Accelerate Your Dental Practice with Malika and Michelle

On this episode, Malika and Michelle are joined by Dr. David Maloley. Dr. Maloley is a dental expert, author, speaker and coach focusing on creating dream dental practices. On this episode, hear Dr. Maloley’s takes on how to improve the practice as a whole, including topics like burnout, how to focus on the what drives employees, as well as how to create a productive office culture. The team dives...

Accelerating Your Dental Practice Episode 25, Optimizing Your Practice with Billing and Outsourcing Expert Amanda DeMoura On this episode, Malika and Michelle are joined by Amanda DeMoura. Amanda is the Founder of Essential Dental Services, a dental billing company made up of dental practice managers. Amanda and Essential Dental Services are ready with custom help with claims, billing and insuranc...

Accelerating Your Dental Practice Episode 24, Optimizing Your Practice with Office Manager Beverly Wilburn On this episode, Malika and Michelle are joined by Beverly Wilburn. Beverly is an office manager for a successful dental office that specializes in periodontics and dental implants. Beverly is an AADOM Diplomate who also recently won Practice Administrator of the Year. Topics including what t...

Accelerating Your Dental Practice Episode 23, Optimizing Insurance and Financial Planning with Nick Cepparulo   This month, Malika and Michelle are joined by Nick Cepparulo, Vice President of CFS Dental Division. Nick talks about how their financial services can assist in optimizing a practice’s finances through insurance evaluation and assistance in assessing finances. Nick discusses the benefits...

Accelerating Your Dental Practice Episode 22, Marketing Your Practice on Social Media with Minal Sampat This month, Malika and Michelle are joined by Minal Sampat. Minal is a Marketing Strategist, Bestselling Author, and Speaker who is passionate about what Social Media can do for practices. In this episode Minal discusses all aspects of how marketing on social platforms can really help practices...

  Accelerating Your Dental Practice Episode 21, Knowing Your KPIs   This episode is all about Key Performance Indicators, or KPIs. KPIs can give practices a good idea on what the practice is looking like from a data standpoint. Malika and Michelle discuss their favorite KPIs and what these mean for a practice. No two practices are the same and personalized analytics can tell a very unique story ab...

Accelerating Your Dental Practice Episode 20, Dental Warranty with Brad Titensor This episode’s guest, Brad from Dental Warranty, sheds light on the new way that patients are protecting their dental investments. Dental Warranty is working with practices nationwide to provide peace of mind to patients by covering their dental procedures for up to six years. This also allows for practices to see an...

Accelerating Your Dental Practice Episode 19, Communication Effective communication is essential for an efficient dental practice. By establishing clear expectations and reminding patients ahead of time of office protocols and policies, you can prevent costly last-minute cancellations and tardiness. Equally important is maintaining clear communication with your staff to avoid redundancy in questio...

Accelerating Your Dental Practice Episode 18, Accelerating Your Dental Practice with AI and Technology AI is the future and dental practices are no exception. AI technology can provide accurate diagnoses, bill for services, make X-rays easier to understand, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. AnnMarie DePalma predict that AI will be a critical component to density in just a few short years. Sh...

Successful dental practices need to plan ahead to handle both slow and busy periods throughout the year. Back-to-school/September is a common scheduling slump, when families prioritize school and after- school actives. However, offices are slammed in December when patients rush to use their dental benefits in time. This summer has also been slow, with a record number of families taking vacations a...

Just how important is a dentist office’s online presence and Google reviews? To answer this in depth, Malika and Michelle bring on an expert. Dr. Len Tau is a retired dentist, dental consultant, speaker, podcaster, author, and the General Manager of Dental Vertical at BirdEye, a patient experience platform. His private Facebook group “Raving Patients,” is a place for dentists to discuss marketing...

