Prescribing patterns

Let me be controversial (for a change).

I invest many hours in calculating the average daily productivity of the fee-earners in a practice.

Many previous articles have made mention of

1. the plodding £800 a day associate who loses the owner money on a 50% contract

2. the principal averaging £1000 a day who is drowning in a world of check-ups (with or without a membership plan)

In recent months I have been equally horrified to stumble upon a previously undiscovered tribe in the depths of the NHS jungle:

1. the £450 a day associate

It begs a question – where does one start when addressing the consequences of low productivity?

A conversation with an £1800 a day principal, earlier this week, was revealing.

I suggested that a dentist of his calibre should be averaging closer to £2500 a day, given the nature, location and demographic of his practice.

He simply responded:

OK – I will alter my prescribing patterns to achieve that target going forward – October will be a £40,000 month Chris

That was it – no discussion on marketing or pricing – just a change in prescribing patterns.

I’m going to leave that hanging out there in the virtual breeze – and see what comments we get 😉