Marketing draws practice focus

In response to the recession, more dentists are pursuing changes in the way they market their practices than are changing anything else, according to the 3rd ADA Survey of Economic Confidence.

Conducted by the ADA Health Policy Resource Center April 20-29, the quarterly Internet survey draws responses from 1,745 dentists about 10 practice benchmarks. It finishes with an open-ended question about dentists’ practices and challenges. The 3rd survey’s question鈥?What change have you made in your practice and has it worked?”鈥攄rew responses from 801 dentists. Twenty-two percent of respondents reported that they were making internal and external marketing changes.

Comparing 1st quarter 2009 results with 4th quarter 2008 results overall, Wayne Wendling, Ph.D., said, “We saw a small improvement in the first quarter. It’s still bad, but it’s not as bad as it was.” The managing vice president of the Health Policy Resource Center was presenting to the Council on Dental Practice during its May 7-9 meeting at ADA Headquarters. But he tempered the positive news by adding, “We’re not at the depth of the recession yet.”

More dentists reported gross billing and net income increases for the first quarter of 2009 when compared to the fourth quarter of 2008 than did when comparing the fourth quarter of 2008 with the third. More dentists also reported increases in patient volume and treatment acceptance rates during the first quarter of 2009 than did in the third or fourth quarters of 2008, and more reported a greater sense of confidence about their economic future in the first quarter than did in the fourth quarter of 2008.

“While first quarter increases in productivity are encouraging, we need to be aware that those increases could be due to a new insurance benefit year,” Dr. Michael Halasz commented about the findings. The CDP member also serves as the chair of the Subcommittee on Economic Issues. Created through the council, the group is charged with identifying ways to help ADA members survive and thrive in tough economic times. “I’m not going to be optimistic until I see the numbers from the next two quarters.”

Dr. William D’Aiuto, who also serves on both the CDP and the subcommittee, agreed.

“Even if the first quarter looks better than the fourth quarter of last year did, there’s not enough of an indication that dentistry is out of the woods,” advised Dr. D’Aiuto. “The next couple of quarters may tell us more about whether or not this will be a long recession for dentistry.”

In addition to the likelihood that patients are spending more in a new benefit year, Dr. D’Aiuto attributes a possible upswing to the hopes pinned on post-election incentive plans. His firsthand experience tells him numbers for the second quarter of 2009 may not be as good as they were for the first.

“I was at a dental meeting two weeks ago and most dentists discussed being slow in March and April,” Dr. D’Aiuto explained.

Both Drs. Halasz and D’Aiuto are encouraged by the percentage of dentists increasing internal marketing and tightening their belts.

“It’s best if people can do things in their practices to stay busy with their current teams,” said Dr. D’Aiuto.

Dr. Halasz says he plans to continue to market his practice internally. “We all know that the best new patients come from direct referrals,” he said.

Dr. Halasz hired an additional team member this year. “Her main task is to stay on the phone reactivating patients and filling holes in the hygiene schedule,” Dr. Halasz said. “It seems to be paying off.”

In responding to the open-ended question about practice changes implemented, 20 percent of respondents reported that they had cut back on staff, 17-18 percent had taken steps to reduce overhead and 11-12 percent had done nothing.

ADA members will be able to download a summary report of the 3rd ADA Survey of Economic Confidence by June 1. The prior two surveys are also available at www.ada.org/goto/freereports.