May 21, 2025 • 17 mins
When’s the last time you reviewed your office policies? Regular check-ins keep your practice running smoothly and your team on the same page. In this episode, the DPH coaches share how they've updated their own policies to reflect today’s workplace, cut down stress, and avoid playing favorites.
Get tips on managing cell phone use, stopping patients who start recording in the chair, and creating policies that are fair to all employees. Plus, find out how staff discounts can strengthen your team and grow your practice!
Topics discussed in this episode:
- Evolving cell phone policies
- How to handle cell phone use by patients
- Appearance policies: tattoos, piercings, and apparel
- Creating fair, consistent policies
- The benefits of employee discounts
- Why you need updated policies in your practice
Text us your feedback! (please note: we cannot respond through this channel))
👉 Register for the Free Webinar: How 7-Figure Dentists Work 3 Days or Less… Without Working Harder
Learn the exact systems top practice owners use to increase income, reduce clinical days, and finally escape the daily grind.
Take Control of Your Practice and Your Life
We help dentists take more time off while making more money through systematization, team empowerment, and creating leadership teams.
Ready to build a practice that works for you? Visit www.DentalPracticeHeroes.com to learn more.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
As practice owners, we have lots of things that can
stress us out each and every day, and often our solutions are to
create policies around thosethings.
But which policies work andwhich ones don't?
And what are we supposed to do?
Today, myself and my DPHcoaches are going to talk about
the way our cell phone policieshave changed over the years, as
(00:23):
well as our policies aroundappearance, like tattoos and
piercings, and the surprisingway that staff discounts can
help your practice grow.
You see, policies are somethingthat we need, and we need to
review them from time to time aswell.
So if you are a practice owner,or will be one soon, this
episode is definitely worth alisten.
(00:44):
Let's get to it.
You are listening to the DentalPractice Heroes podcast, where
we teach dentists how to stepback from the chair, empower
their team and build a practicethat gives them their life back.
I'm your host, dr Paul Etcheson, dental coach, author of two
books on dental practicemanagement and owner of a large
four-doctor practice that runswith ease, while I work just one
(01:06):
clinical day a week.
If you're ready for a practicethat supports your life instead
of consuming it, you're in theright place.
My team of legendary dentalcoaches and I are here to guide
you on your path fromoverwhelmed owner to dental
practice hero.
Let's get started.
Hey, thanks so much forlistening and welcome back to
(01:27):
the Dental Practice Heroespodcast.
I am your host, dr Paul Edgison, and I'm joined today by my DPH
coaches, dr Stephen Markowitzand Dr Henry Ernst.
Henry is a two-day dentist witha very large 18-op practice and
Steve is a one-day dentist withsix practices and 68 chairs Not
that we're measuring oranything, but 68 chairs.
(01:48):
That's pretty impressive.
So today we're going to betalking about policies, because
we've got all these policies andthere's times in my career
where I really believe thatpolicy was key to everything,
and I still think it's important.
What is new at our practices,what is new at your guys'
practices as far as policies go?
And I'll just go straight toyou.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Henry, what comes to your mind when you talk about
new policies?
The first one that came to mymind was cell phone policies.
I mean, back when I started myprojects in 2014, we had a no
cell phone policy, in otherwords, you can only keep the
cell phone in the break room,nowhere else, and some of that
stemmed from just beingreactionary.
You know, I had a sedationpatient one time that was in the
room an oral sedation patientthat you know the staff members
(02:30):
watching over this patient andshe was looking at her cell
phone and the patient got reallymad and it hit home with me and
I'm like you know what?
She's right.
So at that point in time, wemade that policy and, as time
has just gone along, you justhave to kind of roll with
society.
And I kind of got this from you,paul.
I just I think I asked you acouple of years ago and I was
like what do you do?
And I think you had mentionedto me at the time.
(02:51):
Well, you know what?
We don't police them, notkeeping them on them, but we
don't want it ever to be seen infront of a patient.
