How To Turn Downtime Into Productive, Practice-Building Preparation During The Coronavirus Crisis

by Alison McPhail

I’m a Friendly Benco Rep in New Jersey, and while my customers’ practices are temporarily grinding to a halt, that doesn’t mean the next few weeks have to go to waste. There are plenty of big and little things you can do now to make your practice stronger when it reopens. In addition, there are pesky chores (like #1, below) that you have an opportunity to check off your to-do list now, so they won’t get in the way when patients who postponed their treatment flood your office to catch up.

#1:

Shock your water lines.

I often hear that offices wait to shock water lines during holidays because it takes a full 24 hours. Well, now’s a great time to get that done.

Here are some things to remember:

• Each chair must meet the EPA standard of under 500 CFU/ml bacteria count.

• Bottles Water Reservoir: EVERY 90 days shock each chair water and test.

• Municipal Source: Test each dental chair every 30 days; if water fails to meet the under 500 CFU/ml, convert to water bottle system and shock every 90 days. Here are some water testing kits to consider:

Also, after shocking units: if you have bottle systems, I recommend the below filtration cartridges. They are changed every 12 months and eliminate the need to shock your system every 90 days. You can purchase them for bottle systems, which you can easily install yourself. (If you have municipal water, you will need a technician to install in your j-box.)

#2:

Analyze your practice.

Benco Dental has partnered with Dental Intelligence to offer a FREE evaluation of your practice’s performance. Dental Intelligence is software that syncs with Open Dental, Dentrix, Eaglesoft, and others to create useable reports that help you increase your practice’s productivity. It even creates specific reports for your morning huddle, so the whole team understands what daily goals are expected of them. (Not doing a morning huddle? Try it for a month!)

Benco is offering a Dental Intelligence Growth Report (a $500 value) at NO CHARGE!  It will analyze new patients vs active patients, total hygiene recall, and much more. Why not take advantage? There’s no obligation. If you’re interested in learning more, feel free to reach out to your own Friendly Benco Rep (assuming she’s not me!).

#3:

Change your practice management software. Seriously.

The thought of changing practice management software can be overwhelming, especially when you run a busy practice. I know so many customers are dissatisfied with their current practice management software but are afraid to change because of office disruption. Benco has partnered with Open Dental, and everything can be done remotely. Open Dental is the fastest growing practice management software because it’s easier to use and much less expensive than other leading brands. Now is a important time to cut expenses where possible, and Open Dental allows you to do just that, without sacrificing performance.  

#4:

Collect ‘In Person’ CE credits…from home.

Are you practicing social distancing? Or stuck in the house with kids home from school? Or sheltering in place? If you are, I’m so sorry and wish you the very best.) Benco is proud to partner with Dental Nachos to offer online CE credits for both dentists and team members. Benco customers can earn ‘in-person’ CE credits from HOME 24/7 ‘in-person’ CE’s can be purchased for team members and dentists through Benco Dental.

Item# 5524-390 $147.00 TEAM MEMBERS (ASSISTANTS/HYGIENISTS)

Item# 5524-372 $395.00 DENTISTS

#5:

Complete OSHA/HIPPA training via Dental Enhancements.

Benco Dental has partnered with Dental Enhancements for webinar training with your whole office, and will get you up to compliance in no time. Let us know if you are interested in finding out what package best suits your office. There’s no getting around it, so now might be the time to do it the easy way through Dental Enhancements.

#6:

Join Benco Select.

Click the link and check it out. My customers love it…you will too. This is a great new program that we rolled out early last year, similar to Amazon Prime. It’s by far the most comprehensive loyalty program in dentistry. For our $99 (this fee is waived for Seattle Study Club members), your get great benefits like:

• FREE SHIPPING on orders over $100.

• Automatic discounts of 10% or more!

• Earn 1.5 BluChip rewards points on merchandise, equipment, & service. Not sure what BluChips are? Ask me or one of your friends who are also Benco customers; they will most likely tell you that they take hundreds of dollars on equipment purchases by redeeming BluChips.

• Automatic Buy/ Gets: all buy/gets are automatically processed through our software, so there’s no more looking for these from your reps.

#7:

Clean up your inventory. 

So often, offices are too busy to really sit down and go through their current inventory. Two years ago, I saw an assistant pull out over 100 expired compules of material. That’s money going down the drain! Now’s the ideal time to tighten up. My fellow Friendly Benco Reps and I are happy to help you clean out the expired materials, re-tag your inventory system, and set up protocols to keep the system running smoothly. Why not take us up on the offer? That’s what we’re here for.

#8:

Upgrade your welcoming space.

We used to call it a waiting room. If that’s how your patients see it, let’s transform it into something special instead, a place they’ll look forward to being. This is a great time to consider investing a little TLC and time into your reception area. Patient experience is so important to your practice. I personally love my dentist’s waiting room. I feel relaxed there and confident about the treatment I’m receiving. Let me help you make the most of your budget and reimagine every patient’s first impression of your practice. A can of paint, a few hours and maybe a few new pieces of furniture and accessories is all it takes. Plus, Benco is the only Herman Miller dealer in dentistry…that’s the famous maker of beautiful, exceptionally crafted and long-lasting furniture that patients will absolutely love.

9:

Improve your patient experiences.

There are teeny tiny little investments you can make to make patients feel like they’re being upgraded from coach to first class. For example, I remember my sister went to see a new dentist. All she talked about was the warm towel they gave her while she was in the chai…she felt like she was at a spa. And she recommended that her husband and two friends switch!  As it turns out, Benco sells those exact towels. They retail for less than 50¢ each, and come in lavender, peach, lemon, and unscented.

#10:

Add retail to your practice.

Your patients are buying electric toothbrushes, water flossers and whitening from drug stores or online. If you think about it, that’s crazy. Dentistry needs to think like opticians and combine exam and product under one roof.

Let us help create a promotional plan for your office. Did you know that if you spiff your team members, average offices sell 4X times as much retail? Retail can pay your office rent, your WIFI or even cover the cost of toilet paper in your bathroom (which has become a luxury these days). 

Some great ideas I got from my recent national sales meeting:

• Offer an electric toothbrush to first-time patients or as a referral gift.

• If the patient buys an electric toothbrush from you, give them a free brush head refill pac every time they return for their 6-month follow up appointment.

• Reward team members with $5 (or whatever)  for every electric toothbrush or water flosser they sell. I know, I know, you don’t want to create that “type of environment,” but you will sell 4Xs more and your assistant/ hygienist will be happy. Plus, your patients are walking out with a superior product. Optometrists don’t worry that their patients are going to be sold eyeglasses as soon as they’re done with their exam…why should you feel any differently about dental products?

This is a difficult time, but I hope I gave you at least one idea you can put to use and make this slow period more constructive and less stressful. Dental practices won’t be closed forever, and making some positive changes now can make it even more exciting when the time comes to reopen. Good luck!