The Dental Billing Podcast

Elevating The Patient Experience with Kiera Dent of The Dental A Team

• Ericka Aguilar • Season 6 • Episode 8

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Do you ever find scrubs irresistible? Kiera did, and her love for scrubs steered her into a fascinating journey through the dental industry. Today, she takes us through her evolution from a dental assistant in Utah, all the way to owning her own practice and establishing the Dental A Team. This company is Kiera's brainchild, dedicated to aiding dental offices with practice management. 

Kiera's journey is an inspiring one, and it isn't just about her story. She's also here to educate us on the critical role of billing in dental practice management. She gives us a comprehensive rundown on understanding the revenue cycle, ensuring clean claims, and the significance of everyone on the team comprehending their role in the process. But hold on, we're not done yet. Kirra shares golden tips on maximizing revenue and minimizing loss in the tricky world of dental practice. 

Finally, we wander into the realm of patient experience. Kiera draws on lessons from giants like Nordstrom, Disney, and Starbucks, putting the spotlight on the amazing impact of small changes on the overall patient experience. Get ready to absorb strategies on infusing the patient experience into practice - the role of the front office, the importance of intentionality, and much more. From billing to patient experience, this episode is a treasure trove of insights, tips, and strategies for anyone in the dental industry. Tune in, listen up, and let Kiera guide you through the intricacies of dentistry!

Connect with Kiera: thedentalateam.com

Want to learn Dental Coding and Billing? Join here:

https://tr.ee/efzYrY7mp-

Would you like to set-up a billing consultation with Ericka or Jen? We would love the opportunity to discuss your billing questions!

Email Ericka:
ericka@dentalbillingdoneright.com

Email Jen:
jen@dentalbillingdoneright.com

Perio performance formula:

(D4341+D4342+D4346+D4355+D4910)/(D4341+D4342+D4346+D4355+D4910+D1110)


Want to know what your fee should be for D4346? Send Ericka an email to ericka@dentalbillingdoneright.com


Speaker 1:

Kira, welcome to the Dental Billing podcast. I am so excited I have been looking forward to this day for a couple of months now that we've had this scheduled. Thank you so much for being on the podcast, oh girl Same.

Speaker 2:

I think it's one of those like love affairs where I'm like you love billing, I love practice management. It's a good PB&J. Yeah, so honored, super excited to be here.

Speaker 1:

Truly a huge fan myself, so thanks for having me, yeah absolutely so we're going to kind of dive into a little bit of everything practice management, billing and how they're all correlated. But before we do that, can you tell my audience where did you grow up and what were you like as a little girl?

Speaker 2:

For sure that's kind of fun to like. Let's go back down memory line, yeah, so I actually this is going to be a shock for those who do know me Most people think I grew up in California, which, truth be told, I moved there when I was 11, but I actually was born in Utah and so my family and I we lived in Stansbury Park. I was on a golf course and really I started business. Like super young, my brother and I would go down to the pond, collect golf balls and sell them to all the golfers like coming, oh, wow, and it was just a ton of fun.

Speaker 2:

And then my parents we've always had horses my whole life and since second grade my family had a family lawn business. So that was kind of a fun fact. When I met my husband, he was like there's no way you did that, you're not like a farm girl. I was like, oh no, honey, he's like you're like a mall girl. And I was like family lawn business Since I was second grade, like I remember, show and tell, have my little RNM enterprise with a lawn mower. So we had a professional lawn mowing business and did a bunch of commercial properties growing up and then we moved to California when I was 11. And then I lived there until my parents are still there now.

Speaker 1:

Oh, wow.

Speaker 2:

So, yeah, just a fun place, lots of fun outdoors. I was the second of seven, had four brothers around me and I never thought I'd get a sister. And then, when I was 11, right before we moved out of Utah, my little sister was born. And that's fun, because I always wanted a sister. But by the time I was 11, I was totally used to the posh life. My dad doted on me, I had all my brothers, I didn't have to do half as much hard work. I have all these brothers. So I was like let's just keep this train going. And my mom never would find out if it was a boy or a girl. And so when my little sister was born, she called and she's like here you have a little sister. And I remember hanging up the phone and I'm like I hate her, mad, and I did not want her. And then I went to the hospital and met her and it was just truly.