I think is what you said.
Yeah, and that's basically whatI have evolved into and it's
not.
I don't know if it's perfect.
I'm not sure what other peopleare doing, but, like I said, we
used to have them only in thebreak room and nowhere else.
And then you know, people havethe watches and people have all
(03:13):
this stuff, and how do youpolice that?
So I think that's just the onething that came into my mind and
how I've rolled with thepunches over the years.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Well, I think it's a good example.
And you're right, that'sexactly what our policy is,
because there was times we werefighting it and I'm just like
dude.
There is so much else I wouldrather be talking about now than
keep on telling you to put yourdamn phone away.
But that reminds me of a timemany years ago we had an
associate doctor that would talkto his assistant and they would
just shoot the breeze and hekind of felt like it was
(03:41):
entertaining to the patient, itshowed his friendly side, it
kind of kept their mind off thedentistry.
And then we had a patientcomplain about it and say I felt
like they weren't even payingattention to me.
And here I am in the chairpaying money to see this person,
paying a lot of money and notgetting the attention that I
deserve.
And I think that's the samething with a cell phone policy
(04:01):
Anything that shows that you'redistracted from what's at hand.
What's your cell phone policy?
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Anything that shows that you're distracted from
what's at hand.
What's your cell phone policy,steve?
It's very similar.
For us it always goes back toour values.
The core of our core values istrust, and trust means that you
can use your cell phone, but itcan't be in front of a patient,
it can't be seen, it can'tinterfere with patient
experience.
There are definitely timeswhere it comes and bites us in
the ass and there's someonewho's like you know, we've had
(04:27):
someone using their phone over Imean their watch over a patient
and we definitely need topolice that, I guess, for lack
of a better words.
But the team knows that if aslong as it doesn't interfere
with the patient experience andthey need to check something on
their like, I'm doing it.
And if I'm doing it, I can'texpect anything different from
my team and that's kind of wherewe've landed.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
So if we turn this around, how about your patients?
I don't know if you ever hadthis instance in the most recent
times here where you're sittingthere doing some work and a
patient's companion is sittingin the room and they've got like
their cell phone and they'retaping you.
Oh, I hate that.
Have you guys run into that?
I know for me, I stop and Ijust say listen, you know the
policy.
I just feel uncomfortable.
Have you guys run into that?
And what do you do?
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Yeah, I definitely have run into that.
I actually make a like I stopeverything and I go is there
something that you need torecord on your husband or on
your son?
And then I'm about to put animpression in or take a scan or
whatever.
And then the patient brings uptheir cell phone, Like they're
(05:30):
going to start texting or typingor checking whatever, and at
that point I'll stop too andI'll be like do you need to take
that?
Because if you do, that's okay.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Do you come across nice?
When you're saying that, I feellike you're being very
assertive.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
No, of course I'm being nice.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Okay, okay, dr Markowitz, I'll put my phone
away.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Kind of gave me the asshole vibe, Steve.
So let me put you in anothersituation here, because I ran
into this one, All right cool.
No, that's what I'm going fortoday.
So you got to pay and this iswhat I've done in this situation
.
I had a kid who I was movingsome wisdom teeth Right, but
that's it, nothing else afterthat.
(06:10):
What does Steve Markowitz do inthat situation?
Speaker 3 (06:14):
I would try and make a joke of it in my most jerky
way, but I think I would make ajoke of it, try to minimize it.
But also let them know that ifit's interfering with my ability
to safely do my job, I'm goingto try and make light of it.
But also I make them aware thatI need to get this done and
(06:34):
it's for their benefit, notbecause I'm a jerk.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Yeah, it almost comes off like we're hiding something
, but I think the patients don'trealize how it's just like it
makes you nervous.
I feel the same Sometimes whenI have friends and family come
in and they like maybe they comewith their son or their
daughter and I'm like lookingthem or I'm doing fillings on
their kids and they're talkingto me the whole time.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Does it make you nervous or is it just more that
it's like disruptive?
