Solstice Provider Blog

Being the boss can be a thankless job. You want to push your employees to perform at the highest possible level - after all, it's your name posted on the shingle - but you don't want to be thought of as overbearing.

As you know, poor oral hygiene is linked to health risks, such as stroke and heart disease. And, research suggests that the way patients take care of their teeth may be linked to brain health such as Alzheimer's disease and dementia. May is Stroke Awareness Month—this is a good time to be talking to patients about oral hygiene, stroke and dementia!

The idea of conducting patient satisfaction surveys may come with mixed feelings. Do they really matter? Do you really get decent information out of them?

You may have hundreds of vision patients – but what good is it if each of them are unhappy or on the search for a new vision doctor? Performing eye exams and other basic procedures effectively doesn’t make an optometrist “great”. In today’s competitive optical world, it’s all about separating yourself from the rest and making your office a place patients look forward to visiting, rather than dreading. So how do you create this atmosphere? Allow us to elaborate.

While being a dentist can be very rewarding monetarily, being able to enjoy your earnings is what really brings true happiness to most of us. It can be challenging for those in the dental field to find the time to relax, take vacations or even take a day off to enjoy doing something different than being in the office. Work-life balance is among the most challenging things for dentists and others in the medical field. However, there are ways to make the most efficient use of your time while on the clock so that you can have a life outside of just seeing patients. Try these for size:

Chances are you’ve walked into someone’s house that was less than…clean. Perhaps the carpets were faded and dingy, or there was a musty, stale smell. Did you feel comfortable? Was it somewhere you’d want to return if you had your choice? Didn’t think so.

Working in a dental office with the same people day in and day can sometimes lead to tension. Issues such as personality clashes, misunderstandings, work ethic and lack of communication will arise and it is important to be an arbitrator, not an instigator. Properly managing conflicts in your dental office will help these issues be contained and lead to a positive environment for your staff and your clients. 

Keeping up with training regulations in your dental office may seem daunting, and you probably feel pretty great about your workplace when you know that everyone is following HIPAA requirements. Nevertheless, it is important that you don't neglect sexual harassment training for your dental office staff. 

Does your dental practice monitor what your patients are saying about you? If not, you need to start today. According to Yelp, 92 percent of people ask family or friends for recommendations, but over 70 percent will read consumer reviews before selecting a service or professional, such as choosing a dentist. With social media, people readily share their experiences--good or bad--with online friends. A strong presence on review sites can be a major influence in building your practice.

As part of America's largest generation, Millennials are on target to make an enormous cultural and economic impact. Millennials make up one-third of the population. The first wave is entering their 30s and establishing themselves as professionals. Then there will be four generations in the workplace. And they will be providing care for six generations.