Motivating your patients: marketing dental services

In most industrialized countries the issues of unemployment or under-employment are becoming more critical for the members of the dental associations. In some countries this is creating greater competition between the private practitioners and public health dentists as well as between private dental practitioners themselves. Modern marketing, especially service marketing theory and models, can provide dentists and dental associations with tools to improve their position in relation to patients, political decision makers and other public agencies. However, marketing has to be understood correctly as a philosophy providing a means of approaching the establishing, maintaining and enhancing patient or customer relationships and not as a narrowly defined set of tools. As long as marketing is considered to be external campaigns, such as advertising and not much else, it is bound to fail. Other dimensions of marketing, such as interactive marketing and internal marketing, are of much greater importance to dental practitioners.     

Is your dental practice a profitable business?

Many dentists are unaware whether their dental practices are profitable businesses. A method to assess dental practice profitability, by determining percentage return on investment (% ROI), is described. The method involves analyzing and adjusting prepared financial statements for a practice, estimating the fair market value of the practitioner's professional and managerial efforts in the practice, and estimating the fair market value of the practice assets. Interpretation of the % ROI determination is discussed.     

Internal marketing of the dental practice

A sound internal marketing or patient relations program is the foundation for a successful dental practice. In this article the author defines internal marketing as it applies to today's society and gives guidelines for establishing a program in the dental office that will relate to patients and meet their individual needs.     

Four ways to ensure a successful future for your dental practice

Practices must concentrate on optimizing their financial performance regardless of what economic conditions prevail. Even with signs of an economic turnaround, the 4 areas of your practice highlighted in this article demand your focus. Levin Group is seeing a nationwide breakdown in many of these 4 areas. Proper planning and organization with the appropriate management structure and systems can avoid these issues and keep your practice operating at maximum productivity and profitability.     

Management and marketing for the general practice dental office

This article reviews trends in the dental marketplace. Marketing is an essential element of dentistry. Communicating treatment options with patients is one aspect of marketing. Treatment planning helps patients understand the relationships between oral health, occlusion, temporomandibular joint function, and systemic health. Through marketing, dental practice owners inform patients of ever-changing treatment modalities. Understanding treatment options allows patients to make better, informed choices. More options leads to a higher level of care and more comprehensive dental treatment. Managing a practice requires tracking its financial health. Economic statistics measure the effect of management decisions that mark the direction of a dental practice.