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Yeah, you know what?
I think it's disruptive,because that's the thing.
When I think about it, it'slike I'm not really nervous
working on the kids, but I feellike I'm trying to balance being
buddies and being the dentistat the same time and I can't
meld these at the same time.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
Yeah, because, like, I would like videotape me.
This is the best you're goingto get, so put this on screen.
I'm happy to be a performance.
I'll say something like I do mybest work in front of an
audience.
Let's go.
But really, it's that One ofthe five classic jokes that we
(07:32):
each have.
Yeah, all right, I can't waitto get to the four others Paul's
here.
The next policy is going to beSteve's jokes, but it really is
that.
It's just disruptive, and whenit's disruptive, I'm not as
attentive to what I need to getdone.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
Yeah, totally Well, let's take a left turn here.
What other policies come tomind for you guys?
Because one thing that I wasthinking about that's very new
there's a company that helps youintegrate with your software to
do the patient pays.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
The credit card charges Are either you guys
doing that we haven't yet, and Iguess I'm in a different
position being, you know,post-sale Right, yeah, so I just
(08:13):
kind of take a more hands-offapproach and I feel like my DSO
does a great job.
If there's something that youknow and frankly there's not,
for me it's just like what's thepush right, you know, is it
going to move the needle thatmuch for me personally, Maybe
not.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Maybe it decreases treatment, except, do you mean
personally, because you're notfull owner now, or personally?
Yeah, okay, all right, yeah,okay, so.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
I think for me it makes sense, for when people are
doing it, this is they'regetting tightly crunched and
they're trying to, you know,figure out how to make their
bottom line better, and this iscertainly a way to do that.
But for me there's no push.
I mean, things are fine, thenumbers are great, practice is
going great.
I don't want to mess upanything right now.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
For me, Especially for offices that are in network,
like we don't get to controlour.
It's very unique from a purelybusiness sense.
We are in a very uniqueposition as we can't control our
price.
So when we can't control theprice of what we sell our
services for, the expense sideis where we have to try and find
(09:01):
profitability or find health.
And when we're getting squeezesfrom suppliers, from the
payroll side, when there'sopportunities like passing the
credit card fees along to thepatient, I can understand why a
lot of offices would be goingthat way.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
So what are some new policies?
Speaker 2 (09:20):
I mean I feel like tattoos is one thing and this
makes me feel old Like when Ifirst started we had a no
visible tattoo policy, because Ifeel like I don't know, back in
the day it was like you neversaw professionals with tattoos
that were visible.
And obviously society'schanging.
I mean I met a dentist theother day that had a full sleeve
and I'd never seen that before.
And I guess you know societyhas just changed so we can just
(09:41):
kind of change with thateventually, slowly but surely.
We just rolled that away Right.
Maybe something else that canspark a conversation is we have
a large staff and I know Steveis going to have like five, six
times the staff that I do.
But you know we do have staffdentistry that we provide.
You know our practice providesalmost like a dental savers plan
for the staff members.
(10:02):
They get like I think it's$2,000 a year but they still
have to pay for lab fees.
So in a huge practice I don'tknow what you guys do, but I
tell you what we've learned overthe years has worked well.
Is we just kind of, if we havea lot of dental work, we just
get one day that we say you knowwhat we're going to take this
half a day and it's going to bea staff day.
All the dentists, all thehygienists are working and it's
just staff, and we just knockall the staff work out in one
(10:24):
morning and maybe we have lunchor something like that for the
people who aren't numb.
What do you guys do for that?
Speaker 1 (10:29):
We mix it in, but it's funny because we had to
have First on your tattoo thing.
Our dress code policy is theexact same thing.
We read it it's like 12 yearsold and I felt like I was
reading like 1950s, like girlskirts must be past their
fingertips and stuff, but itjust seemed very antiquated and
it was like about it.
