Dental A Team W/ Kiera Dent And Dr Mark Costes

Kiera brings you some quick and easy ways to set up traction in your practice, regardless of its size. In this episode, she revisits the idea of traction — an incredibly important topic for offices who want to streamline efficiencies and work as a team. Tune in to hear the steps your practice needs to take to create short- and long-term goals, quarterly rocks, and even the little to-dos to get there. It’s an entire process that fuels success into your operations. This episode will not only give you ideas of goals to implement, but the Dental A-Team also provides the tools to get there. Episode resources: Reach out to Kiera Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Visit The Dental A-Team website Review the podcast on iTunes

Tiffanie is baaaaack! Dental A-Team fab road warrior Tiffanie Trader is in this episode to talk about her recent consulting journeys, what key tangibles are coming through, and the number one favorite thing she’s implemented over the past month. Kiera and Tiff are always a blast to have together in an episode, and this is a quick convo you won’t want to miss. Listen to past episodes with Tiffanie at www.TheDentalATeam.com. 

~*~ It’s a crossover episode with The Dental Brief! ~*~ Kiera joins Patrick Chavoustie on the Dental Brief podcast to give a quick recap on what’s top of mind for her at this moment: Getting your team on board and headed in the same direction. She shares insight on how to set one-, three- and 10-year goals, why keeping your team interwoven gets them extra-engaged, and how 75% of DAT offices surpass the goals they set. We love our crossover episodes. Want to find out other podcasts we’ve participated in? Visit www.TheDentalATeam.com/blog.  ________________________________ Question: How can I be more involved in what’s going on in my practice?

Grace Rizza, CEO of Identity Dental Marketing, is the star of today’s podcast episode. She joins Kiera to talk Kiera’s favorite topic: marketing ;) Marketing is a huge piece of a dental practice's success, so it’s important to take it seriously. Grace shares what her response is to a doctor who’s big goal is to get butts in seats, the most effective ways to build a practice over time, and, of course, three common marketing mistakes: Signing long contracts Giving up ownership of domain/website Not having realistic conversation expectations The bottom line: Marketing is a necessary part of a well-functioning business. Whether you’re comfortable or not in the topic, it’s time to face the music, and this episode is a great place to start. Visit www.TheDentalATeam.com to find other ways to launch your practice into success. To contact Grace, visit www.IdentityDental.com/grace.  More about Grace: Grace is the proud owner of Identity Dental Marketing where she has made it her personal mission to improve t

Dr. Deren Flesher’s Royal Oak Family Dental is one of the most innovative and unique offices the Dental A Team has ever been part of. In this episode, Dr. Flesher joins Kiera to talk about the positives of outsourcing to software (like Modento, wink, wink). Now, you might think that utilizing software takes away personal approaches with your patients, but Dr. Flesher explains exactly why that isn’t the case. Rather, you’re letting technology tackle monotony and encouraging team members fill in the gaps that are actually missing in your practice. Modento is willing to waive their onboarding fee, give you voicemail credits, AND money off a monthly subscription. Visit modento.io to sign up. If you have questions, feel free to reach out to Dr. Flesher at deren@modento.io, or you can email US at hello@thedentalateam.com. Dr. Flesher has been here before, so make sure you’re caught up on his insight! Episode 112, Dental Gold Mine: Rotating Schedules, Assisted Hygiene, and Automated Voicemails; and episode 136, Deep

Team culture is incredibly important and valuable in any workplace, and in this episode, Dr. Jenny Perna has returned to the Dental A-Team podcast to share her experiences in the dental world. Dr. Perna has been in toxic cultures before, where the wrong people sat in the wrong seat on the bus, so to speak, or they sat in the right seat, but didn’t have the right attitude. To fix the negative atmosphere, she focused on the following: Anyone can be a leader. Don’t be afraid to step up. Relate everything to your core values. Be committed. Fixing a toxic culture can take a while — years, even — but take heart from Dr. Perna’s advice. (Check out this accountability survey we have!) Be sure to listen to past episodes with Dr. Perna! 261: Associate to Owner, Taking the Leap 320: Plans Derailed? Here’s What to Do.

Dr. Sarah Zeh, an associate dentist out of Austin, Texas, is Kiera’s guest for this podcast episode, and she’s here to share tips on how to keep things healthy between associates and owners in the practice. For context, Dr. Zeh is in her third associateship, so she has some good experience to share. Kiera and Dr. Zeh chat about what makes an amazing owner — trusting an associate before they even come on board and setting time to communicate one-on-one — and what she looks for when seeking out practices to join. Like what you hear? Dr. Zeh is on Instagram at @thedaintydentist! Give her a follow (and make sure you’re following us at the same time, @DentalATeam)! 

