Ways to Lower Overhead and Boost Profits in Your Dental Office
Running a dental practice is rewarding but can also be costly. Every saved dollar contributes to your profit margins, helping your practice thrive in a competitive market. Here are practical ways to cut expenses and boost efficiency without compromising care:
- Ask for pre-pay discounts on your standard bills. If you know you will be paying these bills all year, it doesn’t hurt to ask. You would be surprised the discounts you can get.
- Send checks on autopay or set up electronic payments if it’s less expensive than using your credit card. Be sure to weigh out the credit card perks first.
- Invest in an in-office washer and dryer: Save time and money by laundering scrubs onsite instead of using a dry cleaner.
- Make sure everything possible is digital. Don’t allow the team to keep printing unnecessary papers to write on. Instruct them to look at the computer and save the working document to save printing, ink, paper, and maintenance fees on your printer.
- Install motion-sensor lighting: Reduce energy costs by using motion detectors in exam and storage rooms to control lighting and some equipment.
- See if reusable barriers cut costs specifically for your office: Eco-friendly, reusable patient barriers and sterilization pouches lower costs while maintaining sterilization standards. Cloth bibs will need to be washed.
- Evaluate supplier contracts: Regularly review contracts to find quality suppliers at better prices. It may not matter what thread count your 2 x 2’s has or where the plastic barriers come from. Things need to be analyzed.
- Upgrade to a waterless vacuum system: A dry vacuum system can significantly reduce your water bill.
- Optimize your marketing: Use automated campaigns to follow up with patients and improve retention.
- Use LED bulbs: Replace incandescent bulbs with long-lasting, energy-efficient LED lighting.
- Renegotiate utility contracts: Contact your providers to explore discounts or promotional rates to lower bills.
- Control labor costs: Use staggered shifts or part-time help during peak hours to avoid overtime expenses.
- Select merchant services wisely: Shop for payment processors with competitive rates to minimize transaction fees.
- Eliminate waste: Reduce single-use plastics, recycle old instruments, and transition to paperless systems to cut costs and boost sustainability.
- Track inventory closely: Prevent overstocking or letting items expire by implementing a system to manage supply orders effectively.
- Maximize your schedule: Streamline appointment timing and procedures to make your practice more efficient and increase patient capacity. Employees must understand the cost of turning over a room. Less visits per patient means more profit.
- Require a reservation deposit: Minimize the impact of last-minute cancellations by implementing forfeitable reservation deposits.
- Review spending regularly: Analyze budgets monthly or quarterly to spot unnecessary expenses and adjust purchasing habits.
- Improve purchasing systems: Simplify supply ordering by avoiding overstocking, finding the best prices, and motivating the team to stay within budget goals.
- Lower your lab bills: This may mean doing it in-house, shopping around, looking for specials, negotiating with your lab, and asking your colleagues. If your lab cases don’t seat right in with minimal hassle, your time is too valuable to use that lab. However, you may only need to request ONE lab tech who gives you the best results.
- Never loan your own money to patients! Your money is worth more today than tomorrow. Be sure your patients pre-pay or pay at the time of service. Let banks take the risk on your patients finances.
- Understand EBITDA.
By implementing even a few of these strategies, your dental practice can reduce overhead, boost profitability, and free up resources to focus on delivering exceptional patient care.
P.S.
Scheduling properly can help your office be the most profitable.
