect those dots. In this session, Heather is breaking down exactly how to design a system like this. You’ll learn how to share key metrics without boring the staff and create real momentum around the activities that not only make the biggest difference for the practice but also for patients. Learn more at https://www.theteamtraininginstitute.com 

Wendy Briggs comes from a big family of baseball fans, so when the book “Moneyball” was released, she was eager to read it. Since then, she’s worked to apply these lessons to dentistry to allow practices to build teams of superstar performers.  Today, she and Dr. John Meis are sitting down to talk through specific strategies practice owners can use to create a high-performing team and unmatched results in their practices. This unconventional Moneyball approach gives practice owners an edge in the marketplace, allowing them to attract top talent and develop those people into efficient, high-performing team members. Listen to today’s episode to learn how they do it. In today’s episode, Dr. John and Wendy mention strategies from their book, “The Insider’s Guide to Hiring a World-Class Team”. Click here to get your FREE copy (we just ask that you cover shipping) plus a suite of bonus training!

Kellie Black started her career as a dental hygienist helping patients chairside. She found she also enjoyed the business side of dentistry and quickly rose into a leadership position within that practice where she helped the team expand from two offices to an impressive seven.  Now Kellie is a business coach with The Team Training Institute and she’s joining Dr. John Meis and Wendy Briggs today on the podcast to share her perspective on practice growth. Kellie has helped practices around the country improve their performance, grow their teams, and expand to additional locations smoothly and easily. Catch this episode to learn how she helps practices grow and which key metrics she uses to make fast, long-lasting improvements.  In this episode, you’ll learn: What systems to put in place to ensure smooth practice expansion How to create consistent clinical protocols across the practice  How to better understand and manage hygiene capacity One of the easiest and most impactful metrics a practice can track

Understanding and monitoring practice data is crucial for a dental office to succeed. If you don’t watch key numbers, you can’t see what’s really happening in the practice and you can’t make improvements. Many practice owners resist involving the team in analytics and financials because they’re worried about difficult money conversations and the risks involved with transparency. But interestingly, we found that when the whole team has a general understanding of practice economics, there is less overall frustration and a wholehearted focus on improving results.  When everybody on the team knows how to monitor key numbers for their role and how to improve those numbers, the practice can reach its goals much more quickly. In this episode of The Double Your Production Podcast, Dr. John Meis and Wendy Briggs are sitting down to talk through how to involve the team with data and key metrics. You’ll learn the mindset shifts necessary to get everybody on board with better data in your practice.

In this episode of The Double Your Production Podcast, Dr. John Meis and Wendy Briggs sit down with Paul Lowry from Dental Menu to talk about how to use membership plans, discount plans, and rewards programs in your dental practice.  In-house benefit plans are a great way to serve patients who don’t have dental insurance. Offering your own plans and perks ensures these patients have the financial flexibility to keep up on their preventative care and move forward with needed restorative treatment. In this episode, you’ll learn: The difference between a dental membership plan and a discount plan How membership plans improve patient retention How discount plans help improve case acceptance and close treatment The best ways to incorporate rewards in your practice to incentivize retention and preventative care How to get the whole team on board with membership plans and better financial options for patients Within the episode, Paul mentions 5 free modules where you can learn all about the process of dental membership plans. Click here to access the free modules: http://www.dentalmenu.com/education  If you have any questions or would like to get in touch with Paul, you can reach him at [email protected] 

Paige Hood is a practicing hygienist and a Certified Hygiene Coach with The Team Training Institute. She’s got years of experience not only improving her own skills as a hygienist, but also helping others excel.  Today, Paige is joining Wendy Briggs on The Double Your Production Podcast for an in-depth conversation about how hygienists can raise the standard of care in a dental practice. In this episode, you’ll learn: Which qualities separate top-performing hygienists from the rest How the company culture of a practice impacts hygiene care (and how team members can improve the culture each day) Important mindset shifts hygienists need to make in order to better serve patients A breakdown of how to spend your time with each patient (30% is spent on personal things and getting to know the patient better) How to use a risk assessment conversation to help patients move forward with the care they need  