Speaker 2:

I loved her so much, but it's a funny story of how much I hated her when I found out it was a girl.

Speaker 1:

Amazing. I mean, I'm the oldest of five. I was never the baby, I was never the babyed one. I was always the nurturer, the caretaker, so I kind of took on that role. Now that you've shared that with the audience, why Dentistry? How did you get into Dentistry? How did it start? What's your journey like here?

Speaker 2:

My journey is ridiculous, if I'm honest. So, like, let's just go back a little. When you said, like Tom, like the Tom girl style, I was surely that same way. I loved playing soccer, I played a lot of sports, but I always had a dress on with shorts underneath, like that was my jam, and so it's always been about fashion, erica, truthfully and I don't think I'm a fashionista whatsoever but like, why did I make the varsity tennis team? Because I wanted to wear the outfit and that's why Dentistry, I wanted to wear scrubs, erica, like I just wanted to wear scrubs and I there were two different programs. I could do nursing or I could do dentistry. So two reasons One was the mouth or the whole body, like surely going the easy route. And then one of my really good friends who was a really strong mentor to me, she was in dental hygiene, so that I love Danielle, so that's why I chose Dentistry.

Speaker 2:

It was honest to wear scrubs and I actually did not enjoy it. When I first started I was a terrible assistant. It's funny because the office that I worked at they found out that I own dental aid team and that I'm dental team podcast, and I had one of the girls call me and she's like Kira, you do this and I'm like I'm changed. I'm sorry. Let me like tell you all the things that I should never have done. So that's why I did.

Speaker 2:

Dentistry was, honestly, fastest, easiest way to wear scrubs and then I genuinely fell in love with it. I actually went to grad school and I had a full ride scholarship to be a marriage and family therapist and I turned that down because I remember being in my interview for grad school and just thinking I want to be back at the dental office, Like I couldn't wait to get back there and I just loved it so much and so I put it on hold just to make sure I wasn't being rash on my decision. I worked so hard to get into grad school, definitely turned it down and I've never looked back. So that's why that's your journey.

Speaker 1:

And so then, ok, so talk to us about where you started. So, a dental assistant, and then when did you pivot to the front? And because you've gone from dental assistant to practice owner, and now you have this amazing company, the dental A team. You're helping offices with practice management and all of those moving parts. Talk to me about your journey from dental assistant to front office to where you are now. I'd love for the listeners to hear that, because I think that it's going to inspire a lot of people.

Speaker 2:

Well, thank you, and that's actually something I love to do because I feel like I want to write a book. So, erica, one day maybe I'll pen a book.

Speaker 1:

I'm in the middle of writing my book right now.

Speaker 2:

Mine's like still, it's just being edited for like the last two years, so you should follow your path.

Speaker 1:

I'm still writing it Like I haven't even gotten to editing.

Speaker 2:

Yet Book may or may not ever get published, but I wanted to write a book of like dental assistant to business owner or practice owner and it took me five years. And so what I did is I did dental assisting and then I went to school. So I mean, if we cut out my lifetime from dental assistant, because I didn't do any dental assisting actually right after high school, because in California where I was at, I was literally making less as a dental assistant than I could at fast food and being a college student I knew I wanted to go to college. I kind of said like man Pish Posh on dental assisting and I went to college. That's where I went into marriage and family therapy.

Speaker 2:

And then I had a freak accident and I was back in the dental office a ton so my face got smashed into a wall and I had a lot of time at the dental office and I just casually asked what do dental assistants make? And I was blown away at how much it had gone from my in the four years of being in college. So I ended up applying for a job. That same hygienist who inspired me to get in here randomly was at an office I applied for in Utah and she vouched to me. That's honestly how I got the job, because I was a terrible assistant. You know blue blood and like blue air in an open socket shot the doctor in the eye with blood Like I was a hot mess express for about six months and kudos to that office for loving me. And then I became pretty darn good at it, loved assisting.

