Hope is not a business strategy. But the right strategy will bring you hope.
Fact: Dentistry isn’t only healthcare, it’s also business.
If your schedule is full but you’re still struggling to pay the bills and just hoping things get better, it’s probably because you’re running your business by default instead of by design and you don’t have a strategic plan to be profitable.
Most dentists don’t go into Dentistry because they want to analyze dashboards full of KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) or other data.
They go into Dentistry because they want to take great care of patients. YOU CAN DO BOTH!!
Let me help you implement the right strategies to unlock your profit potential AND improve patient care in your dental practice.
My Story
I like to say “I married into dentistry.”
Twenty-five years ago I veered off my nursing career path to help my husband run his dental practice.
We were high school sweethearts who got married, moved to the big city for college, then returned to the quiet hills of Eastern Kentucky to raise our kids and hang out our shingle.
We wanted to make a positive impact in the community that we loved so dearly and that loved us back.
By 1999, our home held four kids under the age of seven...
…including one set of twins, one dog, two cats, a hamster, some guppies, and even an iguana at one point. We also had a mortgage, two car payments, student loans, and plenty of shenanigans to fund.
At the office we had another mortgage, a sizable equipment loan, four employees, overdue taxes, and a clan of family and friends to whom we wanted to provide affordable dentistry.
Oh, and another thing… We almost qualified for food stamps. (Our monthly income barely missed the cut-off for a family of six.)
Despite all our years of education and hard work, we could not make enough money to support our growing family. We were barely surviving.
We worked hard five days a week. Our dentistry was exceptional. Our patients loved us. But we were losing Hope that dentistry could deliver the life we imagined and had worked so hard to obtain… the kind of life that would allow us to take the best care of our family, employees, and patients.
Many times, we questioned how we would ever afford to send four kids to college. Something needed to change, but we didn’t know what.
We just knew that whatever “it” was, we had to figure it out quickly.
We prayed and… We tried things we thought might be “it.”
We hired a fancy marketing company. *Cha-ching* That wasn’t “it.”
We worked even harder. *Exhaustive sigh* That wasn’t “it” either.
We signed up with every Dental Insurance Network we could find, thinking more patients might be “it”. *Shakes head* Nope. This actually made things worse.
Then, through a series of Divinely appointed introductions and events, we finally met the right people and learned what “it” was.
“It” was Practice Management.In technical terms, Practice Management is the strategic organization and oversight of administrative, financial, and operational aspects to ensure the smooth functioning and success of the dental practice.
In practical terms, effective Practice Management transformed our practice, rescued us from financial hardship, and opened our eyes to all the potential we had.
It also restored something we had been missing… Hope. It sure felt good to tell those who had inspired us, “Thank you for giving us Hope.”
Practice Management was the solution we didn’t know we were searching for.
With the help of amazing consultants, we developed the strategies, systems, and workflows REQUIRED to grow our practice, take better care of our patients, increase our profit, and provide for our family.
Fast forward 20 years.
Our beautiful office in rural Kentucky is thriving. It has grown into a two-dentist practice (and we are looking for #3!) with eight operatories and state–of–the–art technology, equipment, and training. We have 17 talented team members and we’ve treated over 14,000 smiles. We love our patients and they routinely give us 5-star reviews. Referrals are abundant. Our patients don’t have to travel to a big city to get big-city care. Our motto is : We improve people’s lives by combining compassionate care with state-of-the-art dentistry. We can deliver this kind of care because we have the systems and operational workflows in place to sustain it.
And the best part? We have the privilege of being generous with our patients, employees, families, church, and community. And the last kid graduated from college in 2022!
I know the struggles and challenges of private practice. I also know the potential that exists.
I have lived it.
I know that dentistry can be what sucks the life out of you, or it can be the conduit the Lord uses to bless you, your patients, your family, your team, and your community.
Hope Dental Consulting was born from my desire to help other dentists experience that blessing.
Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my Hope is in you all day long.
- Psalm 25:5
My Formal Bio
Elizabeth Griffith is an expert dental consultant, coach, and trainer who helps general dentists reach new heights of profitability in private practice. Her mission is to help dentists find joy in their profession again. As co-founder of Brookside Dental Care with her husband, Bryan Griffith DMD, Elizabeth has played an integral role in the 30-year success of the practice.
Serving as the Practice Manager, Internal Consultant, and Patient Safety Coordinator for 25 years, she delivers specialized training to help teams implement Comprehensive Dentistry, Oral Conscious Sedation, IV Sedation, Emergency Preparedness, Dental Sleep Medicine, In-Office Membership Plans, and more.
Elizabeth has a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Kentucky and is a Registered Nurse with valuable Intensive Care knowledge. With over 30 years of experience in healthcare, she has mentored and coached over 50 dental professionals, helped over 14,000 dental patients, and is a key team member of the BDC Practice which has grown into a 7-figure business—consistently increasing production and collection numbers yearly. Elizabeth led Brookside Dental Care through the transition from high participation with PPOs with exorbitant write-offs to enjoying the benefits of being fee-for-service.
Elizabeth’s signature consulting program, Optimal Care, Optimal Profits: 5 Days to Increase Profitability in Your Dental Practice, was created to help dentists discover and unlock the hidden profit potential within their practices using a comprehensive dentistry model. Elizabeth works to ensure that the dentists, their team members, and the patients they serve all leave the office with smiles on their faces.
