practice operations
The Count
No practice closes the day on a feeling; the day sheet is set against the deposit. A software trial deserves the same habit. This post shows how to keep two columns, the task done in the tool and the task done the old way, who keeps them, and what to do when the count and the mood disagree.
October 16, 2026 · 6 min read
The Thing You Are Still Doing By Hand
Open the top drawer at your front desk. There is a notebook in it that was supposed to be gone when you bought the software. A by-hand process survives for one of three reasons: it is a backup, nobody was entitled to end it, or the software does not do the job. Each one calls for a different response, and none of them is throwing the notebook away.
October 9, 2026 · 6 min read
The Handoff Nobody Documents: From the Chair to the Front Desk
Every practice runs the same twenty feet dozens of times a week. The doctor finishes, the patient walks up front, and a different person takes over the conversation. Almost nobody has written down what is supposed to cross with them. The ADA has, and the word it uses for the person at that desk is worth reading twice.
August 31, 2026 · 7 min read
Who Answers When Two Vendors Point at Each Other
Every practice that runs more than one piece of software has had the hour where both vendors say the log looks fine on their side. It is not a support-culture problem. It is a contract problem, and the practice owns it by default.
August 28, 2026 · 7 min read
Your Images Do Not Travel: Why Sending a Radiograph Is Still Hard
Federal regulators came close to requiring that images be portable three separate times, and each time the requirement got weaker or went away. That history is the real reason a practice still burns a CD or hands the patient a folder and hopes it reaches the specialist.
August 14, 2026 · 7 min read
The Treatment Plan Nobody Followed Up On
Two patients hear the same recommendation. One declines, and the refusal goes in the chart. The other says they need to think about it, and nothing gets recorded at all, because as far as the software is concerned nothing happened. The second patient is the whole problem.
August 12, 2026 · 7 min read
Writing SOPs Your Dental Team Will Actually Use
Most practices are told they need SOPs and handed a template. The template is not the problem. Your office already writes and maintains required written procedures and keeps them current, which means the capability is there. What the operational procedures are missing is an owner, a review rhythm, and a place people can reach during a busy morning.
August 3, 2026 · 6 min read
Filling Same-Day Dental Cancellations Without a Scramble
A patient cancels, and the next hour disappears into voicemail. The gap does not get filled, not because nobody tried, but because the work started at the worst possible moment. Four questions decide who belongs on a short-call list, and all four can be answered before the phone rings.
July 31, 2026 · 5 min read
The Ten Questions a Practice Owner Sent Before He Would Take a Demo
A practice owner we had never met sent ten questions through his marketing consultant before he would agree to a walkthrough. Price, setup fees, BAA, integration, insurance workflows, emergencies, call tracking, contract terms, and whether he could test it on his own scripts first. We answered all ten in writing the same night. Here is his list, our answers, and what a good answer sounds like from any vendor you are considering.
July 31, 2026 · 10 min read
How to Tell Your New Front Desk Hire Is Ready to Fly Solo
Most practices plan the first week well and then guess at everything after it. The handoff from "someone is watching them" to "they are on their own" usually happens quietly, on a busy morning, because nobody had a better idea. Here are four observable signals that tell you a new front desk hire is genuinely ready, and a short check you can run before you make the call.
July 30, 2026 · 7 min read
After-Hours and Weekends: What Patients Do When Your Dental Practice Is Closed
The phone rings at 5:47 PM Friday. It rings again Saturday morning. It rings Sunday afternoon. What those patients do between then and Monday's first cup of coffee is the real story of your practice's growth ceiling.
June 29, 2026 · 6 min read
Why Dental Front Desk Training Keeps Breaking Down (and How to Fix It)
"Sit with Kathy for two weeks" isn't a training plan — it's a bottleneck. Why front desk training falls apart in dental offices, and four habits that make onboarding repeatable even through turnover.
June 10, 2026 · 6 min read