So here’s the thing… A patient in his 50s, on 2 antidepressants and another med for CV disease, breathing through his mouth at night because of a mouth appliance and experiencing recurrent decay. Even with Prevora’s protection. What else might be happening to challenge this topical drug? Well, sucking on throat lozenges on a frequent … Read more
Imagine if you shopped at Walmart and there was only one size of sweater, one variety of milk, or when you went to buy cereal, all it carried was Corn Flakes.And you grumbled to yourself that you would like some prices more in keeping with your family’s budget and needs.That is the approach taken, by … Read more
The key to improving patient satisfaction…… People are porous. They tend to absorb and reflect the atmosphere and motions around them. According to Nobel Prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman, we experience approximately 20,000 individual moments in a waking day. Each moment may only last a few seconds, but each is important. Dr. John Gottman’s pioneer research … Read more
Most independent dental practitioners have their own practice websites, and chances are that you are one of them. Some dentists have installed customized software programs for more effective communication and data storage. Web based solutions and technologies have also evolved rapidly in recent years to provide improved storage, backup and access of data in comparison … Read more
American doctors will increasingly be paid according to the outcome of the healthcare services they deliver. Just seeing the patient will no longer be sufficient for payment by the insurer or Medicare/Medicaid. Rather, it is the results from medical services which matter. Recently, a panel of federal government and insurers released seven groups of measures, … Read more
Paradox = conflicting or contradictory trends. So what might be the paradox in dental services? On the one hand we have this movement to cosmetic care. A recent survey conducted by the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry says that more and more dental practices are conducting this kind of care. 74% of respondents said they … Read more
The March 3, 2016 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine has a provocative article called “Uber’s message for healthcare”. The thrust of this article is summarized below by the Kaiser Foundation: “Unreliable service, inconvenience, uncomfortable surroundings, and high prices make customers unhappy, and given the opportunity, they will go elsewhere. Uber, Silicon Valley’s … Read more
What new challenges are you willing to face every day to ensure continued growth and prosperity for your business? Who are the key players on the team that determine the success of your day? These are all unconscious questions that you probably ask yourself on a regular basis. However, unconscious competence begins with mastering conscious competence … Read more
IRVINE, Calif. – BIOLASE, Inc., (NASDAQ: BIOL) the global leader in dental lasers, announced today the unveiling of the BIOLASE Learning Center, a state-of-the-art learning facility designed to provide a comprehensive laser training experience for dental professionals. The new learning center will allow BIOLASE to offer more laser training courses on-site at its headquarters in Irvine. … Read more
Very recently, there have been 2 announcements in the US about training physicians and nurse practitioners to look after oral health problems. The first announcement emanated from the University of California at San Francisco and the latter announcement from Harvard and Northeastern Universities. Serious stuff. The reasons behind this development appear to be twofold: (a) … Read more
Discover the power of the right words……. The vocabulary you use plays a powerful role in whether your patients choose to accept the treatment they need. In Transitions Group’s experience with coaching hundreds of dental practices across North America, we have found these key phrases to be very valuable: We now know … Latest research … Read more
If you are planning to buy a software package to increase automation and improve the efficiency of operations at your dental office, consider the following tips: Choose a Web Based Package You will usually have the option to purchase a desktop based software package or a web based one. The web based software will offer … Read more
A new study reports that among American individuals newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, a periodontal intervention is associated with lower total healthcare costs (-$1799), lower total medical costs excluding pharmacy costs (-$1577), and lower total type 2 diabetes-related healthcare costs (-$408). The study will be published in the next quarter so details are not … Read more
A new report shows that more user-pay has little influence on comparison shopping for medical care. Even with “skin in the game” via high-deductible health plans, Americans did not normally seek out cheaper medical services.Instead, they simply avoided shopping for medical care altogether, and in many cases, failed to get preventive care. Canadian insurers and … Read more
A recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine summarized various initiatives in the US to improve the delivery of cancer care by examining all procedures (including drugs) for: safety, effectiveness, patient-centeredness, timeliness, efficiency, and equity. The thrust of this assessment is to improve treatment outcomes, to pay for those procedures and drugs which have … Read more
The purpose of marketing is to guide and direct the patient to make value based decisions that satisfy their lifestyle needs as well as improve their health. To accomplish this you need to examine what is important and most appealing to your ideal patients. Begin by knowing the demographics of your target market, their values … Read more
Last month, I posted a blog entitled “How often for dental x-rays?” The thrust of the blog was a new study which showed that visual inspection of the teeth by the dentist was as accurate a method of determining caries as dental x-rays. This is also the position of the US Food and Drug Administration. … Read more
In his popular new book “Happy Gut,” Dr. Vincent Pedre argues that chronic health problems can often be traced to the digestive system and fixed by changing the microbes in our gut. An upset digestive system is, according to Dr. Pedre, an imbalance between the good and bad bugs in the gut, including bacteria, yeasts … Read more
The easiest and most effective way to highlight your commitment to oral health… Last week, we discussed that the future growth of the hygiene department is based on the foundational truth that oral health is the gateway to overall body wellness. You can’t have a healthy body without a healthy mouth. When you consider the … Read more