Business Of Dentistry with Dr. Russell Kirk

What are you doing to generate internal referrals? If you haven’t really thought about internal referrals or the system you are using isn’t working as expected, you’re in luck! This week I am talking on the topic of internal referral systems. I'll be completely transparent with you, in the past I’ve primarily focused on external marketing or cold marketing, if you will. Sure, we’ve had regular referrals from patients, but unrelated to any internal referral system strategy we may or may not have.  As a practice owner I decided it was time to create a strategy for internal referrals. Some of what I learned was surprising, like the cost to acquire a patient from an internal referral or from another patient is so much less than traditional marketing efforts. On today’s episode I’ll be discussing the benefits of internal referrals systems, some of the reasons we disregard setting them up, and some steps to set up referral systems for success in your practice.   In this episode, you’ll hear: The benefits of settin

I've talked about burnout and how the dentistry profession can grind us down. It's a difficult profession. We oftentimes feel isolated and jaded. It can be a daily occurrence or more of an ebb and flow. I have learned how to become aware of when this is happening. I’ve also learned that one way to take a step back and relax is to have a hobby. I am a fan of Stoicism and Stoic philosophers. I am also a huge fan of Ryan Holiday. One of the things he recently talked about was how successful people have hobbies. He honed in on Winston Churchill and how painting helped him disconnect from the stress and requirements of being Prime Minister of England during World War II. So, Ryan really gave me a moment of pause to think more about hobbies. How can having a hobby help dental professionals disconnect from the daily grind? How can we as dentists enjoy a hobby without letting work creep into our mind? When you are enjoying a hobby, do you actually feel detached from work? I explore these questions and more, on this w

This week I am joined by a much-anticipated guest on the show. I welcome Dr. Bryan Stimmler. We share not only a love of dentistry but also a passion for the practice of the martial art Jiu-Jitsu. There are some wonderful similarities between practicing Jiu-Jitsu and living life… and we’ll discuss those in this episode. As a dental student, have you stressed out over grades and focused on just learning a procedure to be able to move along to the next class? Bryan and I discuss education and our common belief that we need to take a different approach to education. There should be more of an emphasis on looking at what you are doing in class as preparing you for the work you will be doing in life and not just focusing on the pass/fail grade. Honing and mastering our skills is where our focus should be because we practice on human beings who need our expertise. We sometimes only have one opportunity to do a procedure for someone, and we need to get it right.  Speaking of education, many dental practices face com

This week I am taking a break from interview episodes and instead, I am flying solo. I wanted to talk about some lessons I recently learned while being a spectator at my son’s baseball game. Yes, baseball. You may be thinking, well, baseball to dentistry, that’s kind of a stretch. On the surface it seems like it.  When it comes to both professions, we have to learn to filter out a lot of the noise (from spectators, supervisors, or team players), differentiate between useful and non-useful information, and my favorite parallel, learn to seek out someone in the field to help guide and mentor us. And when it comes to mentoring, how do you know who to choose? How do you evaluate potential mentors? In this episode, I touch on all of these topics and more.  In this episode, you’ll hear: Differentiating between useful and non-useful information Things to consider when evaluating and choosing a potential mentor Why a mentor’s background and achievements are important A thought about communication styles How to ask

Are you tired of taking time away from work and family to attend conferences? Are you looking for an easier way to learn a new skill? This week I welcome Blake McClellan to the show to discuss his software, Implant Compare. This is a new method of dental education, live streaming surgeries, lectures, and courses to provide students and other viewers with a new perspective for their continued education. With so much technology to leverage in today’s world, this online platform provides a way for educators to present their information to students - and nobody has to travel. For example, a doctor can live stream a procedure on their own channel, one that is similar to a YouTube channel, and expose their students to a real case...one that may not be perfect. By seeing the real challenges of a case, students learn from the best perspective on how to adapt to a situation and resolve the issue. Blake emphasizes the need for community as we share our information. This platform offers just that. It is a way to reach o

Is your inventory management causing you some issues? Are you looking for a better tool to manage all of the “stuff” in your practice? This week on The Business of Dentistry I welcome Dr. Paul Bhatti. He has created an inventory management software titled “Sowingo” which is changing the way dental offices are managing their inventory.  Sowingo provides the clinical team with a way to organize and streamline their process for tracking inventory and open up time for other purposes. Lost inventory is lost money. When we consider how much is wasted in our offices due to expiration dates, the costs can be staggering. In fact, millions of dollars worth of products are lost each year. And we also lose money as staff members spend their time tracking inventory by hand when they could be using their talents elsewhere in the office, perhaps helping to increase revenue. This software tracks general inventory, medications, and implants and has modules to track things such as certifications and safety data sheets as well.

