DYNAMIC DATA NEWSLETTER tm MAY 2001

A complimentary e-newsletter from Linda Miles for the professional dental community.

For subscription (or unsubscription) details, as well as Miles & Associates contact information, please see the end of this newsletter.

Visit us at www.DentalManagementU.com

Dear Doctors and Staff,

As I review client monitors for the first four months of 2001 and compare them with the same months of 2000, I see tremendous increases from last year. If you have not had this 10-30% increase in your gross and net, make a list of the reasons by doing your own comparative study.

Some of the reasons for non-growth may include, but not be limited to:

Staff turnover- While this in an inevitable event for most practices, it is very costly. It is estimated that the loss of a key member means a loss of one year of that person's salary in down time, systems changes, and training time.

Dropping Insurance plans that do not meet your standard of care nor fee schedule. While this is an initial and temporary set-back, we have found that most practices work fewer days and produce more at the end of the year than those who continue to write off thousands per month. Dropping plans in a very systematic manner is of utmost importance. Making sure the practice health can support these decisions is a must.

Broken and changed appointments. If this is an ever growing problem in the practice it will certainly diminish the production. The number one cause of broken appointments is lack of communication from team to the patient about the importance of the next visit. The second biggest reason for broken and failed appointments is that patients learn to respect time to the exact degree that the office respects their time. If time management is a huge problem, I can easily estimate that this is the main reason for the patients wasting the practice's time. It is also a known fact that when a practice clears up the broken appointments they automatically clear up their accounts receivable problems. These two problems co-exist!

Many dentists look for excuses for the practice numbers to fluctuate. The economy is a major issue. Some dentists say, "my patients are afraid to make major dental decisions because their jobs are not secure". In the same town, the progressive dentists are saying, "interest rates have never been better. Patients are taking out home equity loans to fix the house and have quality dentistry done that they put off for years". Or they are saying, "my patients are afraid of losing their benefits so they are maximizing their dental care plans this year not knowing what the future holds". We all know that success and failure starts with thinking and doing things differently. Winners look for ways to succeed. Losers look for excuses to fail. Interestingly, the mind set of the leader in the practice flows to the thinking of staff and patients.

I hope 2001 is off to a dramatic year of total patient care, happy days in the office, enthusiastic staff, and greater net profits. Dentistry really can be fun, exciting and rewarding for patients, dentists and staff.

SUNFUN 2001

For those of you who sailed away with us on our April 26-30 2001 SunFun Cruise, we thank you for being with us. It was a fun-filled trip with ports of call in Key West and Cozumel. Carnival Cruise Lines went out of their way to make the trip enjoyable. Executive Travel arranged one of the best Beach Parties in all our days of sailing. For those adventurous sailors who went snorkeling and to swim with the dolphins, congratulations! Our 504 total numbers were phenomenal. Thanks to the dentists who brought their entire teams (some over 30 people!). Thanks also to the frequent SunFun offices that go with us everywhere no matter the itinerary. Many people ask where we are going in 2002 and 2003. The plans are in the works for and another cruise in 2003. We are currently looking for corporate sponsorship and will have more information as the year unfolds. My thanks to Anne Knouse and Vicki Turner, two of our Senior Consultants who assisted with mini-consults on board. If you would like to have a one hour PAC (Practice Analysis Consultation) with one of our consultants, the format is: An overview of your practice statistics and a one-hour telephone consultation with a consultant to assess your three major weaknesses. The hour will contain very valuable information on how to mend the systems or practice obstacles, not just identify them. The fee is $595 for PAC. You may fax or call with your request to become a PAC client. 800-922-0866 or fax your credit card number with PAC and your forms will be faxed back to you. 757-498-0290 (fax).

SCN 2001

As we go to press, we are astounded by the surge of registrants this past month for our 2001 Speaking and Consulting Network to be held early June in Hilton Head Island, SC. This is our annual mentoring program for those who wish to start or enhance their own speaking and consulting businesses. Our 5th Annual SCN goal was to have 30 people in Level I and another 30 in Level II for a total of 60. (The 4th Annual SCN had 46). Numbers are well over 90 people this year with a cut- off date this week. My thanks to my fantastic staff for all the behind the scenes work involved in getting the menus, workbooks, socials and nametags ready in the midst of moving our office at the end of June.

We will be announcing our new address in our next month's newsletter. It is an exciting time at LLM&A. I will be curtailing all travel for the months of mid June to mid August to move into our new house and relocate the office at the same time. With the pre-planning of my staff, we don't expect more than a day of interruption with phones and the computers.

VIRTUAL CLASSROOMS

For those who participated in the Office Administrators Virtual Classrooms every other Monday night for 16 weeks, I send my thanks. It was truly one of the best new programs I've started in 22 years of doing business. The 15 OA's became more than network pals over the course of the program. Everyone said it was the best 8 hours of CE they had participated in. Our thanks to Vicki Anderson of WA, Editor of Insurance Solutions Newsletter, for being our guest speaker for the Insurance classroom. By popular request, we are starting a 10 Week Team Virtual Classroom in September every Monday evening for 10 weeks. Two weeks will have the dentists on line, two for OA's, two for the Assistants in the same practice, two for the front desk Business Staff, and the other two weeks for Hygienists. The schedule and topics will be announced later this summer. To enroll, please call my office (800-922-0866) or fax the request for more information to 757-498-0290. The classroom format is a tele-bridge call with follow up by e-mail or faxed information. The tuition is $195 per staff member or doctor for their two weeks on-line. The first five minutes of the hour is clicking on and hellos. The seminar on a particular topic of interest is 20 minutes, 20 minutes of group interaction, and a 15 minute wrap-up of how the information will be used in each practice. Registration is limited and on a first call, first serve basis. Until next month, Happy Spring!!

Linda

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Miles & Associates 4356 Bonney Road Suite 2-103 Virginia Beach, Virginia 23452

757-498-0014 757-498-0290 FAX 800-922-0866 Toll-free www.DentalManagementU.com