Kaizen is the Japanese business philosophy of continuous improvement. Rooted in post-World War II economic reform, Kaizen is about making steady changes for the better. Toyota famously used this concept to develop its lean manufacturing process and become a leader in quality in the automotive industry.   Kaizen can be used in a dental setting as well, allowing a team to revisit processes and make improvements for greater efficiency, effectiveness, and better patient care. In this episode of The Double Your Production Podcast, Dr. John Meis and Wendy Briggs are sitting down to explain exactly what Kaizen is, how it works in an organization, and how to apply it to a dental office.   The dental environment is filled with challenges: declining reimbursements, increasing costs, staffing shortages, and increased competition. With this shift in thinking, dental practices can be more adaptive to the changing dental industry and well-positioned for continued success.

Bert Triche is a practicing hygienist and a Certified Hygiene Coach with The Team Training Institute. She’s got 43 years of hygiene experience and has coached other hygienists for 12 years. She’s joining Wendy Briggs today on The Double Your Production Podcast for an important conversation about how hygienists, dentists, and office managers can navigate the current shortage of hygienists around the country.   In this episode, you’ll learn: The current market challenges in hygiene staffing How to calculate your actual earnings as a hygienist How to ask for a raise with an understanding of the practice’s economics How to protect a positive company culture amid staffing shortages How production-based compensation better serves the hygienist, the patient, and the practice The best way to handle burnout or stagnation in hygiene

Most dentists don’t have extensive experience in property negotiations and this puts them at a significant disadvantage when purchasing or leasing property for their dental office.  Today, Colin Carr is joining Dr. John Meis to talk about how to level the playing field in these negotiations and allow dentists to expand and grow more seamlessly. Colin’s company that provides commercial real estate services for healthcare providers. They represent dentists and other healthcare providers in commercial real estate purchase and lease transactions to make sure they get the very best deal possible. In this episode, you’ll learn: ·         Common mistakes dentists make when renewing a commercial lease or purchasing property ·         Why real estate experts can save you hundreds of thousands of dollars in lease rates ·         Why it’s important to approach any negotiation with a strategic position ·         Why it’s crucial to determine the total cost of a deal (rather than just looking at the lease rate) ·         How to avoid the trap of negotiating on just one property at a time To learn more about Colin’s company and how they help dentists, go to www.carr.us 

There are pervasive myths in all industries that, if left unchecked, can damage the morale of business owners. Dentistry is no different. Today, we’re debunking some of these myths so you can make decisions in your dental practice with confidence. In this episode of The Double Your Production Podcast, Dr. John Meis and Wendy Briggs are clearing up 3 myths that have been floating around in dentistry lately and sharing 3 ways to improve performance and profit during times of uncertainty. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why focusing on cost-cutting strategies can hurt business opportunity (you should be aware of your spending, but don’t make cost cutting your primary focus) How to use small changes in the practice to create big improvements in profitability A crucial shift the practice philosophy to make sure the team and the patients feel valued How to use the Toyota method to create greater efficiency in the practice Easy ways to expand the practice and the procedures offered   Don’t let yourself get swept up in the fears of economic uncertainty. As the industry shifts and changes, it’s important to keep yourself informed and equipped with great strategies. Listen to today’s episode for our latest recommendations.  

