Dental A Team Podcast

Dental A Team
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This podcast is here to give dentists and all dental office team members, in EVERY position, TACTICAL and PRACTICAL TIPS to: - Be more efficient - Have more fun - Improve doctor and team communications - Eliminate frustration - And make your life easier! Jump in! We are thrilled you have decided to LEVEL UP and be part of the DENTAL A TEAM! New episodes every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

  1. 7H AGO

    #goals: Personal AND Professional

    Re-releasing a DAT listener favorite! News flash: Setting goals for yourself isn't selfish! In fact, Kiera encourages you to set personal, then professional goals. In this episode, she talks about why it's important to think about yourself a bit more, why taking personal time helps you AND your team, and the best way to actually set those goals. Say the things you want to have; be clear about the life you want. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera. And today we are bringing you something so special. I am so excited because this is one of our most popular episodes from the archives. Whether you're hearing this for the first time or catching it again, I am so excited because it's jam packed with a ton of takeaways that you can start using right now in your practice. We have released thousands, literally thousands of episodes. And I wanted to start bringing a few of these amazing episodes back for you. So I hope you enjoy. And as always, thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time.   on the Dental A Team podcast.   The Dental A Team (00:31) You guys, I hope today's an awesome day for you. I hope you're doing something great for you. Hope you're loving on your teams, giving them compliments, telling them how great they're doing, being very specific and intentional. And I hope you are just remembering that you are working in the best profession, in my opinion, that you could ever, ever, ever ask for. That's right. I believe that dentistry is the greatest profession any of us could ever work in. And I feel truly blessed and honored that we get to work and serve and   Give back to a community that I am obsessed with. So with that said, guys, please be sure to leave us a review if you have not done so. Yes, I'm talking to you. I don't know your name, but I'm talking to you. Please go leave us a review. I know you've been a podcast listener for so long. Please help us out. Help us grow our podcast and serve and give to to more people. Guys, it's very simple.   Whatever device you're listening to you scroll down to the bottom. There's a spot where you can either write an actual review or just leave the star rating. So please help us out. Keeping us at that five stars and giving back has been really, really beneficial. And then we're able to rank higher on the dental. When people search for dental podcasts, we're able to rank higher and help and serve more people. With that said guys, I want to talk about why as teams and owners, it's important for you to set goals for you.   That's right. I think oftentimes we get so obsessed with setting goals for our practice that we forget that it's okay to set goals for the life that we want to have, for the life and the practice that we want to have. Not the one that we think we should have, but the one we genuinely want to have. What happens with that is so often I was actually just talking to a doctor and he said, you know, I really, really, really want to have where I only work three days a week.   but I'm concerned that that's going to impact the team's goals of being able to grow and produce more since I'm such a strong producer. Okay. Number one, kudos to this doctor for loving on his team so much that he wanted to make sure his team was successful. Also with that  said, I have found that when you are setting goals for yourself personally, you're much happier and you want to work harder. And also docs, if you just tell us what your goal is, we as team members get to become insanely. Yep. You got it.   innovative. So we get to come up with it like this office. The office manager said, Hey, that's fine if you want to do this, because guess what? That gives us an opportunity to come up with different ways to change our insurances, to look for ways making sure that we have our fees exactly where they actually should be. It's going to eliminate patients who don't want to be paying for the services that we're offering. I love that this office manager took it on as a challenge.   of how she could actually reach the goals that the practice is set while also reaching the goals that the doctor had for themselves. So for you guys, it's really that thought process of how can we actually achieve the goals that we want? Want? Yes, I said it, want. I want you to achieve the goals that you want. ⁓ And so with that said, making sure that you're setting goals for you. Now, sometimes I think that we feel selfish. We feel like, well, who am I to deserve this?   But the answer is you're a person. You're a person of worth. You're a person who actually deserves to have the life you want if you want to have it. Or you can sit in a victim mentality and say, well, this is just the life it's going to be and I have to do this and I have to do that. Well, fantastic. You're welcome to stay in that mindset, but that's actually not true. You don't have to do anything. You get to choose the state of life you live in. You get to choose the state of being that you come to work every day in.   You get to choose those things. Those are things that you have full control over. You also get to determine the goals that your practice sets together. Doesn't mean you'll necessarily reach them, but guess what? You get to set that. You do. You do. And so because of that, make sure that you actually are setting goals that you want to achieve. And don't worry about being selfish. We often have these stories in our head that aren't real. Guys, if you're a doctor who only wants to work two days a week,   Please just say that. Say that because that way we can actually work and create something. We could hire an associate. We could do a lot of different things for you. We just need to know what you actually want. So I recommend setting three personal goals and three professional goals. Yes, tis the season guys for goal setting. I'm obsessed with it. I was just talking with my younger sister and she said, Kiera, I don't know how you have so much passion for setting goals. So if you feel that way too, that's okay.   ⁓ but my little sister also told me a few days later, said, Kiera, you ignite thoughts in my mind. You make me think of, should start setting goals. I want to set goals. What am I doing? And she said, so by you saying this, you're actually giving back on such a greater level because she said for me, I don't think like that, but you do. And so if I can actually benefit from listening to you and hearing your passion, I'm then able to set and create goals as well. When that's something that I just don't even think about often.   And I loved that. So I thought, okay, let's talk about this, but really getting into the nitty gritty of being okay, setting personal goals ⁓ of what you really want. So number one, I set three personal and three professional goals every single year at a minimum. This last year I had five of the five, I hit four of the five. The only one I didn't have hit was having a baby. ⁓ we can't get pregnant guys. And it's so irritating to me, but I probably shouldn't have set a goal around something I really don't have full control over.   So, ⁓ but beyond that, I did hit all the goals that we have and it's actually pushing us to go and start on a journey of IVF. If any of you have tips on that, please email me personally guys, it's not professional. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. I'm super excited. That's our 2022 journey. ⁓ The bottom line is setting those goals. So because I had a goal of having a baby last year, guys, and even though I didn't,   ⁓ It forced me to think of the company differently. It forced me to have our entire company work on getting our SOP manual done, of having people learn to run the business so it wasn't completely dependent on me, of getting it more internal and having a team that could do this for me versus it being dependent on me all the time. It was one of the best goals that I set because it forced the company to innovate, create, and go into a different realm than it's ever been before. So that's why it's a paramount, guys.   I hope I'm like drilling this into you to set goals that you actually want. Now, what do you do if you don't know what you   Well, let's just go do a dream session. All right. Let's have you go just dream and imagine of anything and everything you've ever kind of even wanted. I'm talking like silly things. Like I've wanted to have a home cooked meal every day. Like silly things.   Because what it will do is it will start to generate. an activity that I did that you guys can try is I'm going to give you three minutes, one sheet of paper, only one sided. Yes, you heard right. One sided. You can't write on the backside, only the front side. It has to be at eight and a half by eleven. I can see you guys getting huge poster boards, you overachievers. You got three minutes. You can even do it faster. Do it on two minutes. Set that timer for two minutes. Anything that's written on this paper, you will achieve.   If it's not written on this paper, you will not get it for the rest of your life. Yeah, I just made that real serious. The rest of your life. Okay. So it's forcing you to think, I will only get these things if they're written on this piece of paper and I have two minutes to write down what I actually want in life. I don't care if they are materialistic. I don't care if they're relationship. I don't care what the heck they are, but you have two minutes and you get nothing else on this list for the rest of your life.   That's a really good way to get you guys to think about what you actually want in your life. Okay, try it out. Then after that, go around and write one three or 10 years next to this. What is it going to be? Are you going to achieve this in one year, three year, five year, 10 year? Because some of tho

