The Best D@mn DSM Blog Ever

There are no shortcuts to success in sleep medicine. There are no discounts. You have to do the work. That’s the price you pay.

Sleep medicine can be done in a general dental office. In fact, sleep must be done for our general dental patients.

To cultivate a high-performing team, consider the power of the "4 Es": Educate, Equip, Empower, and Encourage.

To reduce the struggle and make the juggle more manageable, create and run your DSM practice through a separate LLC, use a DSM software, contract with a reputable third-party medical billing service, acquire the necessary technology, and most importantly, find team “champions” in your office to implement and help run your DSM practice.

S.M.A.R.T. goals present a simple, reproducible way to create benchmarks and instill accountability.

If you want to treat sleep patients, go to some courses, attend some webinars, and read some books. Then screen, test, and treat your team members and their significant others.

Dentists often assume that patients who’ve been diagnosed and referred have been given thorough explanations about the cause of their sleep apnea, its impacts on their health, and available treatment options. However, an informal survey of patients at one DSM office revealed that more than 90% of patients were virtually uninformed about OSA.

Partner with a reputable, capable marketing company to promote your sleep practice. Leverage best practices while creating your unique message. It’s not only OK to be different; it’s a necessity.

If you possess the ability to potentially save patients’ lives but you don’t, are you ethical or unethical or does that fall into some gray area?

Dental sleep medicine has much in common with general dentistry. You rely on your team to make things happen, and so the team had better be strong. It’s the same with DSM. The responsibilities change, but everyone has a role, and they need to perform at a high level, or the ejection seat will launch them elsewhere.