I'm pretty cool with that nowbut yeah, it makes you feel old,
but we do our staff in between.
(10:51):
But we had an issue that cameup where somebody was upset that
I didn't extend the samediscount to her boyfriend that I
extended to my number oneassistant's husband, who I very
much like.
So we had to make a policy ofyou know what?
You're not married, so youdon't get this.
So we had significant otherpolicy.
It's a very elaborate policy,but we never needed it until
(11:16):
people started calling me out onplaying favorites.
So that is what we created andwe do it in between because I
just don't want to shut down forhalf a day.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
How about you steve?
Yeah, we're, we're similar tothat.
But I think what's important isjust creating the consistency
at scale.
When you are the only providerand it's only in your schedule,
it's easy to say like we'll pickand choose favorites and all
that.
But as you get bigger and theteam's coming to you of like you
did this for this person and Idid this for that person and it
(11:40):
just it becomes too much.
So the consistency whatever thepolicy that you think is best
to take as a benefit to yourteam, stick to it think is best
to take as a benefit to yourteam.
Stick to it.
And for us, what that looks likenow is the team members have to
schedule themselves in theprovider's schedule and we have
(12:00):
a reduced rate on the employeeand the employee's direct family
for the dentistry that they get.
And what I tell our doctors andour team is they're going to be
our biggest marketing.
When someone sits in my chairand they have a great experience
, they're talking to everysingle patient and they're going
to say, actually, you know what?
I had that same procedure doneby that guy and it was amazing.
(12:22):
So, yes, it's at a reduced ratefor our team and our doctors,
but their ROI on that isincredible, so I think
everyone's bought into it.
It just has to happen at a timethat's convenient and not going
to interfere with otherpatients or their own working
schedule.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
It's amazing just the amount of policies we've had to
create, and they always comefrom problems.
They always come fromcomplaints of me playing
favorites.
It's always that I get sofrustrated.
I'm like I want to be like Ilove all you equally, but of
course I don't.
I have favorites.
I do, and it's very obviousapparently to some people.
I guess that's business.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
Like, business can't have favorites.
Business needs to havestructure, consistency and the
ability to evolve.
So, like when we're talkingabout these policies, I bet if
we went back and listened tothis in three years it'll be
hilarious to listen to, becausenone of these things will
probably be in place.
The patients will be paying allof our credit card fees or
whatever else is going to behappening at that time.
(13:18):
We need to be at a place wherewe're willing to say that worked
.
Then it doesn't work.
Now let's evolve.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
So it's never set it and forget it.
You got to be consistent withthe policies.
We've got team members thathave been with us forever and
they've had boyfriends foreverwhich almost seem like husbands.
Yeah, but you can't tweak.
You know the standards there orelse somebody's going to get
mad.
But I think the other point isbe ready to evolve, like these
things can and will evolve associety evolves.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
When I was much smaller, we had different
policies because it fit for whowe were, and then, as we grew,
we needed to evolve, and if Ididn't sit and share why we were
changing with the team, theywould get frustrated, even if
the intention was to benefitthem, which it always is.
So as you go through thesepolicies and you're revisiting
your handbook, I would recommendeveryone look at their handbook
(14:06):
once a year to make sure thatwhat's written in your policies
is what you're actually doing.
When there are changes, youshare why those changes are made
.
It's not just a memo Sign thisthat you put in their mailbox
and then all is well.
You will get pushback when youdon't explain why you're doing
these changes.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
What you say, steve, about the why.
I mean.
You even said that back when wewere talking about the cell
phone policy.
It's not just like you justdon't want people on their cell
phone because you want themworking every hour.
It's because of the perceptionof the patient, it's because of
the patient experience.
And why do we need consistentpolicies?
Because we want to treateverybody the same.
We want everyone to feelequally valued and we want to
have consistent things.
(14:45):
When we don't have the policies, we have to make decisions.
And that's how you playfavorites.