    22 min

  2. 1D AGO

    All for One: Getting Team Buy-In On Your Big Why

    A practice won't truly thrive until its team members are aligned and attached to your company's purpose. Tiff and Kristy go into what it takes to gain collective buy-in from those who keep your practice humming, including being reminded of fundamental desires, embracing vulnerability, understanding motivators, and a ton more. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. I'm so excited for you to be here today. You know, I'm   always excited. I love podcasting. I have loved doing this over the course of all of the years that Kiera and I have been putting these out. They are so much fun. It is so cool to reach you guys and it is amazing to get the time in with our consultants. And I'm bringing her live to you, well not live, I guess. It's live for me. It's recorded for you. But I'm bringing her all this month for you because...   We just busted them out in one day, if I'm honest with you, Kristy. Thank you for being here. Thank you for blocking your afternoon for podcasting with me. And I'm excited for this topic. How are you and how excited are you for this topic?   The Dental A Team (00:41) Excited and I'm doing well. It's not 49 degrees in the morning. It's actually 71 here Oh 72 now, so know that's a little chilly to us, but I'm excited the sun's shining and We get our time together. So I'm excited   The Dental A Team (00:49) ⁓   That's fair. I love walks and I was doing morning walks until like mid December and I was like, I can't, I don't know if it's because I'm an Arizona girl or if it's because I have, you know, thyroid stuff and Hashimoto's, but that chill, as soon as it hits my body, I'm done for. You don't want to be around me. You don't want to know me. And so I have not been going outside in the morning nor later in the evening because that Arizona desert does something   different when that sun goes down. So very happy to hear 71. Those are my, I really, think my sweet spot is like 73 to 76. That's my ideal. So if we can find a place that's always 73 to 76, I say we jet. That's where we're going. We just stay there.   So I love this topic today because, I mean, I love every topic we go through, because you tend to really spin it for me and make everything fun. ⁓ But I love the emotional side of life and the buy-in side, and today really talking about how to get teams bought into your big why. And I like that because I love purpose. I like everyone to have a purpose. And I think when a practice owner   knows what they're after, they have their purpose, it allows the team to then see their purpose within that that why within the owner's purpose. And we actually talked about this a little bit. Now that I say that, it's like I've repeated that we talked about this at the Mastermind in September. And it was actually fun. Anyone who was there will hopefully remember maybe recap will remind you. But Kira was talking we were talking about   writing their why's like what are they doing? What's their purpose? And Kiera spoke about hers and it was really really emotional because Kiera and I get emotional   it was fun to see for her how her   purpose and her why came to life when she spoke about it because I think it morphed a little bit as she was saying it but then it was really fun because she was able to see how my purpose   is fulfilled within her purpose in that I think for owners, it's scary to think that your team has a drive or a why or a want, and it can feel like everyone wants to be an entrepreneur. And if they have their own thing, they're gonna leave. And some of them will, that will happen. I've seen, I had a practice.   The Dental A Team (03:34) Hmm.   The Dental A Team (03:39) She was there in September. She'll remember, she'll know exactly what I'm talking about. I had a practice, I went, we did a stellar meeting. ⁓ it was so much fun. So much fun. She has the best practice, she has the best why. She's just an incredible human. Two days later, ⁓ she had a team member quit because she wanted to open up her own business and she wanted to do hair. And the inspiration from talking about why's and talking about what are we doing with our lives.   prompted her to quit and start a hair salon. She just, I was like, I am sorry and not sorry at the same time. So it can happen. And I think that's the fear for a lot of people. But watching Kira open up and then watching Kira get so emotional over how my why and my purpose is fulfilled within what I do, within my position.   The Dental A Team (04:15) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (04:33) it was like something morphed and changed for her and we all got to see it as like this butterfly effect. But I say that because I can't, I can have my own purpose and my own why, we all do. But when you can see how it aligns with the company that you're working with and how you can serve your purpose and your why within the job that you're in, that's really cool. And I think Kristy, for me at least,   personally as a team member, that helps keep me tethered to the job. Because if I don't know what the why is, where we're going, what are we growing for, why are we tracking these numbers, like what's the big deal, and I just wanna help people, I'm gonna move on until I find my place. And the find your place is being in alignment and being attached to the purpose that your company is serving and driving.   And that was a really long-winded way of introducing the topic. But I thought as soon as I said those things, I was like, oh my gosh, the September event. And so I hope all the doctors listening who were at the September event remember, because it was a really magical time for Dental A Team. And for those of you coming to future events, just buckle up, because there's always something really cool attached. But Kristy, passing the mic over to you, what are your thoughts? And really gaining team member buy-in, what do you?   What did I prompt for you in all of those words I just spewed?   The Dental A Team (06:02) Yeah. Yeah, and   all those words.   Tiff,   I know we were talking numbers earlier, so hopefully they were listening to that too, but the numbers are our gauge, but the buy-in has to be emotional. It's gotta be vulnerable and it's gotta go back to why you do what you do. Like, why'd you get into dentistry? And doctors why maybe, I mean, you said it, doctors why may be different than team members, but.   I venture to say almost every one of us that got into dentistry have some sort of passion for caring, you know? And we gotta get back to the root of that. And we even talked about ⁓ finances and getting to the emotional why. It's no different. If you want our teams to be bought in, you've gotta get to your emotional why. And you doctors have to be the North Star in that.   You can have leadership teams, right? But they've got to be very clear on the why. And it doesn't mean that our direction won't change, because it could change. But that intentional, why do you do what you do? Why do you wake up and get out of bed? We have to identify that.   The Dental A Team (07:17) I love that. You're spot on. And something shifts and changes, I think, for a person when they key in on that. And it's not just going with the motions. We can go through the motions in life very easily. And I think you finish high school and you go to undergrad and you go to school and you go to whatever. You go through dental school. You become a dentist. You do the thing and then you buy the practice. And it's like you get there and you're like, why did I do all that?   Right? They forget. They forget why they did the thing. And I listened to a Simon Sinek thing not too long ago. Well, you know, I love listening to him, his speeches. But one thing that he's been able to key in on for purpose is going back to your high school self. Because in high school really is when we decided what we wanted to do and we tagged it to a work.   like to a physical thing, like what is the job we're going to hold? But somewhere in there, our high school self wanted to serve a purpose and we attached the job to that purpose. So if we can kind of think back to our high school self and really think what did we love? What inspired us? What did we like doing? Where did we feel the most fulfilled and satisfied at that age?   that helps figure out what it was that you're intending to do in life. What is that purpose? Because the purpose isn't, this might rock a few of you, the purpose isn't to do the best dentistry in Kentucky and have smiles that last forever. That's not why you're here. You were not put on this earth to.   Do fillings you might be doing fillings, but that's the actionable piece. That's the what? but what's the why and We actually Kristy shared this recently with a client and Really like I feel like this kind of work on your purpose your your emotionally driven purpose is What can? re-inspire dentists   who might feel like they don't know what they're doing anymore. Why am I even here? Why did I become a dentist? Or teams that are like, what are we doing? Why are we pushing? What are we even after? But that emotionally driven why you can see where in your purpose, the what that you're doing, the job that you're doing, might be satisfying and fulfilling that space.   The Dental A Team (10:05) Wow, that was big. And yeah, you're absolutely right. We just went through this exercise and when you start feeling burnt out, it's great time to go back and revisit that why to reignite that fire and remember why you're doing it because you are going to go through the ebb and flow and the hard times to get there. But when you can let that be your burning desire in your gut, the rest of it's going to fall back into place. Yeah.   The Dental A Team (10:33)

