Increasing Your Practice Production

Are you looking for or open to ideas on ways of increasing productivity in your practice? Because panoramic radiography can be seen as just a large "cost" without factoring in how quickly it literally pays for itself, the question of ROI surfaces regularly in our conversations with offices.

We thought this recent article by Jim Philhower, Dental Economics, February 2014 is a good resource in highlighting several key areas that can be assessed and attention given, including the review of radiography protocols.

3. Review Radiography Protocols
How often do you want your patients to receive X-rays? For bitewings, we almost always hear once a year. What about major films? Is it three years for a panoramic and five years for a full mouth series? If so, why? Once you have established a standard of care for radiography, it is much easier to articulate it to your team and patients. It's simple, but it is one of the biggest reasons that offices do not take radiography to the doctor's standard of care. Most dentists will agree that every new patient should receive a major film, yet rarely do the panoramic and full mouth series X-rays add up to the number of new patients seen in a given year – even when we factor in the new patients who brought a film with them. It adds up. Just one large film missed per day can equate to $25,000 annually. Without a protocol and focus, radiography can easily slip through the cracks.

Panoramic provides complimentary ROI analyses via our website (under each product area) or if you would like a hard copy sent to your office (via mail or email), simply let us know by calling 800-654-2027.