Did you know… on average, 40% of the incoming calls to a dental practice go unanswered? The loss involved with phone inefficiencies is much larger than most practice owners think. When patient calls don’t get answered, appointments don’t get scheduled, and the practice loses a tremendous amount of opportunity.  Amol Nirgudkar is the CEO of Patient Prism, a company that provides dental practices with the technology needed to optimize phone calls and improve patient flow. While AI is currently a trending topic, Patient Prism has been using artificial intelligence and machine learning for years to revolutionize how the front desk performs in practices across the country. In this episode of The Double Your Production Podcast, Dr. John Meis and Wendy Briggs sit down with Amol to talk about the advantages AI tools can provide practices to increase patient flow and improve performance. In this episode, you’ll learn: How dental AI tools actually help team members perform at a higher level (don’t worry, these bots won’t replace real members of the team) How Patient Prism tracks key metrics during phone calls and provides the practice with important data Why it’s important to track phone call patterns and how to identify potential problems within the practice How AI can help practice owners and leaders identify areas of growth and expansion How Patient Prism can help spot problems or gaps in service and allow more patients move forward with care To learn more about Patient Prism, go to https://www.patientprism.com/

Carrie Marshall grew up in a family dental practice. As an adult, she worked as a dental assistant and helped her dad grow the practice from 2 chairs to 10 chairs. As the practice continued to grow and her brothers joined, she noticed the stress level in her parents rising. She watched her dad stay up late at night trying to build a practice that could sustain them all comfortably. Carrie started to see that this stress and isolation was common across dentistry, so she decided to shift her career and study tools to help dental professionals better understand and improve their mental health. She became a Master Certified Coach and now helps dentists and teams manage their mental energy, deal with emotions in a healthy way, and avoid burnout. In this episode of The Double Your Production Podcast, Dr. John Meis and Wendy Briggs are sitting down with Carrie to get some immediate tools to alleviate the stress and isolation that is so prevalent among dental professionals. We’re also thrilled to announce that Carrie Marshall will be joining us at this year’s Champions of Dentistry Summit in Orlando! In her session, she’ll be sharing strategies to help you achieve your personal and professional goals while truly protecting your mental energy and wellbeing. These tools are great for dentists and the entire team and we can’t wait to learn from her. Listen to today’s episode for strategies you and your team can use right away to improve your life at work and at home.

Jim Philhower was the Director of Sales & Leadership at Henry Shein for decades. He helped develop and lead the sales team and worked with dentists around the country to create better results in their practices. Jim has been in over 1000 practices across the US and has intricately studied what works in the dental business. We’re thrilled to announce that Jim Philhower has joined us at the The Team Training Institute and will be speaking at our Champions of Dentistry Summit coming up in April. In today’s episode of The Double Your Production Podcast, Dr. John Meis and Wendy Briggs are sitting down with Jim to talk about some of the key lessons he’s learned throughout his career in dentistry and to give you a behind-the-scenes look at the content he’ll be sharing at this year’s Summit. Jim’s got an incredible wealth of knowledge in the dental industry and we couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome him to the TTI family.  We hope you’ll join us at our upcoming dental conference, the Champions of Dentistry Summit hosted this year in Orlando, FL. Learn more and register to join us at http://www.championsofdentistry.com 

In today’s episode of The Double Your Production Podcast, Dr. John Meis and Wendy Briggs are sharing a sneak peek of this year’s Champions of Dentistry Summit. The Summit is happening April 28-29 in Orlando, FL where we’ll be working with practices around the country to rapidly improve their results, all while soaking in the magic and business lessons from Disney World and Universal Studios.  We chose Orlando for this year’s event because there is truly so much to learn from these brands. The Disney legacy of pristine experiences and high-touch customer service has created enormous business success that spans generations. During this immersive 2-day event, we’ll be pulling important lessons from these iconic brands and applying these principles to dentistry. You’ll leave with fresh systems and strategies for building a stronger practice while also being inspired to run your office with the leadership of a top CEO.  Listen to today’s episode for all the details about this year’s Summit and get a preview of the content we’ll be sharing! We only host the Summit once a year, so if you haven’t joined us for this event before, now is the time to register. We’ve got an incredible group of dental experts joining us, we’ve got solution-packed sessions planned, and the most successful dentists from around the country will be gathered in one room sharing ideas and building a bigger future for themselves and their teams.   We hope to see you there! Click here to register: http://www.championsofdentistry.com 