    28 min

  3. 6D AGO

    How to Calibrate Your Hygiene Team

    Re-releasing a DAT listener favorite! Dr. Dave Moghadam joins Kiera to discuss getting your hygiene team on the same page and at the same point of understanding. He shares his approach, and goes deeper into the following: Gather all information and establish a flow of procedure Hold a longer meeting for your hygiene team to review and add their own ideas Allow a period of follow-up for questions Transition into monthly or quarterly meetings to continually update Dr. Moghadam utilized the Dental A-Team's hygiene course to help him come up with this approach to calibrate his hygienist team. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: speaker-0 (00:05) Hey everyone, welcome to the Dental A Team podcast. I'm your host, Kiera Dent, and I have this crazy idea that maybe I could combine a doctor and a team member's perspective, because let's face it, dentistry can be a challenging profession with those two perspectives. I've been a dental assistant, treatment coordinator, scheduler, filler, office manager, regional manager, practice owner, and I have a team of traveling consultants where we have traveled to over 165 different offices coaching teams. Yep, we don't just understand you, we are you.   Our mission is to positively impact the world of dental. And I believe that this podcast is the greatest way I can help elevate teams, grow VIP experiences, reduce stress, and create A-Teams. Welcome to the Dental A Team Podcast.   Hello Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera. And you guys, I am so excited to bring back on one of my favorite guests, one of your favorite guests, somebody who is in the real life with you guys. He is a practicing dentist, rocks our office. I've known him for quite a while. And he's a man that creates systems, implements and executes. And today I'm jazzed to bring him back on. Dr. Dave Moghadam, how are you today?   speaker-1 (01:13) Wonderful, Kiera. Thanks for having me back. appreciate it. It's gonna be a blast as always.   speaker-0 (01:17) It's   gonna be great if you guys have not heard his other ones we've talked about we've gone from acquiring practices Bringing on associate doctors. We've talked about team quarterly calibrations and now we're gonna dive into something that you started I actually think you started it maybe COVID maybe you're doing it pre-covid ⁓ But but it's going to be diving into hygiene calibration, which I think is so relevant. I mean right now hi, Janice are like more Harder to find than unicorns in my opinion. They're like real real tricky   But we just know that they're real. I think it's a great time actually to bring this in. So Dave, kind of walk us through, like I said, you're practicing, Dennis, this is your real life. This is what you're doing really in your practice, which is why I love having on the podcast. So kind of take us away on this hygiene calibration, how you even got the idea for it, what spurred that. I'd love to hear.   speaker-1 (02:08) Yeah, so I think as far as like, how did this come about? What was the situation? Everything like that. Some of the key things that were happening were I had focused a lot on a lot of the rest of the practice, like a lot on systemize this, do this, let's grow and everything else was just really just taking off. But the one thing year after year after year that was kind of like fairly consistent, not really like, my God, really, you know, growing was the hygiene department.   So I started to look into things of, how can we just improve? And I always feel like if we improve some of the other basic stuff, the numbers fall. So I think a lot of the things that I was ⁓ looking to do was just getting some consistency, make sure everybody's on the same page. At that point, had gotten, yeah, this was about two years ago. So we had just gotten a new hygienist to join our team who's been with us ⁓ since then.   We had another hygienist who was only there a day a week at that time. So it was kind of a little difficult to try and get everything all buttoned up. the way I went about it was one, I first took the big chunk of what we had in our operations manual, such as protocols, expectations, standards, record keeping, all that stuff. And then the other thing is I   contacted you and I said, Hey, what do you have for this? Because we're all going to be on our butts for a while when the world closed down for a little bit. we went through the hygiene course. I took some, some pearls from there. tried to organize things a little bit more. Uh, we did a little bit of coaching with, Tiffany as well, uh, virtually then. So we basically, the, outline for this, you know, it was basically protocols standards, you know, what   ⁓ record keeping, know, what if you encounter some hiccups with patients, you know, as far as, know, those types of situations, ⁓ you know, what's the appointment flow like, what's the communication, like what are the key points that we want to hit on, ⁓ teeing up the doctor, pre-teeing up the doctor, which I'll get into in a little bit. ⁓ And then, you know, a lot of this is kind of reviewing our, basically chunking out our routes.   is very detailed and that kind of like highlights a lot of this stuff. And then we get into you know some basis of treatment planning, incorporating some bundles which is a concept that you guys helped us you know incorporate and bring in, and then just talking about some of the other basic stuff like how do we talk about fluoride, you know why is it important to ask for referrals, and then you know financial discussions which basically means just don't have the financial.   speaker-0 (04:56) Right. Yes, I love it. Well, and I love it. Something I wanted to point out is I feel like there's actually a ton of opportunities all around us. It's just, we willing to see them and then actually execute on them? So you saw COVID as a time we're all hanging out. We've got nothing to do. This is the area that I haven't spent any time on. So like, let's make this rock solid. And I think there's so many opportunities like that. Hopefully not another pandemic shutdown, but there.   all around us all the time. So Dave, let's actually deep dive if you don't mind on a lot of these topics. I know that's kind what we came today for just so people get an idea of how you calibrated your hygiene team on this. Like you gave the resources. Yes guys, if you want to get our hygiene course, we're constantly updating it. It's getting ready to move to all videos. Once you purchase the course, you have it for life. definitely   speaker-1 (05:43) You're kidding, right? I wonder who gave that suggestion.   speaker-0 (05:46) That was Dave, which is great because I came in with steal of a deal and said like give me honest feedback and then I felt bad your team was going through as we were rampantly   speaker-1 (05:56) That's really going to button it up. ⁓   speaker-0 (05:59) Good   good. So we're working on videos working on audio, but we're constantly updating and innovating it and asking for your guys's feedback So if that's helpful for you fantastic, like Dave said we did do virtual calls with his hygiene team very spot specific but kind of like walk us down through this Of like what exactly does this calibration look like you listed those items kind of deep dive with us on it. Yeah   speaker-1 (06:19) Yeah,   that was just a lot of verbal diarrhea there. I just kind of threw it out there. So we'll break it down. We'll go section by section. Yeah. is what happens. So basically, as far as protocols and standards and things like that, I mean, that's just kind of the basics of what are we expected to do. It's kind of like if you think of onboarding, it's repetitive. It's a review. But kind of like, what do you expect to do in the morning, during the appointment, at the end of the day, kind of going through, making sure everybody knows what the   all that looks like, making sure that they're very clear on like what's expected for the end of day sheets that, you know, that they take pictures of and turn in every day, all that stuff. You know, record keeping, you know, how often are we doing, you know, probing, how often are we taking x-rays, you know, what kind of photos do we expect? And then as far as like pickups that relate to that, I mean, we, I think of it in a positive way, half our patient base is 60 and a   I love it. It's a really a wonderful type of practice, but in over the past five years of, ⁓ know, initially early on transitioning and taking over a practice like that, and then taking in other practices like that, we get a lot of stuff where people think that the X-ray head is gonna melt their faces. And, you know, because of that, it's kind of like, well, let's figure out a way, what's gonna be our kind of standardized way of how we're gonna address these concerns.   What are we going to go ahead and do? So we like a little pamphlet basically that shows some examples of things, why we take x-rays, what could be missed, all that stuff. Very simple, very straightforward. Has a little chart that we just kind of found somewhere on Google about radiation, the mouse, like that. And they kind of have their set kind of like, hey, we go through all that stuff. And if it kind of becomes a push versus shove moment, they have to come grab me, which I don't really love, but it is what it is.   And then we kind of go from there. So that's not to get sidetracked, but that's kind of, you know, one of those things. Like when we have situations where things may not necessarily go smoothly, it doesn't matter what the actual answer is. Everybody just has to know it.   speaker-0 (08:23) Right, right. No, I love that. And I was going to say, Dave, based on our last podcast we did, you know, they've to come get yo

    34 min

  4. FEB 11

    Change How People Feel About Going to the Dentist (for the Better!)

