Thinking Ahead: A Proactive, Resilient Approach to Dental Practice Management in 2023

As 2023 begins, the dental industry faces some interesting challenges and trends. While people are visiting their dentists for preventive care, those visits haven’t returned to pre-2020 levels. Inflation is also affecting dental cost trends, with labor and supply expenses increasing. But dental practice consolidations remain strong, yielding more leverage for negotiating higher reimbursement rates.

To help you not just survive but thrive this year, we’ve compiled a list of trends, complete with suggestions on setting long- and short-term strategies.

Addressing the Staffing Shortage

Many dental practices still find themselves facing staffing shortages. A Levin Group Annual Practice Survey found that about 65% of dental practices hoped to hire a minimum of one additional team member in 2021, for example. Pair that statistic with the approximately 10% of dental hygienists who’ve left the profession since 2020, and you can see the potentially negative effect on productivity and efficiency, daily operations, and the stress and anxiety levels of the remaining personnel.

If you’re hiring staff in 2023, consider any (or all!) of these strategies.

• Advertise online — but use thoughtful, creative copy to set your ads apart from the competition. Highlight what makes your practice a great place to work. Focus on career opportunities, your practice’s mission, and its supportive environment.
• Offer signing bonuses that are robust enough to attract well-qualified candidates. By attracting people who bring a depth of experience, you’ll save time and money with onboarding and training, too.
• Cross-train your team to account for high employee churn. When your front- or back-of-house staff is cross-trained, your practice sees less disruption should someone leave.
• Reward tenured staff with longevity bonuses for five-, 10-, 15- and 20 years, which helps keep them motivated — and working for you.
• Consider offering part-time employment options to current employees who may need to reduce hours (which is better than losing them completely). Reach out to former employees with a part-time hire opportunity. This strategy can generate the coverage your practice needs.

Addressing Staff Burnout

The past two years have been difficult, to say the least — especially within the healthcare and dental industry. The World Health Organization (WHO) now recognizes burnout as an occupational phenomenon that deserves attention, preferably through preventative measures. Dental personnel suffering from anxiety, burnout, fatigue, or stress become less effective and are more likely to quit. Fortunately, there are solutions to help alleviate that stress and prevent burnout.

• Champion self-care by not just talking the talk, but walking the walk! In other words, encourage your team to get proper sleep, nutrition, and exercise — and model it by taking the time to prioritize these things for yourself, too.
• Take those days off, and give your team downtime, too. Some companies have incorporated “Can’t do it” days, offering employees two or three days per year a day they can take to recharge and refresh.
• Prioritize your team’s mental and physical health and well-being, too. Treat them to a monthly breakfast or lunch. Stock the break room with snacks and drinks. Encourage everyone to use their vacation time. Schedule regular 10 to 15-minute check-ins with each team member to see how they’re doing and identify any needs or concerns.

Shrinking Dental Insurance Reimbursements

Although we’re seeing inflation throughout various economic sectors, many dental insurance companies have opted not to tweak their reimbursements with inflation adjustments. Unfortunately, supplies, staffing, and other operational costs continue to rise, so dental practices feel the pinch even more.

According to Segal, the trends for dental coverage remain about the same in 2023 as they did in 2022 — and very similar to pre-pandemic levels, too.

• Dental Schedule of Allowance plans: 2.3% in 2022 and 3.8% in 2023.
• Dental Fee-for-Service/Indemnity plans: 3.4% in 2022 and 4.0% in 2023.
• Dental Provider Organization (DPO) plans: 3.1% in 2022 and 4.0% in 2023.
• Dental Maintenance Organization (DMO) plans: 3.0% in 2022 and 3.5% in 2023.

Your practice could increase its fees — and your budget may require you to do so. But there are other strategies to consider, too, which might allow you to keep your fee increases small.

• Adopt an accelerated scheduling model that allows the dentist to move between rooms, each staffed with its own full-time hygienist. When you optimize patient flow, productivity increases. For this approach to work, make sure you’re also providing ongoing professional development for your dental assistants.
• Schedule longer appointments, which serve a twofold purpose: they enable your teams to handle multiple treatments, and many patients may prefer the ability to have everything they need completed at once, rather than having to make multiple trips. Plus, longer appointments usually yield higher production and revenue.
• Offer same-day-treatment, which helps your practice reach its daily production goal.
• Determine the number of new patients your practice can support, and use various outreach methods, including advertising and recommendations from current patients, to connect with — and schedule — new patients.
• Build in time to accept same-day emergency patients, which also adds to production.
• Evaluate your scheduling system by conducting a procedural time study. If you find ways to trim 10 minutes per hour, you’re saving the equivalent of two months per year (based on a four-day workweek) and that number generates — over a 36-year career — an additional six years of production time!

The key to success in 2023 and beyond? To be a proactive, resilient leader. Learn more about how MDent Consulting can help you build and maintain a successful dental practice.