Better to be Safe than Sorry
March 23, 2015
I have often written about the importance of assembling a quality staff. Surrounding yourself with a talented, caring and loyal team is the key to success in any business. Creating and keeping that team intact is probably our biggest challenge as dentists. We live in an increasingly mobile society. It is the rule rather than the exception today that there are two wage earners in the family. So a great staff member may have to leave town because her husband was offered a new position. Or someone is having a third child and finally needs to be able to spend more time at home. Just when you finally have the perfect group in place, something unfortunate or unforeseen always seems to happen and you are back in the labor market again.
I want to write today about the importance of doing background checks and carefully following up on references for potential new employees. Knowledge of human resources (HR) goes hand in hand with proper staff development. Over the years I have witnessed some very damaging and messy situations that undoubtedly could have been prevented with better due diligence.
At the initial interview, you need to disclose to the applicant that it is the policy of your office to do a background check. And it requires a signed form that is separate from the application for employment. Listed below are four companies that I know of that provide background checks. The cost is about $20, and you need to furnish the applicant’s Social Security number and date of birth.
It is absolutely amazing what these reports provide. Actually pretty scary that all of this information about our lives is out there and so readily accessible. You will see credit history, past employment, professional licenses, criminal record, education, workers comp history, driving record and medical history. When someone comes up squeaky clean, you will now have the necessary peace of mind if you are truly considering this person for a job in your practice.
Be sure to read the applicant’s resume very carefully. Check for lapses in employment or short job durations. Moving around a lot in a relatively short time period is a major red flag. When you do speak to references, you should ask “if the situation arose, would you rehire this person back to work in your practice?”
The bottom line is that it is very expensive to stumble and realize that you have hired the wrong person. Training takes a big investment of time and effort. It is important to do everything you can to be successful the first time around.
I Continue to be Impressed – No Pun Intended!
March 9, 2015
Thirty months ago, I wrote a post about a company called Six Month Smiles. At that time, I was very enthused after attending a two-day course for general dentists that provided hands on learning for short-term orthodontics. STO is defined as cosmetically focused orthodontic treatment performed in less than nine months with aesthetic brackets and wires.
Five of my clients at that time attended the seminar with me and all of them were thrilled. Since then, another 10 clients have attended the course, and three more are signed up to attend the course in the Boston area scheduled for this coming April. I continue to hear rave reviews about the information taught at the course and the online continuous support and mentoring that is provided by experienced instructors to all attendees. I felt then–and continue to feel now–that Six Month Smiles is often a better, quicker, and always less expensive option to Invisalign. Having options and the ability to present choices to your patients greatly enhances case acceptance.
Six Month Smiles has grown dramatically since I attended my course in 2012. They actually started offering courses in 2011, and as of today, over 6000 dentists in the United States have been trained and have completed 80,000 cases. A terrific and new updated feature is that you will very soon be able to use an intra oral scanner to send digital scans instead of traditional impressions. The company has also made major strides in progressive advertising and enhanced social media presence to make the general public aware of their name and what they do. I was told that in the last 30 days, over 5 million potential patients viewed their advertising, 2.5 million potential patients viewed social media posts, and 30 thousand potential patients visited the patient education section of the Six Month Smiles website looking for a provider in their area.
So as I said in my original post, if you are a restorative dentist who loves to create beautiful smiles and has an ability to visualize cases, this ortho technology can and will be a fabulous addition to your armamentarium. You will quickly be able to move teeth into proper position so that bonding, veneers, and more traditional crown and bridge or implants can now be performed. Click here for more information – you will not regret it!