    Do you want your patients to feel confident and cared for and to become raving fans about your practice? Kiera takes listeners through specific steps to help practices refine what their patients go through upon entering to exiting your office. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera. And today I'm excited for a quick tactical practical tip for you guys that I just think is magical. And I'll start with like a story about it to kind of kick us off. ⁓ Jason and I, we just recently went to Ruth's Chris. We decided we were gonna do a day date and Jason and I, went to the spa. I convinced him to go to the spa. He's not like obsessed about it, but really loved in like the hot tub room that they actually turned on a football game for him. So.   I don't know how the spa gods were on my side that day, but they definitely were. And then we decided to go to Ruth's Chris. And if you guys are familiar with Ruth's Chris, ⁓ it's ⁓ an amazing steakhouse. And ⁓ I noticed when we went in there, there was just a different vibe. And I've been very obsessive about high-end restaurants, reading the book, Unreasonable Hospitality. I think I'm more aware of it. If you guys haven't read that book, I definitely recommend putting that on your book wish list. And what was interesting is,   When we came in, they said, hi, Mr. and Mrs. Dent, great to see you. And they took us back to our table and the waitress was so kind to us. And she said, here's this information. What information do you guys need? There were seat spot for us. The busser came through and was like, we really love working with people like you. You guys just make our life so much easier. They're like, here, let's just box this up for you. You made great choices for you. They had all of our stuff boxed for us. The presentation was beautiful.   They didn't come by and they weren't annoying to us, but they were so genuine to us. And then as we were leaving, they said, thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Dent. And they knew all about us. Okay. So that was one experience. Another experience has been Jason and I were in Bali and we went to the four seasons and I remember if you've been to Bali, you'll understand. Jason and I both got Bali belly. And if you haven't heard mine was, I got it on our flight home. I've never in all my years of flying, knock on wood, I've never once thrown up ever on a plane.   Mine is my flight home that was a nice nine hour flight from Taiwan to San Francisco. And I threw up and had diarrhea the entire freaking time of that flight. I had thrown up about 13 times in two hours and I figured out, if I can make a system for this, like it was hold the vomit bag, go to the bathroom and brush my teeth all at the same time. I realized you can create a system for anything. So that's a little bit beside the point. So I'm here to tell you about great experiences. But at the four seasons, they were top notch. They had an app. They would text us.   When I asked them like, hey, you guys have any medicine? They're like, ⁓ we don't have medicine. Here's the pharmacy. We can get it for you. We'll have it to your room. They had it to our room for us. They brought different things for us because they knew that we were sick. They had a turndown service for us. They paid attention to our likes. Our wants, made sure everything was done every single night for us. It was one of the most incredible experiences. And I think about it, like people are like, Kiera, you traveled all over the world. You've gone to Antarctica. You go to these places. And I'm like, Bali, even though I threw up for eight hours on my flight home.   Bollywood one of my most amazing experiences and I'm like, what was it? Like it was how I felt at Four Seasons. It was how I felt of everybody was so happy for us to be there. They were so grateful for us to be there. People would say hello to us. They knew our names as we walked through. And ⁓ I've just been paying attention to like Ruth's Chris was recent. The Four Seasons was another one. And then I think about other experiences that maybe weren't as great. I think about...   Hotels Jason and I we flew home. We missed a flight coming home from an international flight So we had to snag a hotel the only hotel available for us was a hotel I will not say But it was we'll just say a budget-friendly hotel and I remember we checked in and no one was there They weren't happy to see us. They were annoyed to see us the shuttle. I'm not joking you It was supposed to be there in 15 minutes We waited two hours to get our shuttle and they kept telling us one's on the way one's on the way. They were like you need to call this person By the time we got there our bed was dirty   The bathroom was broken. And I just thought, man, I remember that experience. I don't remember the Four Seasons experience, but which one do I want to go back to? Which one do I tell my friends about? Which one am I like, I threw up and I was so sick from Bali. You guys, would never recommend doing a cooking class internationally. I know exactly what caused our sickness. my gosh. And my stomach like to this day still hurts about it. But yeah, I loved that trip so much because of how I felt. And so that's what I want to go into today of   the patient experience in designing and creating a journey that the patient wants to be a part of and they want to rave about. And I know we've talked about this at several other times ⁓ because it's something where I remember I was at a conference once and they said, Kiera, what people remember is the beginning and the end. They don't really remember the middle. And so in dental practice, it's our beginning. It's our first phone calls and it's the end on how they leave. Yes, they might remember the middle of the procedure, but typically speaking, it's those, those two points in anything like think about a show you go to. You usually remember the beginning.   You remember the end. think about Taylor Swift and I'm like, definitely remember the countdown clock. Like I can remember that. remember everything coming out. Middle, like there was a lot going on and the ending, everybody can remember that. But, and yes, there are still things and that's not to say the middle can't be great, but we want to make sure that it is this experience that people are so obsessed with because we want to help them feel so good. And I think the dental office is such an intimate space. Dentistry is intimate. Everything that we do in dentistry is intimate. And so if we can help patients feel   a certain way and that doesn't mean we have to be perfect, but it does mean that we create a patient experience and a patient journey for them. So for me, even in Dental A Team, it should be that the patient experience, our customer experience is very intentional and not accidental. So we kind of think through it, like what do want our patients to feel? What do we want our patients to say about us? And it's also crazy because you can go look at your reviews right now and see what the patient experience is today.   what you've created maybe not intentionally or intentionally. Just go read it. What is it? For us at Dental A Team, I want people to feel like it's fun. I want it to feel like it's easy. I want people to feel like, my gosh, like they understood me, that they're thinking ahead of where I'm at, that they can guide us and that we are non-judgmental and that you and your team are gonna rise to the next level. Go read our reviews. That's what it is. But that's by intentionality and design. That's our core values. That's what we talk about constantly. It's how we onboard our consultants.   It's how we refine. how we take feedback from clients of if they're not getting it, how can we make this process easier? How can we make it easier for our consultants? How can we give better education? Like what can we do because that's the experience we want them to have. And so, ⁓ this is going to be an episode. If you really want patients to feel like super confident and cared for and to become raving fans for you to where they love the dentist, you have an opportunity to change how people feel about going to the dentist. And I think it's an amazing opportunity if you choose to do it. So   Number one is like, let's think about first impression. Remember, like it's the it's the end caps. And I think if we can even just design those two really, really intentionally, like four seasons and Roos Chris, did you notice in both of those? And this is not on purpose. I just sharing the story. I talked about my entrance and my exit at Bali. We were freaking sick on that last day. And I remember that the most more than anything. Yes, they did the turn down service and that was great. But I didn't talk about our New Year's Eve dinner that we had. I didn't talk about the waiters like none of that.   And as I think back, I'm like, yeah, that was really nice. I remember our first initial and our ending. Same thing with Ruth, Chris, how they entered us and how they exited. I talked about both of those. Go back and rewind. And that was not on purpose, but this even just proves my point that the experiences you remember are those end caps, the beginning and the end. So what is our presence? So number one is how do we answer the phone on the first new patient impression? That's going to be it. I talked about this just recently. If you haven't heard that, go back and listen, but like, how do we greet people? And are we like smiling when we answer? Are we excited or are we like,   Oh my gosh, another freaking phone call, like, hello. Right? I don't know if any of you had a mom who had a mom voice where she's like, Kiera Cherie. And I was like, hello. My mom was like, I didn't do that. I'm like, oh mom, you did. And you ha