Investing in technology is a big decision for any practice owner. Almost every practice has had the experience of investing in technology that doesn’t get used (we’ve seen a lot of “technology garages” in offices with equipment that sits idle). In other cases, when practice owners are more hesitant to make tech investments, the practice can miss out on important opportunities for growth, efficiency, and improvement in patient care. So, how do you decide? In today’s episode of The Double Your Production Podcast, Dr. John Meis and Wendy Briggs are talking through their process for evaluating tech purchases in a dental practice. In this episode, you’ll learn: How different technologies impact case acceptance and a patient’s understanding of their health Why it’s not always best to be an early adopter, and how long to wait to know that a technology is viable and lasting How to use the “3 hats” concept to make better decisions when it comes to investing in tech for your practice A simple mental filter to use to avoid buying technology that is new and exciting, but won’t actually move your practice forward They also talk about 3 products specifically: cone beams, AI software, and digital scans. They discuss these products and how to determine whether it’s time to invest (so if you’re considering any of these technologies, don’t miss this episode). In this episode, Dr. John and Wendy talk about our upcoming 2023 Strategic Planning Session. It’s happening Thursday, Dec. 29th at 8pm Eastern. Click here to register for the free webinar. https://www.theteamtraininginstitute.com/webinar

Today on the Double Your Production Podcast, Dr. John Meis and Wendy Briggs are sitting down with Angie Bachman of Design Ergonomics to about how she helps practices become some of the top-producing offices in the nation.   Design Ergonomics has revolutionized dentistry by applying lean manufacturing principles of the famed Toyota production process to optimize offices. They improve everything from patient flow to team flow, allowing the overall environment of the office to improve. Their methods reduce wasted time, energy, and materials so practices can be extremely efficient and productive while providing a better patient experience.   In this episode, you’ll learn: Why simply moving faster doesn’t improve efficiency in a dental office How to identify wasted time or energy in a practice’s operations How to create a centralized, low-cost inventory system The best place to start when optimizing your office and simple things you can do to improve your efficiency Why there’s a tendency to overcomplicate an operatory and how to encourage the team to maintain simplicity How to create a universal, agreed-upon setup and processes that are the same in each room   We hope you enjoy today’s episode! If you’d like to get in touch with Angie Bachman, you can reach her [email protected] or www.desergo.com 

In this episode of the Double Your Production podcast, Dr. John Meis and Wendy Briggs are diving into Adam Grant’s new book, Think Again. They are unpacking some of the key insights from the book and talking through how these ideas apply to dental practice owners and teams.   The business environment is always changing, so every practice owner needs to have a certain level of flexibility in their thinking and a willingness to pivot. This adaptability can impact team management, patient communication, and overall practice success.   This episode kicks off a new series within the podcast. Each quarter, we choose a book that can create meaningful change in your dental practice and talk through some of the key ideas and learnings. We do this with our highest-level clients and we want to bring a bit of that book club to our broader dental community. We hope you read along with us each quarter and join us in continuing to grow personally and professionally.   In the episode, Dr. John and Wendy mention the upcoming Summit Launch Party! Register to join us for a chance to win tickets to the 2023 Summit, Disney World passes, and more!

If patients don’t move forward with treatment, everybody suffers. The patient’s condition worsens over time, team members get frustrated, and the practice performance declines.   Part of providing the very best care for patients is helping them feel comfortable saying yes treatment. When it comes to case acceptance, small things make a big difference and when everybody on the team does their part, case acceptance rises quickly.   In this episode of the Double Your Production Podcast, Dr. John Meis and Wendy Briggs talk through their 4-part case acceptance formula for dental teams. They address why patients decline or delay treatment, what gets them to move forward, and how to systematize case acceptance throughout the practice.   You’ll learn:   The 4 parts of the case acceptance formula  How to navigate and work through disagreements about patient care between the doctor and other team members How to establish a consistent standard of care How to present and communicate treatment options to patients clearly so they feel confident moving forward (even if they need a lot of treatment) How to present simple and flexible financial options to patients to reduce money stress Important benchmarks to measure your success in case acceptance

