North Texas Dentistry Volume 4 Issue 4 | Page 19

Reaching your destination Just as it takes in-flight corrections for an airliner to reach its destination, dental practices faced with challenging conditions should also check their progress — monitoring key metrics and conducting a SWOT analysis — and correct accordingly. A mid-year course correction can help a practice reach its destination with flying colors. Article originally appeared in Dental Business Review. Reprinted with permission. To make the right mid-year course correction, the place to begin is with an analysis of the current state of the practice. This includes a review of key performance targets that contribute to overall practice success, as well as an objective evaluation of the practice’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (known as a SWOT analysis, this is used widely in the business world). Lacking business training, most dentists simply look at production, personal income and the overhead percentage to determine the practice’s health. When practices were growing every year, this was acceptable. Today, more in-depth information is needed. Without it, not only will it be impossible to execute an effective mid-year course correction, but the practice may also be headed for decline — without the dentist realizing it. Dr. Roger Levin is a thirdgeneration general dentist and the Chairman and CEO of Levin Group, Inc., the largest dental practice management and marketing firm in North America. As a leading authority on dental practice management and marketing, he has developed the scientific systems-based consulting method that will increase practice production and profitability, while lowering stress. Dr. Levin has authored 65 books and more than 3,700 articles. He presents 100 seminars per year worldwide. Train your team the easy way — sign up for Levin Group’s Tip of the Day. It’s free. It’s brief. And it can help you and your team improve performance. www.levingroup.com/tipoftheday Global Reach. Local Touch. Single Source. www.northtexasdentistry.com | NORTH TEXAS DENTISTRY 19