    20 min

  5. FEB 10

    A Quick Tip to Increase Your Profit

    This episode is all about the (sometimes surprising) benefits of comprehensive financing! Kristy breaks down why putting together a FULL plan for health will help patients and your practice in the long run. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. Thank you so much for being here. I want you to know that the Dental A Team, we truly, truly love what we do. And I wanna start this out by just thanking all of you for allowing us to be here. I know we're with you in your car or while you're getting ready in the morning or while you're falling asleep at night, I don't know, maybe in your team meeting, but we're here with you somewhere or I wouldn't be able to say this and we value and appreciate that, the consulting team specifically.   We love what we do, we love helping clients, we love helping people, we love helping practices and practice owners build a business that works for them and not them always working for the business. So I'm just super excited to be here today. I wanted to just shout out you guys, massive thank you for the support that you give us, that you continue to bring to us and just know we're here. Dental A Team is here for all of your needs and just reach out, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com anytime you need us. And I have with me today,   Kristy, Miss Kristy, I adore you. Thank you so much for being here. I said on a different podcast we recorded that we have a slew of time together today and I'm just, I love it. It is the best way to end a call week. So thank you, Kristy, for being here with me today. How are you? And I'm excited because I think you're really excited about this topic. So how are you doing, Kristy?   The Dental A Team (01:17) Yeah,   I'm doing well. I'm grateful to have time with you. We don't always get time during the week, so I'm getting some extra Tiff time and it feels good to end the week this way.   The Dental A Team (01:30) I agree. I agree. I committed recently, just so everyone knows, to being more intentional about my one-on-one time with the consultants. it really made me not just podcasting, but like actual one-on-one time. But it made me think yesterday while I was going through the schedule, kind of figuring it out, it made me think of doctors too and practices. And this is not in alignment with our, get to it, we'll get to profit in a second, but it is kind of in alignment with profit because   We tend to forget, we just get in the machine of doing and in the machine of business and we forget that there's people and that you're not the only one who's busy or stressed or what have you and that the team is counting on you, the team needs you. So my leads and my doctors, it's just like a friendly nudge, a friendly reminder that if you're feeling stressed, you probably need to open up some time in your schedule to insert some team time. And while we push our clients to do one-on-ones, I do one-on-ones every month.   with our consultants, but sometimes you just need one-on-one time that's not a one-on-one. You know what I mean? You just need connection. And that's what I call it, is I call it our connection time. So we have our one-on-ones, and then we have our connection time. And I think in office, it's a little bit easier, because you guys are side-by-side and you're talking, but still, to just have that 10, 15 minutes, it's like, hey girl, tell me how your life is. What's new? What's going on? And really connect with people.   It's my strong nudge to remind you guys to give the kudos, give the connection, and make time for the people who are there doing this with you. So, Kristy, thank you. Thank you for bringing that up. And I am thoroughly enjoying this because I've had so much Kristy time and I get time tomorrow morning. So I am really enjoying this week and it really lights my life up. So thank you. Now.   The Dental A Team (03:17) You're welcome.   I was going to tell you, I love that you say that and I truly do believe this does tie to profits. And I know in practice we're super, super busy. I like to call it, go break bread with your people. Like be intentional with the time, even if you have to combine it, go break bread, take them out, get the work done on reviewing what you need to review, but then connect as people. And I do think that that reaps rewards in your profits because   The Dental A Team (03:24) I agree.   The Dental A Team (03:47) The teams that do this are more connected and they jive together. So I do think it ties together.   The Dental A Team (03:53) I agree, thank you, I agree.   Now tell me, Kristy, we've got quick tips to increase profit, and honestly, this is a quick tip to increase profit. We'll get you a couple more, but Kristy, tell me, because I agree, I think the connection does, but what about the connection do you think it is that does help the profit? It does help people really be on the same page and same team? What is that doing for the bottom line from a numbers standpoint? Because we can see it from an emotional standpoint and the relationship, but from a numbers standpoint, what do you see?   in those practices that do go break bread together.   The Dental A Team (04:26) Yeah, I love that you say that because it's connecting as humans and also like letting us see each other in different ways. It again, we talk about this so much. We look through loops, the providers do looking for problems. So really good at being nitpicky and finding problems. And you know, maybe you have the teammate that was late three times this week. And when you actually sit down and find out   my gosh, their grandma's going through cancer and you didn't know. It just sheds things in a different light and it lets us serve each other versus when we're in that critical mindset, we pull apart. So it really does connect us together. And when we're connected together, even the person that's going through the trauma or turmoil, they feel safe in the environment and protected and lifted up by their team. So they can leave it at the door.   I know we talk about that all the time and as humans, it's almost a false thing to say, because when you're in turmoil, it just doesn't stop. But when you know people understand, it can be your freeing space for just a few minutes or a few hours while you're at work. So it creates a different understanding and it allows you to connect as a team.   The Dental A Team (05:42) Yeah, and thank you. I agree. And that in itself, I think allows you all to be on the same ⁓ wavelength, like the same page we're connected where we're able, well, we're able to ask better questions and we're more comfortable, we're more vulnerable, and we're able to say when we need help. And I think that's massive because when we can be vulnerable with each other and say, hey, I'm not, I don't know what this means. I don't know how to credential a doctor.   tell me what do you suggest? Where can I learn it? Or we're just able to speak to problems that we're having or areas we need help in. Makes it easier to ensure that we are hitting those goals, because otherwise we're kind of faking it till we make it, thinking I'm the only one with an issue and I'm the only one who's stressed out and I'm the only one sitting in this space. But when you do have that alignment and connection, it's much easier for a team to be vulnerable with each other.   And then we actually can push KPIs and we can push goals and we can create profit because we're in alignment.   The Dental A Team (06:46) Yeah, you know what's funny? I went through a HR course one time and I remember them saying the biggest thing that's going to determine a new employee staying is how well they feel received. And I like to say truly, like, that goes for all your team members. And sometimes when we get in the rut of our day to day and we see the same faces every day, we forget to take care of each other. And so taking   Like I said, it doesn't have to be fancy, but get out of your space and reconnect as a human. It's gonna reap rewards on how they serve your patients too. They're gonna show up differently for each other and patients.   The Dental A Team (07:23) Yeah. Yeah.   ⁓ that's a massive one. Yeah, you're right. You're right. I love it. Thank you, Kristy That was that was fun. I know that wasn't ⁓ what you had in mind yet, but I it. I liked it. So everyone, there's one quick tip. ⁓ I think it's quick. think it's it's easy, but it's intentional. So you have to be very intentional about your schedule and how you're going to accomplish it. So set your goal. Do the thing. Now, Kristy, I am really intrigued and excited to hear your   Quick tip on, what do we call it? Increasing profit is what we're calling this one. So your quick tip on increasing profit. What is your, what is it? I'm so excited. You guys, she just like lit up when I told her. She's like, I've got an idea. And I'm just as shocked as you all are to hear it here. We're all hearing it the first time together. Let's go, let's hear it.   The Dental A Team (08:15) You think I'm going to say AR and I'm not.   The Dental A Team (08:18) I did!   The Dental A Team (08:21) Actually, it is part of it and we'll get to it. But the one that I'm thinking about right now is get to comprehensive financing. Everybody wants to just phase out phase one and you guys are tripping over dollars to make two. Like find a solution that gets people healthy. Then you can always back up to phase one if we can't find a solution. But so many times we dive into just the first phase.   The Dental A Team (08:29) Mm.   The Dental A Team (08:48) and we tap people out and then it's not till next year. So just try something different and get permission to share all you see clinically so your TC's can present comp