Brad James, director of partner development at Kleer, is the star of this Dental A-Team episode! Brad talks about Kleer, which helps roll out membership plans effectively and successfully to uninsured patients, and its new program centered around small businesses and employee care. Did you know that roughly half of small businesses don’t offer dental benefits, but 82% of them want to do so in the future? Enter Kleer Employee Care, which connects small businesses with local dentist practices for membership programs. Brad and Kiera discuss all the details behind what this means for small businesses and practices, including cost, commitments, and more. This fully functional program is expected to roll out this May or June, so keep an eye out at www.kleer.com/kleer-employee-care!  Check out other Dental A-Team podcast episodes that incorporate Kleer: #204: You Need to Put This in Place #276: Get More Money Into Your Practice

Ladies and gentlemen, we’re talking OSHA and HIPAA compliance. The Dental A-Team welcomes Danielle McKinley, director of partner relations with PCIHIPAA, to talk about this crucial topic. It may not be the sexiest information, but it’s so integral to your practice (think potential fines of hundreds of thousands to over a millions dollars! Danielle shares some horror stories). Danielle breaks down the difference between OSHA and HIPAA, the actual costs of becoming compliant, and steps you can take to tackle the overwhelming topics: She suggests first performing a risk assessment, which you can find at www.pcihipaa.com/danielle. To learn more about the Dental A-Team, and have one of our consultants come to YOU, visit www.TheDentalATeam.com today!

Kiera is joined by fellow DAT consultant, Tiffanie Trader, and Dr. Sean O’Grady in this episode. Dr. O’Grady started a practice in 2019, and shares his journey through that practice ownership. He talks with Kiera and Tiffanie about trials faced as an urban dental practice, victories had (including up 90% in collections over two months), and how the Dental A-Team played a role. From a consultant’s point of view, Tiffanie shares the positives Dr. O’Grady has had, including: Prepared and growth-oriented Doesn’t jump and leap without knowing what result should be Waited to have the DAT come aboard until he had hired a team that was committed Join this trio as they talk the highs and lows of starting a new practice during Covid-19! Interested in having your own success story? Visit www.TheDentalATeam.com to start with us! About Dr. O’Grady: From a young age, Dr. O’Grady knew that he wanted a career in health care because he wanted to be able to make a positive impact on people’s lives. Dr. O’Grady is a pe

It’s a Q&A episode from one of our Instagram followers! This episode’s topic: How to get referrals from your patients. Kiera gives two specific tips: Make sure your practice provides a good patient experience. Practice and role play with your staff how to ask for referrals. Taking these steps will personalize your patients’ visit to your practice, and show them how much you care — about their teeth and their opinion. Now, we get to ask you! Will you rate and review US? You can do so by visiting our podcast page on whatever app you use to listen.

Sameer Bhasin, vice president of alliances at CareCredit, shares the low-down on third-party financing and how to better-utilize companies like CareCredit. Kiera has her own experience with CareCredit, and used it religiously when she was a treatment coordinator, closing on $60,000 to $80,000 cases. Not everyone who wants to work with CareCredit is prepared and ready to make those moves, so Sameer has tips on where to start, and he explains them in more detail: Inventory your office. Are you utilizing CareCredit or another patient financing as a product or as part of a process? Pull up diagnosing and treatment plans. Understand why some treatments are still sitting on the to-do list. Kiera and Sameer also discuss how to talk to your patients about such finances, how credit scores come into play, and, of course, what the magic number is to know if your practice is healthy in terms of CareCredit/etc. applications. Want to reach your CareCredit practice rep? Visit www.carecredit.com/partnerportal/contact

It’s time for a rundown of Dental A-Team events happening this year: all workshop-style, all CE, all virtual (until the world opens up again), and all available to sign up for at www.TheDentalATeam.com/events. Here’s what’s on the docket: March 26: Billing Mastery. How to set up billing, perform spot audits, run insurance verification, and more. May 14-15: Dental A-Team Summit. For the first time ever, we’re hosting a full team-training event. We’re talking team building, effective meetings, building financial freedom, setting goals, and a ton more. July 16: Getting the Yes! Maximized Case Acceptance. Treatment planning, tracking case acceptance, and understanding the psychology about why patients say no.  September 17: Operations Manual Creation. A full day of teaching principles behind creation on operations manual and having you and your full team take action. This event will give you a massive jumpstart on having the perfect ops manual! Stoked for these events? We are too! Email us with questio

Today’s episode is all about how your practice can thrive. Kiera lays out the steps to do just that: Track KPIs (examples of what you can track included!) Set quarterly and annual goals Brainstorm dump and enact the three quick and easy things It’s easy and it goes a looooong way, and all we at the Dental A-Team ask is that you try the ideas out for a month to see what progress is made. Need a little nudge? We can do that too: Email us at hello@thedentalateam.com. 

