It can be said, most successful independent clinical dental practitioners know what to focus their attention on. What to look for, where to look for It, what to do about It, why to do It, when to do It, who to do It to, how to do It, and who does It best. If they don’t know, they better find out when they want to be successful and they better know how to make a profit from what they are offering to their patients. When they don’t know how to do that, they will fail, both clinically and financially.

Additionally, these dentists must realize every dental practice is a healthcare business that includes the systems, methods, personnel, and offerings used to provide patient care that includes:

Patient Care System: It’s the method in which clinical dentists organize their practices to treat patients. It includes the doctor who provides the clinical care, staff members, the office facility, patients who want what the practice is offering, and external support provided by dental laboratories, supply companies, CE courses, legal, accounting, and business consultants, etc. to be successful.

Practice Business Model: It’s the business plan implemented by clinical dentists to generate revenue and make a profit from the clinical services and dental devices and appliances they offer to their patients. It includes the clinical and non-clinical components and functions of the practice, as well as the revenue it generates and the expenses it incurs.

Patient Care Method: It’s the focus of the dentist’s practice, its purpose. It includes the way of acquiring new patients (marketing and promotion), converting a person to becoming a patient (sales and selling methods), performing clinical examinations and tests, analyzing the condition of the components of the patients’ masticatory system and their dentition, determining a diagnosis, formulating treatment plans, and treating dental and non-dental structural and functional disorders.

Patient Offerings or Deliverables: It’s what the dentist’s practice provides, its value proposition. They are the clinical services and the dental devices the practice offers that patients may need, thus want, therefore are willing to pay for. Usually, it’s the clinical dentist who will determine what the practice offers, its deliverables to potential patients, all of which are based on the dentist’s advanced knowledge, unique clinical skillsets, and their method of providing patient care.