Speaker 2:

So I went from dental assistant, then I went into treatment coordinating in Arizona office management, worked at a dental college in Arizona while my husband went to pharmacy school and then from there there was a student, her and I got along super well and she said hey, kira, do you want to actually come out to Colorado and help me start these practices and be a business, like be a part of the owner? And I was like I never knew how I'd get from like here to there. That's how it happened. So we went and we started our practice in Colorado. People always ask how was I a part of that? And I was gifted into and we started a DSO and so that's how it worked. No, dental assistants cannot be owners in Colorado, but in Arizona they can. So there's a few states still, but yeah, so we took our practice from 500,000 to 2.4 million and we bought our second location. We did 500,000 to 2.4 million in nine months, opened our second location and then over the course of five years there were seven locations.

Speaker 2:

I sold out my ownership portion of it and then I was like, hey, if I could help this girl. I know hundreds of students like let me go see if I can do this for more. And that's actually how dental 18 created was. I just wanted to help more people wanted to see if I like if this was just a one off or if we could help other people have success, have fulfillment. I mean, people hear the story and they're like that's amazing and I'm like it. Really my whole life was flipped upside down in those nine months, like I don't think success has to be as hard as our journey was. But but yeah, now it's just a passion for me to help people live their dream lives and not have to like give up your life to do it as well. I believe that fulfillment and success can be one in the same. Don't have to sacrifice.

Speaker 1:

I've also transformed a couple of offices that I had had the pleasure of being a partner with. One was very recent, in 2021 to 2022. It can be a job where you're constantly in the office. You know you forget about work life balance, and I think that your message is so important because I probably could have benefited from working with you myself because I was literally in the office like 24 seven, just constantly though this office was an exception to the rule in terms of it was still on paper, going digital, everything.

Speaker 1:

So it was kind of like a I had to bring it up to par before I could really start to impact the bottom line, because I can't you know, we're not going to sell a ton of treatment if we're using chairs in the waiting room from 1980. So you know we had to like revamp the whole office. But I agree with you like that work life balance is so important and I think a lot of new dentists need to understand that right out the gate as they start their offices. They want to be involved in everything and it's so important to have somebody by your side that's like hey, you know, I understand this part of the practice management element. Let me do this for you, the dental a team what are some of the things that you do for your offices?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I appreciate that and I just want to circle up on that, erica, because I think so many people's identities are so deeply rooted in being successful from the beginning. And I just want to remind all offices, no matter where you are, it's a journey, it's not a sprint, and we need you, like you are the golden goose of your practice, like whatever team member you are, and we need you for the long haul. And it's crazy because I do believe that there's so much that can be done by doing less and creating more. I think, when we get in that cycle, there's so much that can be done in an easier way. So, and that's actually what we do at dental a team, I love practices, so we work with startup practices all the way to multi Like we've got some offices of 13, 14 practices. So, really, based on wherever you are in your practice journey, I call it the yes model. It's all about focusing on you as a person. So I believe and I know you're the same way, erica, like if we don't build you as a person, give you the leadership tools, help you live your dream of a life, I feel like we failed because, honest to goodness, success without fulfillment is the ultimate failure in life. And so, from there, if we don't have that, I feel like we got to make sure you as a person are happy, fulfilled, content like your relationships are there. So it's that's the why for yes.

Speaker 2:

Then it's about earnings. So profitability which, erica, this is why I love you because we got to get our billing dialed in. Let's get paid for it. So, watching the billing, so, and honestly, we outsource constantly for it or we'll teach it, but honestly, I tell people, listen to Erica's podcast, she's amazing at it. And then also, like your profitability, let's make sure, as business owners, I feel like if you're not profitable, be an associate, let's not do this for you. And then the third thing is systems and team development are really where we're at. So the full system team development in practices.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, as you know, the people listening to this podcast. They're looking for billing tips. They're looking to identify with. You know other offices. Am I the only one struggling with this? So what are some of the common billing challenges that you come across with your clients or that they talk to you?

Speaker 2:

about. I actually am so excited about this topic because I just did a podcast on our side very similar to this and my title of it is billing can put millions into your pocket. I feel like the billing piece of all practices, like we've got the two, we got like the doctor who does amazing dentistry, we've got great customer service, and then it's like this black hole of billing that people just don't realize. And so some funny things I've seen it's not actually funny going to hundreds of offices. We work all across the nation.