Malika and Michelle focus on patient care. How can dental practices ensure that patients feel valued and cared for? To start, have systems in place to avoid excessive re-scheduling and long wait times. Dentists shouldn’t take on more patients than they can handle, especially if they are short-staffed. Decide what kind of experience you want patients to have when they walk in the door. This might m...

Kevin Henry is a dental assistant champion, the Co-Founder of IgniteDA, and the host of the Dental Assistant Nation Podcast. He’s been in the dentistry industry since 1999 and has seen a shift in power dynamics as the demand for friendly, punctual, and reliable dental assistants has skyrocketed. Kevin recommends that dentists steer clear of micromanaging and conduct biannual “stay interviews” to e...

In this episode, Malika and Michelle welcome guest, Dr. Tony Stefanou. Tony is a trained dentist turned businessman and Certified Business Intermediary.  He is the CEO and Founder of Connect the Dents, a business development consulting and M&A (Merger & Acquisition) advisory company specific to the dental industry.  Whether you plan to sell, want to expand, or are bringing on an associate, it's a...

Having an incentive program in place is a terrific approach to recruit in and retain staff members. Investing in your team not only makes them feel valued, it’s a fun way to reach goals in the office. For more examples of bonus programs, email Malika or Michelle with "Incentive Program" in the subject line at malika@ZarDentalConsulting.com and michelle@affinitymanagement.co 0:22 Introducing 1:52 B...

In this episode, Malika and Michelle welcome guest, Natasha Gillis. Natasha is a dental and medical business lawyer with the Gillis Firm. She represents dental practices in their start-up needs, acquisitions, partnership changes, and sales. Today, she offers some general legal advice. Topics covered: associate retention, acquisitions, partnerships, contracts, taxes, and trademarking. Natasha says,...

With only a few weeks left of 2022, Malika and Michelle reflect on some of the wins and challenges dental practices faced this year. Now is the time to re-visit your vision and mission statements, increase fees, and set new goals. Dentists should feel in control of their practices by setting boundaries and expectations of their patients. 1:38      Reflecting on 2022 5:30      Wins and challenges f...

The shortage of dental assistants and hygienists is causing hiring challenges for dentists.  It's harder than ever to find and retain talented staff who will stick around when their job opportunities are abundant. Malika and Michelle share advice for finding, onboarding, and incentivizing staff to stay.  Foster a positive environment at your office where people feel valued and appreciated. 1:30  S...

In this episode Malika and Michelle speak with Shane Simmons, the Founder and CEO of Crimson Media, a digital marketing agency.  In order to attract their ideal patient, practices need to create a trustworthy online presence that tells a story. Optimizing your internal and external marketing will put your practice above the rest and guarantee an healthy influx of business 0:23   Introducing Shane...

Malika and Michelle welcome their first guest to discuss discovering your rhythm in the dental practice.  Teresa Duncan is a dental speaker on insurance and management topics, coach, podcast host and the owner of Odyssey Management.  The three of them discuss staffing, reviews, recession, checklists, calendars, workplace security and more.  Don't wait until the end of the year to get on top of you...

Michelle and Malika offer practical advice to help dental practices survive during a recession. They advise being cautious when it comes to dropping insurance plans, concentrating on keeping current patients, establishing a membership program, and taking into account the use of third party financing companies, bearing in mind that patients will be more anxious than ever about the expense of dental...

Malika and Michelle talk about the advantages of automating systems in your dental office on the second episode of "Accelerating Your Dental Practice". It's important to streamline as much as possible during this staffing shortage.  Scheduling, treatment planning, payments, appointment reminders and review processes can all be automated to save valuable time and money.  Another bonus- most patient...

Welcome to the first episode of "Accelerating Your Dental Practice" with your hosts, Malika Azargoon and Michelle Affanato, Dental Management Consultants.  Starting off, Malika and Michelle discuss the advantages of outsourcing front office tasks in the midst of the hiring drought.  Dental practices can save a lot of time and money by outsourcing tasks including new patient calls, insurance verifi...