When you have to decide, howmuch do you want to hook this
person up?
Speaker 3 (14:53):
I had a Janice reach out to me this morning and ask
me about our PTO policy and Iembarrassingly had to say I
actually don't know what our PTOpolicy is.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
I don't know mine either, steve, so I'm right with
you.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
That's why we have great people.
You work, you take time off.
Passed off, it's Andrew, yeah.
So if you're listening andyou're thinking like man, I
don't have anything like thisfor my practice.
I really like to systematize itso I can breathe easy at night
and sleep easy and know that myteam knows what to do, when to
do.
That's why you would want to.
As practice owners, we have lots of things that can
stress us out each and every day, and often our solutions are to
create policies around thosethings.
But which policies work andwhich ones don't?
And what are we supposed to do?
Today, myself and my DPHcoaches are going to talk about
the way our cell phone policieshave changed over the years, as
(00:23):
well as our policies aroundappearance, like tattoos and
piercings, and the surprisingway that staff discounts can
help your practice grow.
You see, policies are somethingthat we need, and we need to
review them from time to time aswell.
So if you are a practice owner,or will be one soon, this
episode is definitely worth alisten.
(00:44):
Let's get to it.
You are listening to the DentalPractice Heroes podcast, where
we teach dentists how to stepback from the chair, empower
their team and build a practicethat gives them their life back.
I'm your host, dr Paul Etcheson, dental coach, author of two
books on dental practicemanagement and owner of a large
four-doctor practice that runswith ease, while I work just one
(01:06):
clinical day a week.
If you're ready for a practicethat supports your life instead
of consuming it, you're in theright place.
My team of legendary dentalcoaches and I are here to guide
you on your path fromoverwhelmed owner to dental
practice hero.
Let's get started.
Hey, thanks so much forlistening and welcome back to
(01:27):
the Dental Practice Heroespodcast.
I am your host, dr Paul Edgison, and I'm joined today by my DPH
coaches, dr Stephen Markowitzand Dr Henry Ernst.
Henry is a two-day dentist witha very large 18-op practice and
Steve is a one-day dentist withsix practices and 68 chairs Not
that we're measuring oranything, but 68 chairs.
(01:48):
That's pretty impressive.
So today we're going to betalking about policies, because
we've got all these policies andthere's times in my career
where I really believe thatpolicy was key to everything,
and I still think it's important.
What is new at our practices,what is new at your guys'
practices as far as policies go?
And I'll just go straight toyou.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Henry, what comes to your mind when you talk about
new policies?
The first one that came to mymind was cell phone policies.
I mean, back when I started myprojects in 2014, we had a no
cell phone policy, in otherwords, you can only keep the
cell phone in the break room,nowhere else, and some of that
stemmed from just beingreactionary.
You know, I had a sedationpatient one time that was in the
room an oral sedation patientthat you know the staff members
(02:30):
watching over this patient andshe was looking at her cell
phone and the patient got reallymad and it hit home with me and
I'm like you know what?
She's right.
So at that point in time, wemade that policy and, as time
has just gone along, you justhave to kind of roll with
society.
And I kind of got this from you,paul.
I just I think I asked you acouple of years ago and I was
like what do you do?
And I think you had mentionedto me at the time.
(02:51):
Well, you know what?
We don't police them, notkeeping them on them, but we
don't want it ever to be seen infront of a patient.
I think is what you said.
Yeah, and that's basically whatI have evolved into and it's
not.
I don't know if it's perfect.
I'm not sure what other peopleare doing, but, like I said, we
used to have them only in thebreak room and nowhere else.
And then you know, people havethe watches and people have all
(03:13):
this stuff, and how do youpolice that?
So I think that's just the onething that came into my mind and
how I've rolled with thepunches over the years.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Well, I think it's a good example.
And you're right, that'sexactly what our policy is,
because there was times we werefighting it and I'm just like
dude.
