Dentists Spend One-Fourth of Time on Dental Management

The average dentist spends about a quarter of the work week on dental practice management, according to this recent survey.

Dentists work about 32 hours per week on patient care and 12 hours per week on business and dental marketing. But, as with so many things, there's tremendous variation among dentists.

There's the Texas dentist who reports spending 44 hours each week on dental management, and another 34 hours a week treating patients. (That's two full-time jobs!) "You must be a good leader to be a good manager," he says. "If you are lacking as one then you will fail as the other. Most young dentist are neither good managers or leaders."

On the other side, another dentist in the same state spends only 6% of his time on the business side. "After 32 years of practice, it is going pretty well," he says. "I'm tired at the end of the day and week, so I'd rather sit on my duff than study practice management literature, even though I know it would help."

Full results: Dental Practice Management Hours

http://n/a DOCTOR BERT

Just bloody true!
Regards
http://SmilePage.com DR. PAGE

Heaven help us all as the new gov’t health plan proposals dictate more work for less pay for physicians….as we are the next target on the line.
Dr. Bob

We as dentists are pressed for time at best. On the marketing side we need someone responsible for the development, execution, and adjustment of our marketing plans in their entirety. Much like our financial advisors, accountants, lawyers, and even our dentists – they tell us the story and take care of everything. They don’t expect me to go to the law library, or drill my own filling with their tools. I don’t have time for, or motivation to handle the execution of my marketing plan. In fact, I’d rather pay someone I trust to handle it all, review it a couple few times each year, and send me the bill. Thank goodness I can rely on your services Jim!
http://assisttopractice.wordpress.com Todd Christensen

I liken the successful management of a dental office to the budgeting of one’s own money. What’s lacking is not a specific knowledge or a skill set of how to do it, since most of it is not rocket science. A budget’s a budget. It’s pretty much common sense.

But the person who spends an hour each week comparing their income to their expenses, without a meaningful reason, will quickly tire of the “exercise” and tell everyone that budgeting is “not for them.”

What’s lacking is the motivation and the vision. Yes, there are good methods and bad methods and plain ol’ waste of time methods to running a business. But the owner/doctor who knows why he or she is “working the business,” who has specific, written goals that they see frequently and review regularly, is the owner/doctor who not only begins to enjoy that part of the business but also continually looks for ways to improve.