Speaker 2:

I worked internationally and I think one of my favorite stories still to this day I walked into a practice and they were doing like their billing just took forever, which always is a red flag to me Like what's happening in here? Something's going on. If you do it right, it should be a pretty quick process. And they were just writing stuff off, erika, and I'm like like what are you guys writing off? And they said, oh, you know, we just can't collect this money, so we're writing it off. And I said, oh, does your doctor know? And I'm like, oh, so like how much have we written off? And they're like usually every year it's about 502, a million. And I was like rock on, like the whole assistant face like don't show the eyes of, like freaking out. Yeah, that's bad. And so I just casually asked I said, oh, it's like on your paycheck, if I couldn't get the patients to pay, would you just want me to like write that off your paycheck just because, like I couldn't get it to be paid? And they're like no, and I said, well, that's like what we're doing here essentially.

Speaker 2:

So many billing mistakes that I see are in just simple things. I feel like it's from the setup, which this is like what you eat, preach, teach all day. Yes, it's setting it up correctly, then having it in the back, the clinical team posting it correctly, getting the necessary attachments. I feel like clean claims, clean pay, like it's just very simple. Let's make it easy, make sure we have our fee schedules in there correctly, make sure we've got it attached correctly, and then, like, when we have these adjustments, when we have these write offs, let's be smart and learn from it, as opposed to just like writing off, just writing it off.

Speaker 1:

Oh, I know this stresses me out. I agree with you. I think that a better understanding of the revenue cycle is probably what I think we need in dentistry as a whole.

Speaker 1:

I just did a seminar, I just did a workshop in Chantilly, virginia, at YM Dental Lab, and I cannot tell you. When I survey my audience, I like to ask things like do you appeal? When was the last time you appealed that buildup that was included in the crown? Or did you just kind of write that off? And I'll tell you as an industry as a whole dental billing we only appealed last year, in 2022, 33% of all claims that were denied. So that just tells us that not only are we not monetizing properly we're not.

Speaker 1:

We can do better with coding. We can do better with supporting documentation. If our assistants understood that, you know billing starts in the back, with them acquiring the proper attachments, and then likewise with our clinicians. Better documentation equals better coding, stronger coding and finally, you know when something is denied, appeal it. You know these insurance companies are using artificial intelligence to identify the offices that are appealing and the ones that are are getting less denials and the ones that are not are getting more denials. So I think, just overall, we need to educate our teams to understand that, like you were talking about earlier you were saying all of the different team members, right, everybody's important on the team, everybody has a role.

Speaker 1:

It's not yes, we need the doctor, but we also need we need a skilled biller, we need skilled assistants, we need good hygienists. We you know, everybody has an impact on the revenue cycle and I think that every team member should understand where their role impacts the cycle, and specifically with clean claims, like you just mentioned. You know, clean claims are so important Because, like you said, clean claim and what was the other part? Clean, clean, clean, clean. Hey, hey, I'm stealing that from you so clean, clean, clean.

Speaker 1:

hey, I'm going to put stolen from pure debt. I really do think that I assistance, think they're just the assistant, and then there's that big divide between front office and back office and the reality is each of us are impacting the revenue cycle, our ability to monetize properly.

Speaker 1:

Every time I work with a new client, I take a look at what did you leave on the table over the last 18 months and now we've got enough data to compile. The average client leaves about $188,000 of billable procedures because maybe we were lacking in documentation. We were lacking in the patient came in for a pro fee and there was bleeding in some sites and so we could have done limited SRPs with that pro fee. Like. There's just so many things where we leave money on the table because clinically I couldn't codify for it if it wasn't documented. I love that you brought that to light. I love that you understand that everybody's going to impact that. So what are some other things that you see, billing or non billing related? I know that your practice management, so talk to us a little bit about some of the common pitfalls you see with what you do in an office.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, for sure. And I'm just going to circle back on your last point, because when we talked earlier I said I believe that you can do work less and create more, and what you just mentioned is the exact epitome of what we're trying to say. Like $188,000 left on the table is pretty healthy revenue for a practice, for treatment. You're already doing so we're not talking about extra harder things, not adding things. And that's honestly, erica, my absolute favorite thing in a practice is like how can I make you more successful, happier teams by doing nothing extra? People always ask here, how do you add this much revenue? Like I had an office and we added they were doing about 130,000 a month and in a three day visit I added $50,000 to their books and it was now up to 180. And people are like here, what'd you do? And I'm like super sexy stuff, guys Handoff collecting money before they leave and then actually presenting treatment plans before they leave the office. Like so sexy, kira, just drop the mic. You're like it's that easy stuff. And I think in dentistry that's.