What exactly is “quiet quitting”? The term has been trending in the news and on social media lately, so Dr. John Meis and Wendy Briggs are diving into the topic and how it affects dental practices in this episode of the Double Your Production Podcast. Quiet quitting occurs when team members who are frustrated in their roles drastically reduce the amount of effort they put in. Simply put, quiet quitting is a way of quitting without actually quitting. Shockingly, a recent Gallup poll found that roughly 50% of Americans are engaging in quiet quitting. While discontent, unmotivated team members have always been around, the Covid-19 disruptions to the workplace have caused a surge in workplace dissatisfaction leading to this wave of quiet quitting. If left unaddressed, dissatisfaction at work can be contagious and these behaviors and attitudes can quickly ripple across an organization.  In this episode, you’ll learn how to prevent this from happening in your dental office, how to right the ship if you sense it’s already happening, and how to keep your team engaged, motivated, and performing at their very best.

On this episode of The Double Your Production Podcast, Dr. John Meis and Wendy Briggs sit down with Paul Lowryfrom Dental Menu to talk about how to add a customizable, flexible benefit plan to your practice.  Patients without insurance (or patients with not-so-great insurance) don’t always keep up on their appointments because paying out of pocket can get expensive. Adding an in-house benefit plan to your practice can be a great way to take care of these patients and give them the flexibility to maintain their regular appointments and get the services they need. Including a plan like this in your dental practice can transform the reappointment rate for uninsured patients, allowing you to provide a greater level of care and boosting results for your practice. In this episode, you’ll learn: How to design a range of benefit plans that work for patients How to communicate the in-office benefit plan in a way that helps patients sign up, use the benefits, and continue to renew their plan How to use add-ons and customizations to allow patients to get exactly what they want and need (increasing satisfaction and retention) How to set up pricing to deliver a great value for the patient and still maintain profitability for the practice How Dental Menu can help you easily offer these benefit options and make them accessible to patients Paul will also be joining us at our next quarterly practice growth retreat! These retreats are reserved for our clients, but we do have a few select guest seats available. If you’re interested in joining us as a guest, click here to fill out a quick form and we’ll be in touch: http://www.theteamtraininginstitute.com/guest 

In this episode of The Double Your Production Podcast, Dr. John Meis and Wendy Briggs sit down with Dr. David Ahearn, a dentist and the founder of Design Ergonomics and Ergonomic Products, to talk about how to find and alleviate capacity issues in your dental practice.  What we find overwhelmingly with our clients is that doctor-owners often believe they need new patients for their practices to succeed, when in reality, they’re suffering from a capacity problem. In this episode, you’ll learn: How to identify capacity blockages in your practice How to reduce wasted space in a dental office and get the most out of the space you have Simple ways to improve efficiency (adapted for dental practices from the Toyota Production System) How to increase your capacity with confidence A better way to think about investing in your office capacity Get Your Resource Package: Design Ergonomics and The Team Training Institute are providing all listeners with a free package of resources to help optimize and improve your practice. Get this resource package by clicking here: https://theteamtraininginstitute.com/designergonomics/ Guest Bio: “I just wanted to make it easier to provide great dental care.” – Dr. David Ahearn When Dr. David Ahearn began his career as a dentist in 1983, his mission was simple. He was committed to providing the best care possible for his patients, and to making that care affordable.  His focus was singular --- he put the patient first.  In the early 90’s, Dr. Ahearn became convinced that the Toyota Production System could make dental offices more productive, while improving the lives of dental staff and the patients they treated. He thought that if the principles of continuous improvement, right process, and organizational learning transformed industrial production, couldn’t they do the same for dentistry?  He applied the Toyota principles to the design, construction, and management of his first dental office, and the results were dramatic. His practice quickly became one of the most productive in the nation. The dental staff was engaged and empowered. Patients were happy ... and happy to refer others. He soon realized that he had refined a process that could help other dentists transform efficiency and patient care in their offices.  He founded Design Ergonomics (www.desergo.com) in 1993 to Design, Equip, and Train the best dental offices across North America. The company has since grown to become the largest independent dental office designer in the United States as it works towards its goal of creating the best dental practice in every town in North America. To learn more about how Design Ergonomics will make your dental office a fun, easy and productive place to work, subscribe to www.youtube.com/designequiptrain.