    24 min

  6. FEB 5

    Tax Strategies You Simply MUST Know Before April 15

    Kiera is joined by Alexis Gallati, founder and lead tax strategist at Cerebral Tax Advisors, to talk about tax strategy not just for 2025 success, but 2026 and beyond. They discuss asking your CPA the right questions, shifting income from your higher tax bracket down, the Augusta rule, and a ton more. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and today I am super jazzed. I have an incredible guest joining us on the podcast today ⁓ to talk about last minute tax strategies before April 15th. Like why not? I mean, hey, maybe you were like, you're not the early bird. You were like, shoot, I forgot. Like what things can I do? And so I'm super excited. Alexis Gallati, she reached out to us. ⁓ She is founder and lead tax strategist at Cerebral Tax Advisors.   Ansari Real Wealth Academy. And I was so excited about this topic because I know you guys know I love to geek out about this and I have it on my vision board of tax expert ahead. Like I hate taxes. I love taxes. I believe that taxes are such a beautiful way for us to pay to be in this incredible country. But you better believe I don't want to pay a penny more than I need to. So really figuring that out just a little bit about her is she is got a dual master's degree in business administration and taxation, which is super rad because   Let's be real, she gets the business side of it. She gets the taxation and we were chatting before and she was like, what people make like their top line revenue versus their take home pay are two different things. And I was like, amen sister, preach on. She's enrolled agent, NTPI fellow and certified tax strategist. She also is the author of advanced tax planning for medical professionals. She specializes in high level strategic tax planning and multi-state tax preparation for healthcare professionals and business owners. She's raised in a family of physicians and married to one.   She empathizes with the financial challenges medical professionals face. This personal connection inspired her to create accessible, unbiased tax solutions tailored to their busy lives. Driven by passion and guided by cerebral thinking, Alexis forms Cerebral to help professionals keep more of their hard earned money. Amen sister. That's what we want. That's why you're here. Their approach breaks the mold of traditional financial advice, offering a unique perspective for medical professionals and business owners. So while yes, she's not 1000 % dental guys were in the healthcare world and she's so brilliant. So Alexis, welcome to the show today. How are you?   Alexis Gallati (01:54) Thank you so much for having me. I'm doing very well. Hope you had a wonderful holiday season.   The Dental A Team (01:58) Yes, likewise. And I was so excited when I heard that you would be a guest on our podcast. I geek out about this, Alexis, I know it's like our first day meeting, but ⁓ I just think the world of tax is such the game of monopoly. And I'm like, if you would have just told me that rule, I could have played and won the game better. But I feel like it's always as ever changing, ever evolving. And I know there were some big things that happened in 2025 that are impacting like our our taxes. And so, yeah, definitely a timely and   exciting podcast to throw out there. So Alexis, I know I gave you a very welcomed ⁓ bio and intro, but yeah, tell us a little bit about who is Alexis. You're married to a physician. You're in this world of tag. How does one become obsessive about CPA? I'm truly just curious. How do you like, how does this happen? How did you become this?   Alexis Gallati (02:49) Yeah, so I love law and I love money. And so when I was in undergrad, I took a tax and accounting class and loved more the tax side than the accounting side, I do admit. And so after meeting my husband in college and us starting to go through that full medical journey, was about a year and a half out from him.   The Dental A Team (02:54) you   Alexis Gallati (03:18) from him finishing his residency. And I really saw the writing on the wall. Even at that time, with him being in residency, about four months of his salary was going towards taxes. And I was like, that's not right. That's not right. With   The Dental A Team (03:36) No.   Alexis Gallati (03:38) hard he works and how hard   medical community works in general. ⁓ my gosh, that's not right. So that's when I really dedicated myself to   finding out, why do the Warren Buffets and the Bill Gates of the world have this really low to sometimes non-existent tax bracket? And I really dove into that tax planning. ⁓ And so, you know, what's very unique about, ⁓ you know, the way that I work and my business is that my husband and I are in the same exact position as majority of our clients. And so, yes, I'm looking for   strategies for my clients, but I'm also looking for those strategies for myself.   The Dental A Team (04:19) You're like, hey,   it's me. I'm going to help myself out. I'm very motivated to do this.   Alexis Gallati (04:25) Very motivated. And I love it. I love it. It's like you said, it's ⁓ Congress keeps us on our toes, changing the laws consistently year after year. ⁓ it's like a puzzle. Like, hey, how can I just keep more of what I'm earning?   The Dental A Team (04:43) Yeah, and I, this is what I get obsessed about. what I learned, gosh, it's like, I was so naive when I started the company. was like, marketing is marketing. I just need to hire a marketer they can do everything. And then I was like, oh, there's a content marketer. There's a copywriter marketer. There's a strategist. There's a growth marketer. There's like an AEO marketer now. There's an SEO. Like you guys, this thing is like a web. They're a content marketer. And then I started realizing it's similar to CPAs and financial planners that like,   I thought you hire a CPA, Alexis. Like I'm so naive to business. I'm shocked that I've made it this far. Like truly I'm proud of like the journey we've been on, but like not all CPAs are created equal. And then I realized like CPAs play by different rules. Like it's the same rule, but there's shades of gray. They're how comfortable are you with this and how uncomfortable are you with it? Like there's one CPA that told me like, here, you can totally go skiing in Tahoe. Just like put your logo on your skis and you can totally ride it off and like put your logo on your boat and you can ride it off.   And then there's like the Alexis of the world was like, oh, hard pass. No, you're going to like totally get flagged. But I'm like, what rule is right? And so I realized that there are, like you said, tax strategy and for higher wealth earners. I do believe that there's a game, like you said, how did the Warren Buffett's, how did the Bill Gates, like they're not paying this. And then you get into the real estate game and you get into all these other things. You're like, how can we do this? And so Alexis, I'm just jazz. This is me being nerdy. And I'm going to ask you a bajillion questions and I can't wait.   to learn. So let's kind of talk about most of your clients, what's the size of take home net pay that they do. So that way we know like what brackets were in. So that way right clients come to you. I also learned not all financial advisors take all people. I was like, I make 30 grand. They're like, great. So we're going to help you out just a little bit. And then like, when you get to this level, we'll chat with you. ⁓ tell us kind of that. And then let's dig into how do we keep more money, Alexis, legally.   Alexis Gallati (06:10) I love it.   The Dental A Team (06:39) I'm here for legal advice. I'm willing to go gray, but not go to jail. So that's my line. So as long as we're on the same page, I think we are, I'm here for it.   Alexis Gallati (06:40) Yes.   Definitely, yeah. I am more than happy to play in the gray areas. We just have to feel comfortable defending it in an audit. And so that's our line in the sand. ⁓ But yeah.   The Dental A Team (06:55) Mm-hmm.   She's like, this is why I went to law guys. This is why I like the law side and the CPA.   I like it. I like your style. It's so unique and I just am excited. So, okay, I'm ready.   Alexis Gallati (07:07) Yeah.   Yeah. at Cerebral, we work with those that earn at minimum $400,000 per year in taxable income. So we have lots of businesses, which by the way, 99.9 % of our clients are medical professionals. I think we have like maybe two clients that have zero ties to the medical industry. And so the practices we work with, you know,   generally range from anywhere from maybe about $700,000 in gross revenue all the way up to eight figures. So we tend to not work with those that are larger practices, that usually over 50 employees. And that's just because once you get above 50 employees, yeah, it changes quite a bit. So we're definitely in there with those smaller to medium sized practices.   The Dental A Team (07:56) Tax co-changes. Yep.   Amazing. No, that's super helpful. And I know we were talking before, like the average of your clients, about 700,000 like net pay is typical where you guys are at. You have some that are higher, but that minimum of 400,000, which is great because I do think that there are thresholds. ⁓ And I did learn through going through business that who Kiera needed as a tax support and advisor when I was in that 30,000 range compare and as a business owner, I thought it was so funny.   Gosh, taxes, like they hurt so bad sometimes. Like, whoa, easy come, easy go. Like I've never, I've always been a W-2. So that was such a fascinating world for me. But yeah, let's dig into some of the things you've seen for the medical world. Cause