Happy 2 Year Birthday to Dental A Team Podcast! This VERY podcast you’re listening to is two years old TODAY! To celebrate, we’re reflecting on the journey we’ve been on to get this far, and invite you to do the same! Reflect on your past two years. Who did you want to be and where did you want to go two years ago today? Are you on or off track? As Kiera’s therapist once said: Goals are stars to guide by, not sticks to beat ourselves with. Thank you for staying on this journey with us. Relive our best podcast moments at www.TheDentalATeam.com! And please subscribe and review as a birthday present to us :)  

Office autopsies are always a fan favorite, so we’re back with another! The low-down on this practice: 3 doctors, 5-6 hygienists, 4 front office staff, and a bunch of dental assistants; it’s a solo office that’s contemplating a second location; maxed out on operatories; and awesome associate doctors. So what were the concerns? This office reached out to the Dental A-Team to fix its front desk and develop its leadership team. How did that happen? Well, well, well, you’re just going to have to listen up to understand why! It wasn’t all sunshine and daisies in the journey to a better place, but the DAT worked with this team through it all, and now things are humming along better than it ever has been. Let us say that again: This practice is THE BEST it’s ever been in its history of ownership. Want your own practice to get there? We want to help! Email hello@thedentalateam.com to get started.

The event you’ve been searching for IS ALMOST HERE! That’s right, The Dental A-Team Summit is happening on May 14 and 15! This **virtual** event will absolutely revolutionize your practice’s teamwork and effectiveness; we’re talking team CE and swag boxes and lessons you can implement LIVE in your practice right then and there. Plus, hear from such stellar speakers as Mikel Michalowicz (on financial freedom), Dr. Erin Elliott (on sleep apnea), Paul Goodman (on onboarding an associate), and so many more! The DAT Summit is Kiera’s dream come true, so please attend with your entire team and experience a bond for life. And we’re not done yet! Before March 31, be sure to sign up and get the early bird discount. ALSO enter coupon code ‘podcast’ to get another surprise :) Visit summit.thedentalateam.com/ to sign up.

Dr. Josh Austin is back on the podcast, chatting with Kiera about a continuation of the topic of their last episode: mental health. Dr. Austin shares that since he started therapy, his practice has seen a 16% increase in profitability on average each month. Because he goes to therapy regularly, he feels he’s become a better communicator, more empathetic, more productive, and a better leader. To put it in dental terms: therapy is like hygiene; you’re never done with it. Thus, therapy is hygiene for your mind. Joshua Austin, DDS, FAGD, FACD, is a native San Antonian. After attending San Antonio's Health Careers High School and the University of Texas, San Antonio as an undergrad student, Dr. Austin graduated from the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio Dental School.  Dr. Austin is a member of the prestigious Seattle Study Club, which is a network of professional dental study groups dedicated to ideal comprehensive dental care. Dr. Austin's other professional memberships include the Academy o

It’s time to tackle the stuff you’ve been avoiding. Yup. In this episode, Kiera shares her experience with home buying and how it’s related to upkeep in dental practices. To sum it up: What is the deferred maintenance on your practice? Have you taken temperature checks on cancellations, AR, statements, how protocols have changed with COVID-19?  If you’re leaving these tiny items unfixed and unaddressed for too long, they stack up! Let the Dental A-Team help you. Take our quiz here to see how systematized you are. You can also email us at hello@thedentalateam.com to get a copy! Our challenge to you: Fix the deferred maintenance THIS QUARTER! We believe in you, and we’re also here to help. You can always reach us at www.TheDentalATeam.com. 

Dr. Rhonda Kalasho, one of Hollywood’s leading dental experts in cosmetic and restorative dentistry, is on the Dental A-Team podcast! With Kiera, Dr. Kalasho talks about COVID-19’s impacts on the cosmetic dentistry industry, learning not to operate on a margin, and how to put the patient first. And (!!!) she shares how her practice utilizes an actual robot with patients. Exciting times, people!  If you’re interested in gaining a clear vision for your practice and sticking to it, as well as how to create a blueprint for success, you’ll want to listen up to Dr. Kalasho’s insights. Dr. Rhonda Kalasho is a dentist and patients see her for a host of reasons, including teeth bonding, bruxism, sleep apnea, sensitive teeth, and plaque. She is fluent in English as well as Arabic, which makes her culturally attuned to patients from various backgrounds. Dr. Kalasho earned her dental degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. She presently runs her own practice located in Los Angeles. As a dental professional