In this episode of The Double Your Production Podcast, Dr. John Meis and Wendy Briggs sit down with Dr. Travis Campbell, a dental insurance expert and dentist who teaches teams how to navigate the complexities of insurance.  Known as “the dental insurance guy”, Dr. Campbell understands the nuances of insurance and helps practices get fewer denials and make more money in insurance reimbursements. In this episode, you’ll learn: Common insurance myths and what the insurance laws and contracts actually say How to navigate underhanded insurance tactics and get your claims paid How to anticipate incorrect EOBs (and what to do about it) Where to find up-to-date laws in your area regarding insurance Simple ways to improve your documentation (how detailed notes, charts, and photos can help you get better reimbursement)

It’s easy to take the simple things in life for granted, like breathing. Breathing is so simple, that we don’t even think about it. Yet, if we don’t breathe well, we don’t sleep well, and we don’t live well because our health falls apart. In this episode of the Double Your Production Podcast, we’re discussing new developments in dental sleep medicine that can be life-changing for you and your patients. Listen now to discover: How to open the adult airways permanently (without CPAP or RPEs) Why treating sleep disorders in your practice is the next “Align-type” technology What nearly 60 peer-reviewed papers reveal about new sleep disorder treatments The overnight “ring” for diagnosing sleep disorders that any practitioner can offer Why most dentists fail at offering to treat airways (and how to avoid it) And much more …

It seems like every doctor we talk to these days has a similar problem: they’re struggling with finding and building a team. We’re seeing signs on front desks saying, “Please sign in and have a seat. We’re short-staffed today.” So, what’s the solution? In this episode of the Double Your Production Podcast, Dr. John Meis and Wendy Briggs are sitting down with team performance expert, Daren Baird. Daren has consulted with some of the top dentists in the US as well as Fortune 500 companies and brings a new, valuable perspective to team building in dental practices. With his vast experience, he’s able to see things differently and solve team problems faster. Listen now to discover: Why some practices are growing by leaps and bounds after Covid, while others struggle How to avoid common (and costly) hiring mistakes How one missing conversation is likely at the root of nearly all your staffing problems How to make sure your staff show up physically AND mentally (the secret is to “tend”) And much more …

What can a champion figure skater teach you about success in a dental practice? It turns out, a lot. Because winning an Olympic medal is much like building a winning practice. What are the secrets? Find out in our exclusive interview with U.S. Olympic medalist, Nancy Kerrigan. You’ll discover: The life-changing magic of self-belief Why you cannot be a champion without a team to support you How c – – – – -, p- – – – – – -, and m- – – – – – are keys to your growth Priceless lessons from adversity that you don’t want to learn yourself (Nancy did for you) How to stop the doubters from wrecking your future And much more …

Did you know… Between 70% and 80% of dentists don’t have a tax strategy. And if you’re among them, you’re probably throwing away money that you could be investing for retirement. Why work harder and longer than you have to? In this episode of the Double Your Production Podcast, you’ll discover: The biggest tax deduction on the planet for dentists How to legally boost profit margins from 35% to 50% Why the “tax punches” you don’t see coming hurt the worst How to keep your best employees with clever benefit packages Why buying vs. leasing your auto can save you thousands And much more …

Can better patient care really lead to more profitability (even during Omicron, with staff shortages, cancels, and fails)? Yes, it can. How? That’s the subject of today’s episode of the Double Your Production Podcast. Listen and you’ll find the surprising keys to profitability as we take a deep dive into Dr. John’s new book, Cracking The Code. (Plus, there’s a free copy waiting for you at the end of the episode.) Listen to discover: The critical difference between production and profitability How to tell if your hygiene is hopelessly outdated The 3 keys to profitability Why most practices spend too much on marketing (and where to reinvest those dollars) How to get your free copy of my new book