Speaker 2:

I think one of our greatest falls is we're so good at what we do that we don't realize that if you just optimize a few little areas. You could do so much more with no effort on your part. It's very minimal. Like how much is it If I could add 1% and get 20% growth? We would do that, like if I could take one pill and become like 20% stronger. I would do that. Billing to me is that secret sauce of that on so many levels, like you just said, like let's appeal the claims, let's attach the things, let's change up our notes and our clinical templates to be able to say at the freaking PA assistance, like don't miss that PA. And then if your team does miss it, let's figure out a solution for it. But I love your revenue cycle, because in office is what I love to do. And like I would say go do this. Eric and I are both saying the exact same thing and we are both team members. So this is talking to you of what to do. Have the revenue cycle. I love to draw like the little dollar screens and have like what each department does and how you can impact it, because I don't think for me especially.

Speaker 2:

I'm going to talk. I'm a dental assistant. I was in the back Do you know how many times Docs prepping that too? And I'm like, oh no, sue's going to murder me because I didn't get an x-ray. That was me. And then I say to the Erica Sue of the office you're a darn it, we missed it. What do we think we should do to fix it next time? And I'll say, oh, I'll remember, I'll remember, like no problem Next time if it is missed. Just so you know, you are going to need to call the billing company when this claim is denied instantly. Me as a dental assistant, I'm like no, no, no, erica, I will take a PA every time because I'm not calling the insurance.

Speaker 2:

So I think like let's just help our teams find a way to actually fix it. But I believe in systems for success and so that's what we do in a lot of offices. And I think, like problems that we see all the time, billing Erica is probably one of the number one things that we are asked about helping and I'm like cool, I'll help you here and if you need more advanced help, there are all these other companies for you. But then it's like office management how, like what should an office manager be doing? What about team morale?

Speaker 2:

Right now, I think team morale is hot. I think we've had COVID, then we had the great resignation and now it's like just burnout, churn out. People are frustrated with that. How do you keep team morale up in a fun, easy way that's not like cheesy and cliche? There's like I think so many people right now like my hot topics are the fun like do I sell to a DSO or do I like build a legacy? It's such like a waiting scale of what to do and team members are afraid of DSOs and are they successful, are they not? So I think there's like all those pieces.

Speaker 2:

But really I'm just pro. Whatever is problem in your office if there's a simple solution there, yeah, if you're willing to identify and fix it. So like I love the billing tips, like you said, like let's get those easy things in play. And I would say anytime in billing, especially like what I love to coach on is Erica is going to teach you the process is how to do it. I'm like let's fix that problem so we don't have it again. I'm very big on traction and they say, solve it forever so it never happens again. So in all the things in your practice, what are the biggest pieces? But I'm always big on if I were plotting a graph of effort and like revenue. So, like what's the least amount of effort for the greatest amount of revenue? Yes, let's go for those pieces first, and that also can help people prioritize what projects and tasks to do in an office from the get go, as opposed to like constantly swimming. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Oh, I agree with you, I can. So I want to give the audience an example of how billing and practice management just go hand in hand. I worked with an office that you had previously worked with and you gave them a routing slip that was laminated, and I thought this was brilliant. Chart preparation is a part of the revenue cycle. Having a custom made routing slip for that office improved their ability to collect accurately, helping the the entire team understand. You know, this is how the patient's journey is going to go for this visit. It was like a guide for them and for me as a biller. What it did for for the billing department was it allowed us to improve on the entire revenue cycle, because I find that offices that leave it up to the day of or don't do any preparation at all. Hold on, let me just calculate your help.

Speaker 2:

You're coping that really quick, you're not doing an audit.

Speaker 1:

Are there any open claims in association with this patient's visit?

Speaker 1:

You know, are there any claims that are open that we need to call? They've been open for 90 plus days. Let's call, let's find out what's going on. Are they waiting for an x-ray or is it denied? So now we can have a conversation with the patient because we've prepared for the day about what they owe for that visit. It may not just be a copayment for that visit. It could also be for denied or open claims.