    47 min

  7. FEB 4

    Fast Track through the Pharmacy: What to Know for Easier Clearances

    Kiera is joined by the tooth-healer himself, Jason Dent! Jason has an extensive background in pharmacy, and shares with Kiera where his pharmaceutical experience has bled over into dentistry. This includes the difference between anti-quag and anti-platelet and which medications are probably safe, what to do to shorten the drag time in the pharmacy, how to write prescriptions most efficiently, and more. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and today is a really awesome and unique day. It is, think the second time I've had somebody in the podcast studio with me live for a podcast and it's the one and only Jason Dent. Jason, how are you? I'm doing well. Good morning. Thanks for having me. It is crazy. I I watch Instagram real like this all the time where people are like in the podcast and they're hanging out on two chairs and couches and now look at us. We're doing it. Cheers. Cheers.   That was a mic cheer for those of you who are only listening, but yeah, Jace, how does this feel to be on the podcast? It's weird. Like I was not nervous at all talking about it. I got really nervous as soon as you hit play. So if I stumble over my words, please forgive me ahead of time. Well, Jason, I appreciate you being on the podcast because marketing had asked me to do a topic about teledentistry and I was like, oh shoot, that's like not my forte at all. so   You and I were actually chatting in the hot tub. call it Think Tank session and you and I, we have a lot of good ideas that come from that Think Tank. A lot of business. no phones. That's why. We do leave our phones out. But I was talking to Jason and this is actually a podcast we had talked about quite a while ago. Jason has a lot of information on pharmacy. And if you don't know, Jason isn't really, we were going through all of it last night. It's kind of a mock in the tub. And I think it's going to be great because I feel like this is an area, I'm working at Midwestern and   knowing about how dentists, pharmacology was surely not your favorite one. Jason actually helps a lot of dentists with their clearances. And so we were talking about it and I like it will just be a really awesome podcast for you guys to brush up on pharmacology, different things from a pharmacist's side. So Jason, welcome. Thank you. Yeah, no, we were talking about it and here's like, what should I talk about on the podcast next? I have all these different topics and she's like, what do you know? And the only real interaction I have with dentists is doing clearances for procedures. We get them all the time, which makes sense.   Lots of people are on blood thinner, I've always told Kiera, like, hey, I could talk about that. Like, that's kind of a passion of mine. I'm not a dentist. Or my name is Jason Dent. So in Hebrew, Jason means tooth. No, no, no, sorry. Nerves are getting to me. Jason means healer and Dent means tooth. So my name means tooth healer. So, here's a little set. Hold on, on, hold Can we just talk about? I brought that up before you could talk about it more. So.   My name means tooth healer but I did not become a dentist. I know you wanted me to become a dentist. did. I don't know why. I enjoy medicine. I know what you're going to get to already. The things you're going to ask me. There's been years of this. But nevertheless, that's my name. We'll get that out of the way. But you did give me a great last name. So I mean, it's OK. You're All is fair and love here. SEO's up for that. But yeah, Jason, I'm going to get you right into the show. And I'm going to be the host. And we're going to welcome to the podcast show. Jace, how are you?   Good, good, good. Good, good, good. So by getting into clearances, right? This is what you're kinda talking about with you know, before we get to clearances, I actually wanted Jason, for the listeners who don't know you, who haven't talked to you, who don't know, let's kinda just give them like, how did you go from, Kiera wanted you to be a dentist, to now Jason, you are on the podcast talking as our expert on pharmacy. fantastic. I've always really loved medicine, a ton. As a kid getting headaches and taking Excedrin, like you just feel like a miserable pile of crap.   and then you take two pills and all of a sudden you feel better. Like that's amazing, like how does that happen? Also getting ear aches as a kid, just being in so much pain and then taking some medicine and you start feeling a lot better. I always had a lot of appreciation for that. I've always been mechanically inclined. I went to, started doing my undergrad and took biology and learned about ATP synthase, which is a spinning enzyme that's inside the mitochondria, like a turbine engine. I used to work on small engines on my dirt bike and thought that is so cool. So I really got wrapped up into chemistry.   All the mechanics of chemistry really pulled me in. I'm not getting goosebumps. checking. I usually get goosebumps when I think about chemistry. But it's so cool. You think an engine's awesome, like pistons and camshafts and pressures, the cell is the same thing. It's not as loud, so it's not as cool. But it's fascinating. that's why we're like. ⁓   chemistry and really got into coagulation. So I did my residency after pharmacy school. we went to Arizona for three years. ⁓ You did and your main focus, you were never wanting to be the guy behind the counter. No, I haven't done that. Yeah. No, I love them though. I've always really want to go clinical. ⁓ But I love my retail ⁓ pharmacists. They're amazing resources. And ⁓ I use the retail pharmacist every day still to this day, but I went more the clinical route, really love the chemistry aspect of it.   did my doctorate degree and then I did my residency in Reno. Reno's kind That's how we got here everybody. Welcome to Reno. Strategically placed because I was really interested in critical medicine and where we're located we cover a huge area. So we pull in to almost clear, we go clear to Utah, clear to California, all of Northern Nevada. We get cases from all over. So we actually are kind like the first hub of care for lot of areas. So we really get an eclectic mixture of patients that come in that need-   all kinds of different cases that are coming to them. So it's what I really wanted. So I did my residency in critical care there. And then for the next 10 years, I worked in vascular medicine with my final five years being the supervisor of the clinic. Ran all the ins and outs of that. So my providers, two doctors were on our view. So when we talk about dentistry, talk about production, those kinds of things, totally get it. My doctors were the exact same way, my vascular providers. ⁓   There's some pains there, right? You wanna be seeing patients as much as possible, being able to help as many people, keeping the billing up. And had other nurse practitioners, four practitioners, a fleet of MAs, eight pharmacists. We also had that one location we had, going off the top of my head, I think we had eight locations running as well. And we took care of all the different kinds of vascular cases that came to us. Most common was blood clots, ⁓ which is just a...   which is an easier way of saying VTE. There's so many different ways to say a blood clot. Like you might hear patients say, I've had a PE or a DVT or a venous thromboembolism or a clot in my leg, right? They're all clots, but in different locations. Same with an MI, and MI can be a clot as well. ⁓ there's a lot of, everybody's kind of saying the same thing, but sometimes the nomenclature can make it sound hard, but it really is actually pretty simple.   No. And Jason, I love that you went through, you've been in like, and even in your, ⁓ when you were getting your doctorate, you were in the ER. You also worked in retail pharmacy. remember you having a little sticker on your hand. And retail pharmacy, I have a lot of respect for those guys. They have a lot of pressure on them. and then you also, ⁓ what was that test that you had to take that? I don't know. You were like studying forever for it. ⁓ board certification for, ⁓ NABP. Yeah. So I did that board certification as well.   And now you've moved out of the hospital side onto another section in your career. Now in the insurance, right? So it's really, really interesting. So now I'm on the other side reading notes and evaluating clinical appropriateness and trying to help patients with getting coverage and making those kinds of determinations. So yeah, I've really jumped all over. Really love my clinical days. I know. don't I don't I do miss them. But yeah, kind of had a good exposure to a lot of.   pharmacy a lot a lot of dentists actually with all the places that come through which Jason I really appreciate that and honestly I know you are my spouse and so it's fun to have you on but when I go into conversations like this I don't know any of this information and so finding experts and Jason I think here's me talk more about dentistry and my business than I do hear about him on pharmacy so as we were chatting about this I really realized you are a wealth of knowledge because you've been on the clinical side so you've done a lot of patient care and you've seen how   medications interact and I know you've had a few scares in your career and ⁓ you've known some physicians that have had a few scares and ⁓ you've seen plenty of patients pass away working in the ER and gosh in Arizona drownings were such a big deal. I remember when you were in the ER on your rotations I'd be like who died today? Like tell me the stories and you've really seen and now going on to the insurance side I felt like you could just be such a good wealth of knowledge because I know dentists are sometimes so   I wo

