Question : Does your Dental Practice know the Three Keys to Increased Profitability?
Three Keys to
Increased Profitability
By Charlie Holley
Until recently, discussion of the profit motive in dental practices was verboten, in seeming opposition to the highest standards in care. Those tides have now turned. Third generation dentist Roger Levin, DDS, MBA, says in his March 2004 JADA article that, “Clinical excellence and an efficiently operated business only complement rather than contradict one another.”

The Impact of Supply Chain On Profit

Your office managers take care of getting the gloves and burrs, and perhaps you weigh in on equipment orders. This seemingly innocuous back-office business costs the average dental office $ 43,710 annually, according to the ADA 2002 Report—that’s 6.2% of the average annual gross. Of course, the actual cost of your “dental supply chain” should be increased by 20 to 30% because of “hidden costs” that you may tock up to labor, such as:
•Negotiating better prices
•Transmitting orders to your dental supplier or suppliers
•Meeting with your representative
•Shipping charges
•Handling mistakes

Some dental practices even pay a premium because they didn’t have time to research the best price. By implementing the three keys to increased profitability in your supply chain, you can save an average of $ 87,420 over the next decade. (That’s saving an average of 20% based on ADA figures.)

Cap Labor Costs

Ordering dental supplies takes time—sometimes a lot of time. One emerging best practices is to use online catalogs to manage orders because:
1)Prices are always up to date.
2)Inventory is assured.
3)No time is wasted flipping through paper pages of outdated paper catalogs.
4)Pricing is evident—no special tiers because of your status with the supplier.

Look for an online dental supplier with easy shopping carts and clear order paths that minimize click-throughs. Excellent search features and product pictures are also
important—these details trim the time it takes to place orders so your team can get back to taking care of patients.

Get The Best Price

Dental suppliers all promise some flavor of the best price. But can you be sure? It takes time to research pricing and that can almost negate the benefit of price research.
Dental practices no longer have to be caught unraveling this Gordian knot—slice it with a supplier that provides a sharp price guarantee. Of course, I’m partial to Carson Dental (www.carsondental.com). I designed our 105% price guarantee not to gouge the profitability out of the dental supply industry, but to promise dentists that price is not the issue—let’s focus on patient service and quality care.
Eliminate Non-value Added Layers

In the traditional dental supply chain, you find:
•the hygienist or assistant that uses the material and creates the order
•the supplier representative that takes the order
•the customer service rep at the traditional supplier that enters the order
•the picker that pulls your order from inventory
•the shipping clerk that sends it out

By leveraging online ordering, several steps in the supply chain can be eliminated. Consider your sales representative, once uniquely positioned to transmit crucial information between your practice and your supplier. Now, that role is mitigated by online ordering systems that:
•are available when you need them—ideally 24/7 like www.carsondental.com
•provide technological as well as human support—such as an staffed 1-800 numbers
•guarantee best price, period
•provide written confirmation of transactions
•guarantee arrivals with written confirmations

Carson Dental is, to my knowledge, the only national dental supplier designed with these best-practice parameters in mind— so you can focus on patient care without compromise.

About the author:
Charlie Holley is founder and president of Carson Dental, the premier online dental supply company. Find out more at http://www.carsondental.com/
dental office design

Best answer:

Answer by Julie
Probably one of my favorite in increasing leads is acquiring a toll free service.