Speaker 1:

If your financial policy says that you'll give the insurance company 60 days to pay and then after that you are going to be responsible, your insurance hasn't paid. It's been 93 days. We're going to ask that you take care of that balance. We'll continue to fight for that. But you know. So I really appreciated that routing slip that you did and I saw a huge improvement with their ability to collect, because I know what was going on in that office prior through the billing tips and through the things that we showed them with coding and through that routing slip. That's a perfect example and I want the audience to understand. Just because we are billers and then everybody else is, you know, practice management, practice administrators, we're all working together on the same revenue cycle. What would you say if there was one piece of advice. I mean I know you have worked with offices all over the country. What piece of advice would you give for somebody to have just a quick mini success?

Speaker 2:

Okay, so like a quick tidbit, like a tactical, tactical tidbit, all right, I got you. So one is it sounds so silly and archaic but like let's do route slips and let's have perfect handoffs and I know that sounds ridiculous. It's so funny because people are like Kira, how do you get success? And I'm like through non-sexy things, like it's all the annoying things that you don't want to do are the things that really are what are going to build you success. Just like there really are no diet pills, we've got to go put in the work at the gym. Not sexy, not fun, but super effective. So you guys can just even practice handoffs and I have a nice beautiful bow for a handoff. So I'll tell you guys how to take it in practice from 50% case acceptance to 100% case acceptance in one day, which then makes the billers happy because we can bill that out, we can fill the schedules for that.

Speaker 2:

I say number one yes, chart prep and chart prepping should not take forever. I feel like it should be something very effective, very efficient, and let's get it like 80% there. I'm like an 80% kind of girl. I feel like if 80% of it is awesome, there is 20% will improve. That like let's get 80% awesome and move forward. That way, we're not stuck on it all the time. I think there is the law of dimensioning return, so chart prep it up. Then let's do a whole like hand off, a perfect hand off. So we chart prep it.

Speaker 2:

We have our route slips ready to go. I don't care how you guys opt to do it, and I get it. We want to be paperless. It's 2023. Care of darn laminated route slip. But guess what? I just was on a plane and there is a laminated checklist upfront for pilots. I feel like if pilots can do it, we can too, and human beings love reminders. So this cute little baton is what I basically call it. It's the baton that transfers all of it, because we want this patient to feel like we are Disneyland. I feel like there's a great book on reasonable hospitality and they said people can feel perfection. Disney Walt said it is through systems behind the scene that we're able to create predictable magic. So it's the systems that create the predictable magic. That is called the chart prepping.

Speaker 2:

Then let's have this route slip, let's hand off between here's your beautiful bow to get you guys's perfect case acceptance. I don't care how you want to remember it. I think my favorite is the neuter office, the never date, the rookie office, the new dentist tough road, I don't care how you remember this acronym, just remember NDTR. So, doctors, you go to your comp exam. Please diagnose everything. It's okay, they're not going to hate you, let's just do a comp exam. Then we need this nice bow, because this is where you give the patient the directive.

Speaker 2:

So, next visit, what is the next visit? What does Erica need to come back for? Simplify it. Please, for the love of everything, holy, do not give me five different routes, because this poor patient is like city is the enemy of execution. Make it cool. If they don't want to do the bridge or the implant, it's cool. We've got other options. But please, for everything, just tell them where to start. Hey, erica, we're going to get started on that upper right. I want to see you back in two weeks. That two weeks is your date. I don't care what the date is, but you've got to give them a date, because this way the patient knows when I need to come back and please don't leave it up to whenever you can or as soon as possible.

Speaker 1:

Yes, because for my sweet mom, who hates this, whenever you get a chance.

Speaker 2:

Oh my gosh, if it's whenever you get a chance, don't diagnose it. Do you think the doctor who diagnoses me with skin cancer is like, hey, when you can get back, it'd be great. Exactly, there is active decay. Get back here. Just give them a date so that next visit date how much time that appointment is going to take, and then make sure their recar is done. So it'd be hey, erica, let's get you back for that upper right. We're going to do that. Crown in that filling. I want to see you back in about two weeks and I need an hour and a half for that. Let's make sure that Sonia has your cleaning scheduled for you. What questions do you have for me? Notice I said what questions, not, do you? The reason I do that is psychological, because that actually puts them in a yes frame of mind, not a no frame of mind. I want them to say yes to treatment. Then we move along. We take this perfect little handoff upfront. We walk out our patient, we set everything complete, make sure you don't miss anything Off. They go. We then have a perfect handoff with hey, kira, here is Erica Doctor wants to get her back for that crown in that filling on the upper right in two weeks for an hour and 15 minutes, and I've already got her cleaning scheduled. Kira is amazing. She'll take great care of you. I'm here. If you need anything Off that person goes, we pick it up right here.

