Veros Dental

Many of us set new goals as we enter into a new year.  I always set several personal and professional goals that I want to meet by the end of the year.  I then break that list down by quarter so I feel a bigger sense of accomplishment throughout the year.  Plus, I’ve found that it makes it more meaningful to hit those goals quarterly and to keep me focused.

Now think about your practice.  What goals have been set for 2012?  Maybe your first step is going to be to actually set a few goals — whether they be personal or professional.  There may be 3, 5, 10 goals that you set!  Break that list of 10 down to recognize your top three and then make those your focus for the 1st quarter.  Monitor the progress and hold yourself accountable.  Once you accomplish the first goal, move on to the next set for the next quarter.  And don’t forget to document your progress!

I have seen in many instances where a dentist will say their goal for the year is to clean up their accounts receivable.  Then, a year passes and the accounts receivable is still an issue.  Many times something like this may not get done because they have several other things that they are trying to accomplish as well and the list becomes too overwhelming.  So start small.  Make your focus to clean up old accounts receivable for the first quarter.  Then if you get that done and have time in that quarter, move on to the next goal on your list.

Some of your goals will obviously take longer than others to accomplish, so be sure to prioritize your list and start working on it!  Delegate what you can to your team and hold everyone involved accountable.

If your goal is to grow the practice, then what do you need to implement for that to happen?  This could vary in many areas like increased production, patient growth, new marketing plan implementation, adding new procedures/services offered by the practice, adding a new operatory and increasing collection ratio, just to name a few.  As you can see, one goal called “practice growth” can turn into an overwhelming list of to-do items!  So be sure to break it down more specifically.  Of those areas, which are the most important for you to accomplish first?  Start there.  Actually, one goal could turn into a whole year’s worth of goals to accomplish — depending on the depth of the details.

Set realistic, attainable goals and stick to that list!  Keep yourself encouraged by documenting, monitoring and tracking your progress!  Good luck!