A Matter of Opinion

A Matter of Opinion…. Tom Lehman, Lehman Dental Arts, Ltd.
posted 02.18.10

RECESSION?? IS THE GOVERNMENT’S ECONOMY STUPID?

Have you ever called on an account or possible account and found them just sitting around the office without any patients in sight? Has your work volume dropped off, or have you needed to lay off workers? What a change to our economy!

All of this rambling must have your attention by now, so I wish to share with you some of my thoughts about a trip to Michigan from which I returned a few months ago. The meeting I attended was the 50th annual, and what the doctors were talking about or weren’t talking about was an eye opener. Michigan has a reported 17% unemployment (really more like 24-30% actual). The doctors were comparing notes on patient frequency. It was clear when a group of employees are let go but still have coverage, the volume of patients walking into the dental office slows up. But, when these laid off employees lose their medical/dental coverage, the patient stream just dries up! Just the essential and most absolutely necessary procedures are done.

This slow up in patient volume and procedures being done for them has an effect on the bottom line for the office in the form of many furlough days, rotating days off with no pay, and (this is a biggy) absolutely no talk of the digital revolution. Not that many are into digital dentistry, but the majority of Michigan doctors I spoke with are really thinking twice about the investment of dollars for this technology at this time. Although from Minnesota to the East coast, in-house Cerec and digital scanners are being used for the patient’s benefit.

But with the downturn in the economy and the tax rate that is coming, I personally wonder what kind of an impact this will have on our industry, not withstanding the gold market. More paper dollars printed means a higher gold market.



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