Speaker 2:

And my other quick tip is people hate this and I will tell you why I do this Schedule first, do not talk money first, schedule first. And the reason I do that is because I believe if my doctor diagnoses it, I'm scheduling it. The option is not if we're scheduling it, the option is how do you want to pay for it? So I schedule first and then I present finances. And I don't ever say the words out loud, nor do I lead with insurance. So let's lead with treatment plan. Total Insurance is estimated for this and this will be your total out of pocket on Wednesday when I see you. What questions do you have for me?

Speaker 1:

I love it.

Speaker 2:

That's a perfect wrap up. And then Erica's happy, your doctor's happy, your patient's happy, patient's off skipping, they're super happy. You filled the books, the patient's getting their treatment done, bill's go off correctly, claims come back, payments come back. Yes, your practice is happy. I love it. It's crazy that that simple handoff is not sexy but efficient. And if you would practice that over and over, and over and over and over and over again, I promise you you'll see a 30% to 40% increase in your year because of that effect.

Speaker 1:

You're going to love this. You're going to love this. So I partnered. I was partnered in my first office, orange County, california, june 1st 2015. And we opened from scratch. It was not. We didn't buy an office that was already up and running, it was just a shell. We built it out and I had my team practice, the experience for about a month, and I called it.

Speaker 1:

Knowing your lines, I get it. I like what you say. It's not sexy, but it makes the world of a difference, because every time the patient came in, we had a certain way of greeting the patient and yes, you hear it over and over and over again throughout the day, but it does make a huge difference on case acceptance, and so I've seen that. And then the other thing that my doctor did that was he was amazing at this he would bring the patient up and inform the front office. I want to see Kira back in a week. What do you think, kira, about a week? Well, I'd like to see you on my schedule in about a week. I need to get that. We need to take care of this crown. The patients would schedule, no problem. We would inform them what they were going to pay and they would pay it. It would just went so smooth. So I do believe that the secret sauce to higher case acceptance is paying attention to your patient's experience.

Speaker 1:

I love that you said Disneyland experience.

Speaker 1:

I've actually used that term myself. There are a couple of books that I used to have my students read, and these were students that had no experience in dentistry. And I had this six month front office program and I had this little tiny hole in the wall, brick and mortar location where we could fit like 20, I mean 20 students and I would emphasize the importance of experience. So we would have them read the Nordstrom way, we would have them research Disneyland, and then Starbucks and I'm sure there were a couple of other companies.

Speaker 1:

I think if offices could take from what these companies do they understand the psychology behind a sale right, and they implement, they emphasize the experience If we could take bits and pieces from these other companies and implement it or infuse it into a practice but nobody wants to do that, kara, nobody's up for that because, like you say, it's not sexy. So you know, these are all the things that I find our successful offices are taking the time to be intentional about the patient experience, and I'm sure you've got tons of tips and tricks up your sleeves. I think that you emphasizing that is so great, and if we could teach our startup offices to just do that right out the gate, oh, how different, how different would it be.

Speaker 2:

I think their experience would just be different. But I think it's interesting. As you were saying it, I had an aha moment, which I always love. This is by a podcast of people like all of us are still students. We're all still learning. Absolutely yes, I thought. Who are we as dental practice owners to think we know how to do it better than Disneyland, starbucks, nordstrom, mm-hmm, why not? Like? I believe that success leaves clues, so why not pick up the things they're doing? Why not incorporate those? I get it, we can all sit here and rag on McDonald's If you want to talk about a system, go check that out but it's like do you think that Disney gets tired of saying all their magical lines to give you the experience? Probably, but that's the experience, and they know how valuable that is to you. And so I feel like for us, why don't we take a page out of successful businesses and fine tune it into our own? But the bottom line is that they're all. They all have an experience. I guarantee you that they are practicing things behind the scenes.