There is so much else I wouldrather be talking about now than
keep on telling you to put yourdamn phone away.
But that reminds me of a timemany years ago we had an
associate doctor that would talkto his assistant and they would
just shoot the breeze and hekind of felt like it was
(03:41):
entertaining to the patient, itshowed his friendly side, it
kind of kept their mind off thedentistry.
And then we had a patientcomplain about it and say I felt
like they weren't even payingattention to me.
And here I am in the chairpaying money to see this person,
paying a lot of money and notgetting the attention that I
deserve.
And I think that's the samething with a cell phone policy
(04:01):
Anything that shows that you'redistracted from what's at hand.
What's your cell phone policy?
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Anything that shows that you're distracted from
what's at hand.
What's your cell phone policy,steve?
It's very similar.
For us it always goes back toour values.
The core of our core values istrust, and trust means that you
can use your cell phone, but itcan't be in front of a patient,
it can't be seen, it can'tinterfere with patient
experience.
There are definitely timeswhere it comes and bites us in
the ass and there's someonewho's like you know, we've had
(04:27):
someone using their phone over Imean their watch over a patient
and we definitely need topolice that, I guess, for lack
of a better words.
But the team knows that if aslong as it doesn't interfere
with the patient experience andthey need to check something on
their like, I'm doing it.
And if I'm doing it, I can'texpect anything different from
my team and that's kind of wherewe've landed.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
So if we turn this around, how about your patients?
I don't know if you ever hadthis instance in the most recent
times here where you're sittingthere doing some work and a
patient's companion is sittingin the room and they've got like
their cell phone and they'retaping you.
Oh, I hate that.
Have you guys run into that?
I know for me, I stop and Ijust say listen, you know the
policy.
I just feel uncomfortable.
Have you guys run into that?
And what do you do?
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Yeah, I definitely have run into that.
I actually make a like I stopeverything and I go is there
something that you need torecord on your husband or on
your son?
And then I'm about to put animpression in or take a scan or
whatever.
And then the patient brings uptheir cell phone, Like they're
(05:30):
going to start texting or typingor checking whatever, and at
that point I'll stop too andI'll be like do you need to take
that?
Because if you do, that's okay.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Do you come across nice?
When you're saying that, I feellike you're being very
assertive.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
No, of course I'm being nice.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Okay, okay, dr Markowitz, I'll put my phone
away.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Kind of gave me the asshole vibe, Steve.
So let me put you in anothersituation here, because I ran
into this one, All right cool.
No, that's what I'm going fortoday.
So you got to pay and this iswhat I've done in this situation
.
I had a kid who I was movingsome wisdom teeth Right, but
that's it, nothing else afterthat.
(06:10):
What does Steve Markowitz do inthat situation?
Speaker 3 (06:14):
I would try and make a joke of it in my most jerky
way, but I think I would make ajoke of it, try to minimize it.
But also let them know that ifit's interfering with my ability
to safely do my job, I'm goingto try and make light of it.
But also I make them aware thatI need to get this done and
(06:34):
it's for their benefit, notbecause I'm a jerk.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Yeah, it almost comes off like we're hiding something
, but I think the patients don'trealize how it's just like it
makes you nervous.
I feel the same Sometimes whenI have friends and family come
in and they like maybe they comewith their son or their
daughter and I'm like lookingthem or I'm doing fillings on
their kids and they're talkingto me the whole time.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Does it make you nervous or is it just more that
it's like disruptive?
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Yeah, you know what?
I think it's disruptive,because that's the thing.
When I think about it, it'slike I'm not really nervous
working on the kids, but I feellike I'm trying to balance being
buddies and being the dentistat the same time and I can't
meld these at the same time.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
Yeah, because, like, I would like videotape me.
This is the best you're goingto get, so put this on screen.
I'm happy to be a performance.
I'll say something like I do mybest work in front of an
audience.
Let's go.
But really, it's that One ofthe five classic jokes that we
(07:32):
each have.
