Do you constantly check the diary for the type of work coming in through the day?
Do you ask the receptionist to chase up patients without appointments, even though it`s part of their job anyway?
Are you constantly adding up in your head how much you`ve earned in the last day/session/hour?
Are you worried when you find out the next patient is a free replacement restoration (and yes, we all have them)?
Do you check the UDA management figures more than once in a day?
Well it`s time to let go! Micromanaging the finances during the day takes energy, more energy than you can really afford and still have a life out of work! This attention to detail is also misplaced and you are likely to suffer more frustration than elation. You will also inadvertently tread on toes and upset people who are just trying to do the job you asked them to do at the beginning of the day.
This approach prevents people from doing their best for you. Start by empowering the staff to act in the way they think best at the time and have set times to evaluate how this is working. There is a time and place for accounting and checking the figures and it is not at eleven in the morning of a clinical day. However tight things are, let go of the pennies and trust the pounds to look after themselves. It doesn`t matter how hard you look, the money won`t multiply on it`s own. Use all that hands-on energy to find rapport with the patients, it will create more income!
The more you worry about money, the more you feel the lack. The more you worry about the dental health of the patients, the more you feel a contact with the job in hand. However, it`s still important to have the systems in place to keep working behind the scenes. The Registered Manager should be the head of a team that looks after CQC compliance, patient management, day to day finances and you as the practitioner. Give everyone in the practice some responsibility and let them fly with it.
The easiest period I had as a Principal was when my practice manager agreed to take the post on condition that I allowed her to manage me as just one of the team and it worked really well!
