Dentalcompare
Clinical Director
Just this last week, we wrapped up another lecture in our Dentalcompare live webinar series. It was my pleasure to be online with Dr. Rand Mattson. He has been practicing for 30 years in a high-tech office in Utah, and had much to say about compelling reasons to switch your practice away from film and over to digital.
One concept that came up was the idea of ROI—Return on Investment. In the last several years, that one little buzzword has been behind several marketing campaigns associated with various dental products. They frame everything on the perspective that every purchase has to have some way to make money for the practice, and the purchase becomes more compelling as the ROI improved.
However, I have always thought that many things in our practice just cannot be measured based on ROI. For example, how do you measure ROI on the adhesive you use, or on the dental handpiece shaping the tooth for a crown? Further, how do you place an ROI figure on items that are simply requirements of the business?
Sometimes the simplest explanation is best. In his lecture, Dr. Mattson expanded the definition of “ROI” beyond a monetary metric. A purchase such as a digital x-ray sensor may indeed provide an ROI in terms of paying for itself, but regardless of that, it provides a huge return on investment for your patients. They get to enjoy reduced exposure to radiation, and they have a greater ability to view any dental problems on a large screen instead of squinting at film. The ROI here is a happy patient who shows greater satisfaction with the care they receive, and are more likely to refer their friends and family to your office. Plus, there’s the ROI for your staff via an improved workflow making for a team that is happier and more efficient.
The key point here is that ROI goes beyond the dollar signs to cover many factors with the ways a product impacts your practice. Digital x-ray is a great example of how a product can show positive returns on every aspect of your business.
If you would like to see an archived version of the webinar, and hear Dr. Mattson discuss further how he found success in his switch to digital x-rays, click here.