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How Can Your Dental Practice Increase Profit? A Guide for 2023

Everyone can agree that even in the healthcare and dental care industry, those that can’t run profitable practices are bound to shut down. So, to keep what you’re doing in 2023, as well as expand your practice, you need to learn how to become more profitable. By the end of this article, you’ll get a general idea of how to proceed with this.

There are a lot of ways to proceed here, ranging from attracting more patients with better marketing all the way to keeping your patients by reducing dental attrition. With all of this in mind and without further ado, here are the top five ways you can increase your dental practice’s profit in 2023.

Spend More on Marketing

The first thing you need is a way to attract more attention to your dental practice. Sure, regular patients are making the majority of your profit, but every regular has, at one point, started as a first-time visitor. Going for specialized dental marketing will yield better results than taking a generalist’s approach.

First, you can invest a bit more in SEO. While WOM is huge, a lot of people are looking for dentists online. So, when they use Google to ask for a dentist nearby, you need to be one of the first (preferably the first) results that pops up. For this, you also need to make a decent GMB profile so that your practice looks more legit.

Second, you need to use your social media to promote your work. Just think about it, you can post interesting, educational content about dental care, which people are bound to be interested in. You can also showcase your team and equipment, thus boosting your authority in the field.  When it comes to content, hosting a dental blog might be an even better idea.

Reduce Overhead Expenses

When it comes to running a dental office, there are so many expenses regularly. Sure, rent and utilities are not something that you can affect, and we’ve already given you a tip to spend more on marketing. So, how do you reduce your overhead, thus maximizing your profit as a dental practice?

  • Staff salaries are not something that you can cut without losing your staff. So, what you can do is try to find better suppliers or negotiate a better deal with them.
  • Dental lab fees can go as high as 4% of your total revenue, which is why, by finding a larger dental lab network and getting a better fee, you can make a world of difference.
  • Taking better care of your equipment is another worth considering. Maintenance is generally 0.5% to 1% of your total revenue. However, neglecting your equipment might force you to make a premature purchase.

The most important thing is that you keep a close eye on your spending. Even though the majority of your expenses are fixed, your expenses can greatly vary month-to-month. Staying vigilant when it comes to your accounting is the simplest way to keep things under control.

Offer High-Profit Procedures

Imagine a procedure that you can get $1,000,000 for, but you would have to spend $999,990 to perform it. It’s expensive, but your profit margin would be just $10. Contrary to this, even affordable braces can be quite profitable for your practice.

The main consideration you need to make is the total cost of the procedure for your practice. A big mistake that some practices make is assuming that just because a procedure is more expensive, it also brings more profit.

Not every dental procedure is the same. Sure, some require more skill or better equipment, but they may also provide a higher profit margin. Generally speaking, in this industry, the higher profit margin procedures are:

  • Implants
  • Endodontics
  • Porcelain veneers
  • Crowns
  • Bridges

As you can see, the majority of these procedures are fairly common and inexpensive. However, by specializing in these fields and advertising them more strongly, you can drastically increase your profitability.

Work on Patient Management

Patient management is the best way to handle dental patient attrition. This is a scenario in which a regular patient just stops visiting you. Now, the truth is that while the quality of service affects this quite drastically, it’s also quite important to consider the role of your front-desk staff.

First of all, make sure that at least 90% of your patients are always scheduled for the next appointment. When they’re leaving, ask them whether they want to schedule their next check-up (even if it’s months in the future). If they don’t want to schedule right now, catch up with them at a later date. If they’ve already scheduled a check-up, make sure that you send them a reminder.

Also, the competence of your staff might affect their return rate more than you think. This is why you need to have people who can perform the function of unofficial customer support. Also, you need the right personality type. You want someone who is understanding of what your patients are going through.

Create a Passive Income Source

There are so many ways in which you can create a passive income source for your dental practice. For instance, you could start a dental blog or dental vlog on YouTube. What sets you apart is the fact that you have actual dentists in your employ, which is why every claim that you make has some authority behind it. By monetizing your content or putting ads, you can create quite a boost to your revenue.

Seeing as how your profit is bound to increase, you could use some of this profit and invest it into a high-yield savings account. Other than this, you could also buy stocks with decent dividends or invest in your rental property.

Keep in mind that if you decide to sublet a part of your dental office to a different dentist, their reputation might get tied to yours. In other words, this is not always the smartest move to make.

Wrap Up

So, invest more in marketing, keep your old patients, diversify your streams of income, reduce your overhead, and focus on high-profit procedures. The last thing you need to keep in mind is that, like any other business, your practice needs to grow to remain afloat. With the above-listed five tips on your side, you’ll have a lot easier job of getting there.

Piyushi

Blogger By Passion, Programmer By Love and Marketing Beast By Birth.

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