    40 min

  8. FEB 3

    The Life-Changing Magic of Accountability (and How it Reduces Stress)

    No matter what position, no matter how many years someone's been in their position, every team member likes to know that they're doing a good job. Tiff and Kristy talk about why defining duties and responsibilities—and then measuring metrics against those duties and responsibilities—is so critical to "winning" at your job. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello Dental A Team listeners. I am so excited to be here with you today I know I see that every single time but I hope you guys know how much I truly love podcasting it is a time away from like we'll call it work I feel like podcasting just isn't work for us and we love Speaking to you guys. love getting all this information out there for you and we love our time together So you guys afford us that and today I have an all-time fave I actually I know this is gonna make you blush but   I get some pretty incredible feedback. Kristy, I have Kristy here with us today. I get some pretty incredible feedback from a lot of our clients and a lot of listeners on the podcasts that we do together. So Kristy, I am here today in your presence and it just makes me feel so good. And I'm here to pick that brilliant brain. So thank you for showing up, bringing it and giving me, we've got an ample amount of time this afternoon together. So thank you, Kristy.   The Dental A Team (00:54) Yeah.   I always have fun when I'm here with you. You know that. It's just so natural that we can rip off each other. And ⁓ I don't know, you do a good job at picking my brain and pulling it out. So it's always fun. look forward to our time together.   The Dental A Team (01:09) Thank you.   Thank you. Thank you, Kristy. You guys should know something about Kristy. She is an incredible consultant and I know that this is our time that I get to kind of share and spread some light and joy on our consulting team. And Kristy, I think it's imperative for the world to know that, gosh, you have just an amazing list of clients who are really seeing some impressive results recently. We're into the new year. We're like,   Now when this releases two months into the new year, which is freaking wild, but that's fine. But so many of your clients saw so many successes last year and in those successes we're seeing systems development and within those systems development, really seeing goals being pushed, being reached, being surpassed. You've got some clients that I know you were looking at the goals that they were setting for themselves and you were like, yes, and that's one of my favorite Kristy-isms. Yes, and, yes, and.   I think you can do more. So you like are pushing them outside of their comfort zones and really projecting for them things that I don't think that a lot of your clients even see possible. I just think it's really cool. And today we're talking really about how accountability is gonna help reduce stress within the practice. And I say all of these things that you're doing really well for your clients right now, Kristy, because it takes so much accountability to be able to perform those pieces without   an overload of stress. You can grow and not have accountability. You can spin your wheels and cycle in the negative or however you want to say it. But when that accountability piece is also attached to the things that you're implementing, I think that's really where you see the true results. And that's where we've gotten some incredible feedback that Kristy is amazing. And ⁓ you've taught them so many skills that they can then take them themselves.   and carry it on. And I think it's really cool. It's just really valuable what you've been able to implement for practices. So my question, my first question to you, my first brain pick is why do you find it so important to uphold the accountability levels that you hold for your clients and that you train them to hold for their teams by proxy? Why is that so important to you and so valuable in the coaching that you do?   The Dental A Team (03:31) Yeah, I love that question because even us in what we do, we want to know if we're winning or not. Right. And so every team member, doesn't matter what job you're doing. You want to know if you're doing a good job and if you're winning. And if we don't have KPIs to measure or clarity in our roles, we're just, we're going day by day by default, you know, and we could have a success, but like you said, it's   How do we repeat it if we don't even know what we're looking for? So number one is defining those duties and understanding what am I responsible for and how do I know if I'm winning or   The Dental A Team (04:15) Yeah, I love that. you said a couple of things there that I keyed in on, but you said duplicate. So making it repeatable and making it so that that system can be driven by anyone. like anyone can do it, it can be duplicated and you can take a same or similar system and copy and paste it into a different department or a different goal. And I totally agree. Now, when you have something that's duplicatable, it's just kind of   I don't want to say on autopilot, but it feels more on autopilot because you're not having to put quite so much like thought process on everything, you know? It is kind of on autopilot. When you're able to do that, how does that, what level of accountability does that require? I guess is the question. Like we've got to, we can have all the systems in the world and the clarity and the job roles, we think we have the clarity and we hand it to them and then we walk away.   what's the next step? We've got the clarity, we've got the job descriptions. What does the accountability look like for those things and why is it so important to the overall stress of the team?   The Dental A Team (05:23) Yeah, again, in everything we do, it's either by default or by intention, right? And I'd rather be intentional. So using those duties and then following up. I'm a firm believer of performance reviews outside of wage reviews. Can they tie together? 100 % they can tie together. But I also feel as leaders in the practice, we have a responsibility to grow our people, not just grow our practice, but grow our people, right?   And so having those conversations to measure against their duties and the KPIs, not a feeling, I feel like I did a good job, right? ⁓ Having those to measure against, lets them know, they know before they even come in that they're winning or not. And it also gives us the opportunity to coach them up, right? If they're not winning or, you know, what's getting in the way of it, or really it could be an opportunity to coach them and train them.   And it doesn't necessarily mean us as leaders have to be the one to do it, but we can provide resources and we can get commitments around it so that we can measure, again, we don't have to hit perfection, but are we trending in a growth pattern? And the more that we grow our people, the more that our practice grows, you know?   The Dental A Team (06:43) Yeah,   yeah, that makes sense. So you're tying that accountability measurement, that accountability piece is less micromanaging and oversight and like, are you doing the thing but it's tied into the results being driven. So if we're tracking the KPIs, we're tracking the results that we're desiring and we're seeing, are we on track, off track? Are we growing? Are we declining? That's the accountability measurement and then inspiring our team to want to win within that.   that provides that feedback system, I guess, that loop back where they're like, hey, I'm seeing a downtrend. Maybe they're at a point now where they're inclined to speak up and ask for help or they see something that needs to be adjusted or switched and so they're doing it on their own rather than that micromanaged ⁓ over the shoulder accountability. Because I do think, Kristy, that a lot of times the definition of the word accountability can be   It's like ASAP, like when can you come ASAP? That could mean anything. Your ASAP versus my ASAP is who knows what that means. So that accountability piece, I think we all have our own definition or our own variation of defining it, but your version here is really looking at the results driving it and then constantly coming back to it. So I love that. are you having your doctors and your practices?   look at those results and talk about them because there's the one piece to assume that we're all adults and we're all going to look at them, we're all going to fill them in, we're all going to come to our leadership when we need help. But then that's where I get the phone calls from the doctors that's like, I thought I employed adults and they're not doing the thing. And they're well, we get busy too. So it doesn't always happen that way. So when are you suggesting or having your doctors and your practices really look at those results to bring that fold of accountability measurement into it?   At the one-on-ones for sure, is there anything else that you're adding in there?   The Dental A Team (08:42) Yeah, for sure. think that truly there's daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly metrics, and they can be broken out. ⁓ Yes, one-on-ones are specific to them, but it's also a team sport, right? And so, again, I think I encourage everybody to be doing meetings.   If in a perfect world, I'd love them weekly and they're strategic to work on the business, not just in the business and in the ones that are doing it with intention and having those meetings and dialing in on those metrics. And, you know, they can tell if they're winning or not. It gives you the strategy to be able to course correct sooner than later. And it lets everybody know where they are and we can be support to each other. So to your question,   I don't think it's cut and dry, but I do think there's d

    22 min
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This podcast is here to give dentists and all dental office team members, in EVERY position, TACTICAL and PRACTICAL TIPS to: - Be more efficient - Have more fun - Improve doctor and team communications - Eliminate frustration - And make your life easier! Jump in! We are thrilled you have decided to LEVEL UP and be part of the DENTAL A TEAM! New episodes every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

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    Dental A Team
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