Yeah, all right, I can't waitto get to the four others Paul's
here.
The next policy is going to beSteve's jokes, but it really is
that.
It's just disruptive, and whenit's disruptive, I'm not as
attentive to what I need to getdone.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
Yeah, totally Well, let's take a left turn here.
What other policies come tomind for you guys?
Because one thing that I wasthinking about that's very new
there's a company that helps youintegrate with your software to
do the patient pays.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
The credit card charges Are either you guys
doing that we haven't yet, and Iguess I'm in a different
position being, you know,post-sale Right, yeah, so I just
(08:13):
kind of take a more hands-offapproach and I feel like my DSO
does a great job.
If there's something that youknow and frankly there's not,
for me it's just like what's thepush right, you know, is it
going to move the needle thatmuch for me personally, Maybe
not.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Maybe it decreases treatment, except, do you mean
personally, because you're notfull owner now, or personally?
Yeah, okay, all right, yeah,okay, so.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
I think for me it makes sense, for when people are
doing it, this is they'regetting tightly crunched and
they're trying to, you know,figure out how to make their
bottom line better, and this iscertainly a way to do that.
But for me there's no push.
I mean, things are fine, thenumbers are great, practice is
going great.
I don't want to mess upanything right now.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
For me, Especially for offices that are in network,
like we don't get to controlour.
It's very unique from a purelybusiness sense.
We are in a very uniqueposition as we can't control our
price.
So when we can't control theprice of what we sell our
services for, the expense sideis where we have to try and find
(09:01):
profitability or find health.
And when we're getting squeezesfrom suppliers, from the
payroll side, when there'sopportunities like passing the
credit card fees along to thepatient, I can understand why a
lot of offices would be goingthat way.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
So what are some new policies?
Speaker 2 (09:20):
I mean I feel like tattoos is one thing and this
makes me feel old Like when Ifirst started we had a no
visible tattoo policy, because Ifeel like I don't know, back in
the day it was like you neversaw professionals with tattoos
that were visible.
And obviously society'schanging.
I mean I met a dentist theother day that had a full sleeve
and I'd never seen that before.
And I guess you know societyhas just changed so we can just
(09:41):
kind of change with thateventually, slowly but surely.
We just rolled that away Right.
Maybe something else that canspark a conversation is we have
a large staff and I know Steveis going to have like five, six
times the staff that I do.
But you know we do have staffdentistry that we provide.
You know our practice providesalmost like a dental savers plan
for the staff members.
(10:02):
They get like I think it's$2,000 a year but they still
have to pay for lab fees.
So in a huge practice I don'tknow what you guys do, but I
tell you what we've learned overthe years has worked well.
Is we just kind of, if we havea lot of dental work, we just
get one day that we say you knowwhat we're going to take this
half a day and it's going to bea staff day.
All the dentists, all thehygienists are working and it's
just staff, and we just knockall the staff work out in one
(10:24):
morning and maybe we have lunchor something like that for the
people who aren't numb.
What do you guys do for that?
Speaker 1 (10:29):
We mix it in, but it's funny because we had to
have First on your tattoo thing.
Our dress code policy is theexact same thing.
We read it it's like 12 yearsold and I felt like I was
reading like 1950s, like girlskirts must be past their
fingertips and stuff, but itjust seemed very antiquated and
it was like about it.
I'm pretty cool with that nowbut yeah, it makes you feel old,
but we do our staff in between.
(10:51):
But we had an issue that cameup where somebody was upset that
I didn't extend the samediscount to her boyfriend that I
extended to my number oneassistant's husband, who I very
much like.
So we had to make a policy ofyou know what?
You're not married, so youdon't get this.
So we had significant otherpolicy.
It's a very elaborate policy,but we never needed it until
(11:16):
people started calling me out onplaying favorites.
So that is what we created andwe do it in between because I
just don't want to shut down forhalf a day.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
How about you steve?
