There’s a storm coming for dentists like nothing you’ve ever seen before. Dentists who prepare will survive and some will even thrive. Those who don’t prepare risk the future of their livelihood.
Those are strong statements that demand strong proof. The proof is already out there, but very few people have put the different elements together to have a clear understanding of the dangers.
The are four major economic forces that are already impacting dentistry to a considerable extent. When those forces merge, and they will, only the best-prepared dental practices will weather the storm without major damage.
- Corporate Dentistry
You may not have a chain dental practice in your market. But if there’s money to be made in your area, corporate dentistry will follow the money. Corporate dental practices siphon away prospects, undercut private dentists’ prices, and out-advertise almost everyone. Enough chain practices also (still) engage in unethical behavior to tarnish the dental profession.
- New Dental School Graduates
Debt-ridden dental school graduates are fodder for the corporate dental machine. Some of the chains are offering ridiculously high sign-on bonuses as well as paying off some or even all of new graduates’ dental school debts. Once those debts are paid, graduates will continue to work in a corporate practice, open a new corporate practice, open their own private practices, or join a group practice. Regardless, competition for new dental patients will heat up for many years.
- Declining Insurance Reimbursements
Delta Dental has led the charge to pay dentists less, but other dental insurers are sure to follow. With more of the payment burden on the patients, there are two options – defer needed care, or seek out the lowest-price provider. Private dental practices that get into price wars with chain practices seldom win, and often do considerable damage to themselves in the process.
- Economic Uncertainty
To say that things are up in the air economically right now is an understatement. Between the eventual fate of Great Britain’s exit from the European Union, Greece’s ongoing money woes, chaos in South America, and the U.S. government’s fondness for not passing annual budgets, the economy is anything but stable. When the next recession hits – and we’re overdue for one, according to a wealth of economists – the impact of the first three factors on dental practices will intensify to a level that we’ve not seen before.
Is Your Practice Prepared?
It’s not an exaggeration to say that your livelihood is at risk. You can act now to prepare your practice to survive and even thrive in the face of what’s coming.
Order your copy of my new book, The Four Horsemen of Dentistry: Survival Strategies for the Private Dental Practice Under Siege. It’s available for a lousy $2. Shipping and handling are included. Just go to www.PracticeUnderSiege.com.
The time to batten down the hatches is before the storm hits. Don’t wait a moment longer to begin readying your practice to withstand the coming perfect storm of dentistry.