Speaker 2:

If you read the book on reasonable hospitality this elite restaurant practiced how to plate your food in front of you, to give you an incredible experience, and they would literally role play this over and over and over and over again. So it was so perfect for their guests that came in. And I think we in dental practices doing a healthcare service, I think we almost might get a little sloppy and lazy, thinking, well, it's something needed and necessary, whereas Disneyland and Starbucks and unreasonable hospitality are more frivolous. But if we could combine this amazing experience with healthcare necessity, you are going to have a practice that is explosive on reputation because they're going to get something different from you and they're going to get a predictable magic experience from the systems behind the scenes that your team's creating. It's just are we disciplined and are we humble enough to accept that this is what we need to do for success? And I think if you can accept that, you can have unmatched success.

Speaker 2:

I believe patients pick up what we put down, so if we're putting down this, we can wait on it. It is discretionary. I know you're not in pain, so let me know your patients pick up that urgency and that intentionality behind it and so agreed with you. I do think that there is some discretionary, but I also think that that's because we've trained patients that way. We have trained them that they can wait until their six month cleaning. We've trained them that, oh yeah, when your schedule can fit it in, why are we even telling them that my opinion is, if you're going to diagnose it, doctor, our job is to close it and to get them on the schedule. Because I have it elevated to that type of intentionality behind it.

Speaker 2:

I think, yes, it is discretionary, but I also think it's a societal change that we've made it of like. But we know, we know, erica, like that tooth might not blow up in the next six months. Like I know this, but I'm like I agree, but also, when I have a chip in my windshield, I'm not going to just like hope with fate that I'm going to explode on me either. Like I think we also prioritize our health just as much as we do our like physical health. I think they fall in the same category and I think we can do a better job educating patients and I think it'd be better as a society as a whole.

Speaker 1:

I think so too. I think overall, in general, we need to step it up with case presentation, a patient experience 100% and, more specifically, along the lines of billing you guys need to appeal more Like you need to start appealing denial Preach. I know it. I want to close this out with one last thing. I think you've given so much. If there was one piece of advice you could give to a startup doc, what would you say? That one piece of advice would be Just quick and easy To a startup doctor.

Speaker 2:

I think it's just going to tie back. This is what I'm feeling today, so who knows, it could change tomorrow. But I think my best advice to that startup doctor is like, it truly is a marathon and not a sprint. And so prioritize and really look to see which things, ultimately, are going to move you forward the most and let's highlight and prioritize those. So I go back to that graph of least amount of effort, maximum amount of gain, realizing that we're in this for the next decade, two decades, three decades. I think so many of them come out running and gunning and burn themselves out and they're there all night long. Like go home at five, leave the office, because by you shutting off you're actually going to come back better prepared, be smarter with your decisions. So remember it's that marathon, not a sprint, and really, truly prioritize your effort and your energy. You're going to go a lot further, a lot faster and a lot easier, with a lot more fun along the way.

Speaker 1:

Oh, yes, absolutely. But, kira, this has been an absolute pleasure to have you on the podcast and I'm sure my audience is going to enjoy this episode. I will put your contact information in the show notes so, if anybody has any questions, they're curious to know more about the dental A team will have that link in the show notes so that they can connect with you. Thank you, how can the listeners connect with you outside of the link? Do you have an Instagram? Do you have a link in?

Speaker 2:

Okay, yeah, so you can connect with us on Instagram. We're there. I respond to a lot of the DMs on there, so be sure to connect there. We have a Facebook group. If you guys want to hang out there, ask your questions. It's pretty, it's pretty fun over there. So the dental aid team and then our Facebook group is elite doctors and office managers over there. But truly, also check out the podcast, come listen along. The dental aid team. Tons of fun things there. But truly, and you guys can also email me directly. Like, put it in there, erica, email me directly.

Speaker 2:

I will answer my emails, so I think it's just a fun place to be if we can inspire and empower Rock.

Speaker 1:

I love this. You guys go listen to her podcast.

Speaker 2:

It's amazing.

Speaker 1:

I binge listened myself. So thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to be on the podcast. We've had this plan for a couple months and I really enjoyed it. Likewise, thank you so much.

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Ericka Aguilar

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