Burnout is alive and well in our profession. Studies show that 7%, and as high 21% of dentists struggle with the symptoms of practice burnout.           These dentists feel drained. They complain of chronic tiredness.  They suffer from mental fatigue. They deal with frazzled emotions. They start to see patients as "procedures" rather than people. Cynicism reigns their life.          It is common for these colleagues to seek isolation. At first, they turn away from their team and patients. This can expand to friends and family.  They suffer in silence. They can drift into substance abuse as a means to cope.       Adding to these problems, they start to blame themselves.  They devalue their self worth and feel a lack of personal achievement.  They feel as if they offer no value to others. Every time they hear the phrase, "no offense, I hate dentists,"  it reinforces this belief.         This downward spiral starts to take its toll.  It starts with the dentist. But begins to impact the dental practice.  Lost pat

Have you found yourself going through your days, seeing patients, but wishing you were actually handling a different kind of patient workload? That’s the situation that my guest this week, Dr. Brian Harris, found himself in. He found that he really enjoyed doing cosmetic cases over any other kind of patient case and wanted to increase his patient cosmetic base. That’s when he decided to reach out to potential patients virtually. He came up with a new system, Smile Virtual, as a way to reach out to potential patients. Today, he is sharing this amazing new program with all of us.  If you’re ready to practice the way you want to practice and work the way you want to work, his virtual consult platform may be able to help you create the workload of your dreams. Your practice can change.  Today, Dr. Harris explains how virtual consulting is removing barriers with new clients and saving practitioners precious time that can be spent the way they want to spend it.  Are you ready to take a step on the path to doing thi

This week on The Business of Dentistry, Gerry McGoldrick, Chief Marketing Officer of Kleer, joins me to talk about how dentists can create customized dental membership plans for their practice. On average, 20 to 30% of dental practices patients are uninsured and they're only coming in every other year. How can practices help this specific patient base without hurting their own bottom line? Enter Kleer, a cloud-based platform, where dentists can easily design, implement, and manage their own dental membership plan.  In today’s episode, Gerry shares how Kleer originated and who they serve. Plus, you’ll hear the benefits of creating your own membership plan, how their system works, and how it helps uninsured clientele. If you’ve been wondering how to answer the question, “How do I serve my uninsured patients better and still make money?” then this is an episode you won’t want to miss.  In this episode, you’ll hear: Some key benefits and features of Kleer How financing works for specialists as opposed to genera

On this episode of The Business of Dentistry, I had the pleasure of chatting with Dr. Casey Culberson. He likes to “work hard but play hard, too!” This is a great way to live, as we all need to have favorite pastimes to reduce the stress in our lives. Speaking of reducing stress, Dr. Culberson has created a way for phobic patients to take their mind off of dental procedures while at the office, which we discuss in today’s episode.  Dr. Culberson recognized a need for entertaining for his patients while they received treatment, and now with his new invention, he is helping to calm phobic patients in many dental offices too. In this episode, you will hear about his Molar Media Mount, what it is, how he invented it, and how he is using it in his practice today.  You’ll also hear about the benefits of shared office space and how a change in perspective helped him manage his practice in a new way.   In this episode, you’ll hear: The benefits of a shared office space, plus some ways to use your time most efficien

This episode of The Business of Dentistry discusses an incredible opportunity for dental professionals to explore: the often undiagnosed disease of sleep apnea and its treatment options. My guest, Michael Cowen, and his business partner, Chad Wooters, discuss how their platform, Awaken2Sleep, is changing dental practices across the country. Chances are, you have many, many patients coming through your practice who are suffering from sleep apnea and may not even know it. This program can empower you to help the patients who entrust themselves to your care. In this episode, we discuss their educational program and how it can be utilized in your practice. This program is designed not only for the doctors but also for the dental office team. By educating your staff, you are equipping the entire office to help patients. As Michael notes, they have “created a platform for doctors to be heroes for patients.” Do you have any idea how lucrative this segment of your offered services could be? You may be very surprised

Part 1 of our Burnout series. This week we talk about how to recognize burnout with its multifaceted features.

After a long hiatus, the Business of Dentistry is back.  As a re-launch episode, I figured we would start off talking everyone's favorite - hate mail.   