Yeah, we're, we're similar tothat.
But I think what's important isjust creating the consistency
at scale.
When you are the only providerand it's only in your schedule,
it's easy to say like we'll pickand choose favorites and all
that.
But as you get bigger and theteam's coming to you of like you
did this for this person and Idid this for that person and it
(11:40):
just it becomes too much.
So the consistency whatever thepolicy that you think is best
to take as a benefit to yourteam, stick to it think is best
to take as a benefit to yourteam.
Stick to it.
And for us, what that looks likenow is the team members have to
schedule themselves in theprovider's schedule and we have
(12:00):
a reduced rate on the employeeand the employee's direct family
for the dentistry that they get.
And what I tell our doctors andour team is they're going to be
our biggest marketing.
When someone sits in my chairand they have a great experience
, they're talking to everysingle patient and they're going
to say, actually, you know what?
I had that same procedure doneby that guy and it was amazing.
(12:22):
So, yes, it's at a reduced ratefor our team and our doctors,
but their ROI on that isincredible, so I think
everyone's bought into it.
It just has to happen at a timethat's convenient and not going
to interfere with otherpatients or their own working
schedule.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
It's amazing just the amount of policies we've had to
create, and they always comefrom problems.
They always come fromcomplaints of me playing
favorites.
It's always that I get sofrustrated.
I'm like I want to be like Ilove all you equally, but of
course I don't.
I have favorites.
I do, and it's very obviousapparently to some people.
I guess that's business.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
Like, business can't have favorites.
Business needs to havestructure, consistency and the
ability to evolve.
So, like when we're talkingabout these policies, I bet if
we went back and listened tothis in three years it'll be
hilarious to listen to, becausenone of these things will
probably be in place.
The patients will be paying allof our credit card fees or
whatever else is going to behappening at that time.
(13:18):
We need to be at a place wherewe're willing to say that worked
.
Then it doesn't work.
Now let's evolve.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
So it's never set it and forget it.
You got to be consistent withthe policies.
We've got team members thathave been with us forever and
they've had boyfriends foreverwhich almost seem like husbands.
Yeah, but you can't tweak.
You know the standards there orelse somebody's going to get
mad.
But I think the other point isbe ready to evolve, like these
things can and will evolve associety evolves.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
When I was much smaller, we had different
policies because it fit for whowe were, and then, as we grew,
we needed to evolve, and if Ididn't sit and share why we were
changing with the team, theywould get frustrated, even if
the intention was to benefitthem, which it always is.
So as you go through thesepolicies and you're revisiting
your handbook, I would recommendeveryone look at their handbook
(14:06):
once a year to make sure thatwhat's written in your policies
is what you're actually doing.
When there are changes, youshare why those changes are made
.
It's not just a memo Sign thisthat you put in their mailbox
and then all is well.
You will get pushback when youdon't explain why you're doing
these changes.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
What you say, steve, about the why.
I mean.
You even said that back when wewere talking about the cell
phone policy.
It's not just like you justdon't want people on their cell
phone because you want themworking every hour.
It's because of the perceptionof the patient, it's because of
the patient experience.
And why do we need consistentpolicies?
Because we want to treateverybody the same.
We want everyone to feelequally valued and we want to
have consistent things.
(14:45):
When we don't have the policies, we have to make decisions.
And that's how you playfavorites.
When you have to decide, howmuch do you want to hook this
person up?
Speaker 3 (14:53):
I had a Janice reach out to me this morning and ask
me about our PTO policy and Iembarrassingly had to say I
actually don't know what our PTOpolicy is.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
I don't know mine either, steve, so I'm right with
you.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
That's why we have great people.
You work, you take time off.
Passed off, it's Andrew, yeah.
So if you're listening andyou're thinking like man, I
don't have anything like thisfor my practice.
I really like to systematize itso I can breathe easy at night
and sleep easy and know that myteam knows what to do, when to
do.
That's why you would want to.
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.