Recently, a federal court has approved the $80 million settlement agreement in a class action lawsuit against several dental product companies (Benco, Patterson, Schein).  Each was accused of violating antitrust laws by fixing prices on dental equipment and supplies.

Even before this price-fixing b...

Why do we even bother with “staff evaluations”?  Do they really do any good?  Do we have them because we think we should?  Or have we avoided them because they’re uncomfortable or we feel they won’t help.

If so, the research confirms our suspicions:

1. EVERYBODY HATES THEM - Staff evaluations are u...

“I’ve tried everything, but she just doesn’t seem to get any better.

Do you think I should I let her go?”

It’s always a hard decision.  All new hires need training to become a productive and integral member of our team.  Some more than others. But when have we done enough?  In what situations is a...

“Don’t make a hundred decisions when one will do”.

– Jim Collins

Orthodontic transfers!  Don’t you love them!

When they’re our patient and they’re moving elsewhere, how do we decide what’s a fair fee for our portion of the treatment?

And if we accept into our practice transfer patients with appl...

As we rebuild our practices to pre-pandemic levels, we need every advantage to start more patients.  And sometimes small things can make a big difference.

Here are 3 simple suggestions that require little effort on our part but may be just enough to tip the balance for someone to say “yes” to treat...

It’s so annoying!  We all work so hard to stay on schedule and we still have a group of patients putting us behind by chronically showed up late for their appointments or simply walking-in without an appointment.  When this does happens, often the patients who DO report on-time have to wait while we...

“Dr Steedle, your staff doesn’t think that they can EVER please you.”

Clearly uncomfortable, the Practice Consultant was giving me (and my business partner) the feedback from our team.  Apparently, he was doing reasonably well.  Me, not so much.

My initial reaction was to get defensive.  Wasn’t i...

For several years, I had been following the classic advice to “Praise in public, correct in private.”  During staff meetings or at the morning huddle, I would single out an assistant who I thought was worthy of praise and tell everyone (in some way or another), what a great job they were doing.  I t...