Outside of my family, the two things that I’m the most comfortable and passionate talking about are dentistry and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Today I want to share with all of you a few thoughts on the lessons I’ve learned after losing a match during the jiu-jitsu tournament I had signed up for. My experience there taught me a few important things, and I later realized that these things can also translate well to my practice. So I will use these lessons in the future, both on a business and a jiu-jitsu side. When you have something go wrong, I strongly encourage you to not just quit on the first try. It may be something that will work in the future. Reorganize, regroup, come back and try it again. Key takeaways: Doing something a little uncomfortable to get out of your comfort zone Prepare, have a strategy, be ready to adjust and shift things Take ownership, give credit where credit is due, and work harder the next time

Today I have a very short episode for you. It’s all about rekindling the excitement and the fire by trying something new. I know that I haven’t posted anything in awhile, but I needed some time in order to breathe, recharge, and think deeper. Now I’m back and I’ll be having some pretty exciting guests coming on the show, so stay tuned! Key takeaways: Doing something new and exciting Taking yourself out of stagnant, dormant waters, and refreshing your mindset

Reese Harper is the founder of DentistAdvisors.com. He started working in the financial service industry in 2003, and had several business owner clients. Over time, he realized that dental practice owners were really different from the rest. Compared to his other clients, dental practice owners had a lot more financial questions, and seemed to be carrying more financial anxiety and stress. So Reese figured out that the generic solutions that the financial planning industry were providing to dentists were just not meeting their needs. Dental practice owners had a more complex financial picture, and that made him choose to work exclusively with them now. Key takeaways: Reevaluate your financial plan every year and make adjustments How much wealth do you need to have in order to make work optional? Avoid cash holdings, renegotiate your debt, and borrow against your own investments Links: Dentist Advisors Elements® Comprehensive Financial Planning The Dentist Money Show Podcast

This week I’m flying solo again. I share some practical tips that have helped me in my practice in the hope that you will feel prompted to make some changes as well. First I talk about why I find documenting my protocols very important. All these steps are very intuitive now, but I got a lot out of just writing them down and sharing them with other people. I also really think you should take a look at your credit card statements once in a while, because you might discover automatic payments that you completely forgot about. Finally, I am currently looking at implementing the agile methodology in my practice. If you’ve already done that, I’d really appreciate your feedback. You can email me at drkirk@businessofdentistrypodcast.com. Key takeaways: Look at documenting your protocols Consider reviewing your credit card statements quarterly Bringing the agile approach to the team

As promised, my guest this week is Mr. Chuck Blakeman, the author of Making Money Is Killing Your Business and Why Employees Are Always a Bad Idea. Join us for a very captivating show where we touch on some very important strategic aspects that we all tend to forget too often. Today’s lesson is that your business can really take off if you understand and apply some simple concepts. Too often we tend to get in our own way when it comes to our practices because we’re too busy trying to make money. The tyranny of the urgent wraps itself around us, while the priority of the important quietly sits in a corner waiting for us to pay attention to it. There are two types of business owners: the income producers that always need to be in their practices in order for everything to function properly, and the true business owners that can take a month off to go on holiday while they keep making money even when they’re away. After reading Mr. Blakeman’s book I re-evaluated my own situation. And after speaking to him, I fou

Full show notes at: http://businessofdentistrypodcast.com/ This week I want to touch on a few more things regarding the book I mentioned last week,  Making Money Is Killing Your Business by Chuck Blakeman in the hope that you might get a bit of practical inspiration that you can implement in your daily life. First things first, I have some great news: I have been contacted by Mr. Blakeman’s team, and I am going to have him as a guest in a few weeks. I’m very, very excited, and events like these are for me some of the hidden advantages of podcasting. So I’m going to keep you updated about that. If you happen to have any questions that you’d like me to ask Mr. Blakeman, you can send me an email at DrKirk@businessofdentistrypodcast.com. In this episode, I also speak a bit more in-depth about the tyranny of the urgent, a concept introduced by Mr. Blakeman in his book, and one that I find truly thought-provoking. So please remember that if you want to get somewhere in your professional life, it’s crucial that you

This week I want to give you a little bit of an update on what’s going on around here. I read a book that got me thinking a lot, and I recommend it to every solo practitioner out there: Making Money Is Killing Your Business, by Chuck Blakeman. Reading it makes you really reflect on the state of your business, and your long-term objectives. Personally, I realized that I would like a few things to change, and I am most likely going to bring in another surgeon to help me out. Blakeman makes some very interesting points on the so-called “tyranny of the urgent”. We can become so caught up in our daily activities, that we lose track of what we want to achieve in the long run. It’s something to keep in mind: be aware of what you really want to achieve and check yourself from time to time to see where you’re at. Finally, I’m really excited to announce that we’ve started a new digital magazine for dental practice owners, ownR Magazine. Go check it out and let me know what you think, I appreciate every piece of feedbac