Is growing your practice fun? If not, you’re doing it wrong. Today’s episode is special because our guest is Dr. Ed O’Flaherty, based in Dublin, Ireland. The traditional practice in Ireland has only one or two treatment rooms, maybe 6 at most. But Dr. O’Flaherty has 16 ops. So, he’s doing things very differently in an environment where growing a practice is more challenging than in North America. In this conversation, you’ll learn: How to grow your practice in a city or state that doesn’t support you How to find where 80% of your patients come from (so you can scale with precision) Why having extra ops is like having extra cash registers in a supermarket How to get the highest yield per square foot when renovating or building a practice (hint: it does NOT need to be over the top)

Yes, you can produce $60,000 in one afternoon. And, you can do it without sacrificing patient care. That’s the subject of today’s episode of the Double Your Production Podcast. Listen now to discover: The blueprint for a $60k “open house” that your patients will love How to market your event (Tik-Tok? Facebook? The answers may surprise you) Invisalign? Implants? How to make it fun and exciting for patients How to attract new patients at a retirement community And more

Is your practice behind schedule almost every day? Are you rushing from one patient to the next? Does it take weeks before you can fit a new patient in? If you answered yes just once, you’re not alone. And while there’s no such thing as a perfect schedule, you can make progress. You can see more patients, with fewer headaches, without risking a loss of patient flow, production, and profitability. How? That’s the subject of today’s episode of the Double Your Production Podcast. You’ll discover: The 4 keys to efficient scheduling How to really know if you have capacity problems Powerful ways to maximize productivity 6 ways to expand your capacity (the right way) And more.

Today, burnout among dentists and their teams is at an all-time high.  For that reason, you might think that now is the wrong time to drive change in your practice. However, the right kind of change may actually save your practice from that burnout (without losing patient flow, team members, or profitability).  That’s the subject of today’s episode of the Double Your Production Podcast.  Listen now to discover:   How to implement change without compromising your core values  The importance of communicating the “why” behind all effective changes  The key to getting amazing results right out of the gate  The 5 steps to creating lasting change in your practice And more

Ever feel like dropping all insurance? For some doctors, it can be the right thing to do. But for others, it’s not (especially if you drop a carrier based on emotional decisions instead of hard data).  So, how can you make the right choices about insurance without risking a loss of patient flow, production, and profitability? That’s the subject of today’s episode of the Double Your Production Podcast.  Listen now to discover: How to avoid costly “knee jerk” decisions about insurance   The only way to tell patients you’re dropping a provider How to remain profitable after a 20% cut in reimbursements   When insurance is helpful to your practice, when it’s not, and how to make changes

Did you know… for every $1 in production you’re getting now, there’s another $1.40 waiting for you? To get that additional $1.40, simply put your overdue patients on the schedule. That’s according to the latest stats from Dental Intelligence. So, how do you get those overdue patients to schedule? That’s the subject of today’s episode of the Double Your Production Podcast. We’re diving into: The 140% increase in production that’s hidden in your practice and how to recall the 56% of all patients who are overdue The best time of day to call patients to get them on the schedule Why 22.4 calls are needed to schedule patients (and how to bypass this problem)

Offering your own dental plan is a great way to increase patient retention, but many practices are doing it wrong. Some practices hire it out to other companies to create and manage, but revenue goes into the outsourced company’s pockets. Other practices benefit plans end up being just a one-time discount on service and struggle to maintain retention. In today’s episode of the Double Your Production Podcast, Paul Lowry of Dental Menu speaks with Dr. John and Wendy about the pitfalls to watch for when offering a dental membership or benefit plan to patients. Listen now to get insight into how dental practices can easily create, offer, and manage their own dental benefits plan.