In order to understand how to approach the COVID-19 crisis, we’ve built a model with three stages:

• Stage 1: The COVID-19 Crisis
• Stage 2: Entering Recovery
• Stage 3: Recovery

Keep in mind that there are three stages of this COVID-19 crisis and that you should be looking to solve your forthcoming challenges in the next stage. As the situation in your state evolves and you move from stage to stage, remember to look ahead. For example, in moving from Stage 1 to Stage 2, you should think about which patients you might bring back first and which staff you'll need in order to treat those patients.

Within the recovery, we believe there’s a timeline:

• Phase 1 (Months 1–4): Extreme Busyness Due to Pent-Up Demand
• Phase 2 (Months 5–12): Production Decline
• Phase 3 (Months 13–24): True Recovery

Upon reopening your practice, you’ll likely be extremely busy based on the pent-up demand. Keep in mind that, while this may feel like everything is back to normal, it is unlikely that this period will last.

In Months 5–12, expect your production to drop. This reality is based on so many patients losing their jobs and needing to focus their energies elsewhere.

In Months 13–24, you’ll begin the critical recovery phase. This phase determines if you recover, and how fast and how well you recover. The goal of this third phase is to reach 80% of the average monthly revenue that you had in 2019 by the 24th month of the recovery process. If you can reach that number, that helps secure your practice’s future.

Crisis leadership is different from everyday practice leadership. There are three factors of leadership in a crisis: resilience, agility and flexibility.

In resilience, you must be willing to go with the flow as information arises. This doesn’t mean being a victim or focusing only on reacting. Rather, it means that you shouldn't be so locked in to the ways things should be that you find yourself in serious trouble.

The second factor is agility (i.e., the ability to pivot). Be able to change direction.

The last factor is flexibility. No matter how well you plan, things are not going to turn out exactly the way you want them to. Remember this statement: No plan survives a collision with reality. To be a good crisis leader, you cannot be rigid — you’ll have to be resilient, agile and flexible.

Visit the Levin Group's COVID-19 Recovery Resource Center at levingroup.com and download the free One-Page COVID-19 Strategic Recovery Plan. This critical tool breaks your response management into four quadrants: practice, staff, patients, and financials.

For each category you have to write a goal. Then, in each category you'll list three of four key value-bassed strategies that will directly contribute to the recovery goal of that quadrant. Ensure that you’re only focused on the recovery and not on the next five to 10 years.

So, for example, under the "patients" category you might put down how many active patients you want to have. And you’d devise key strategies that would help you reach that goal. Keep in mind that every strategy must be measurable and quantifiable. And every category must have a goal statement to work toward.

Make a list of everyone who is going to help you in the recovery. It might include any of the following:

• Staff
• Bankers
• Financial advisors
• Accountants
• Attorneys
• Consultants
• Coaches
• Landlords
• Suppliers
• Laboratories
• Credit card companies
• Leaseholders
• Vendors
• Friends

Be considerate of the people in your top 25 list (as well as everyone else). These people are going to help you in your recovery, and they’ll likely remember how you behaved during the crisis.

Firstly, you’ll likely have to expand your hours. This recovery period will not be business as usual. You may have to work evenings or weekends, or even cancel vacations. Ensure that you or your staff members are answering your phone lines every single time they ring. You must be reachable.

Secondly, you and your staff will have to take on new responsibilities. You should be writing scripts right now for the calls you’ll be making once your practice is open.

Address a variety of topics, including rescheduling overdue patients or talking to new patients. While you may have automated text-messaging software that already does this, patients will be much more receptive to calls. Your scripting must include how you’ll be keeping your patients safe from disease, as well as any expanded financial options you’ll be offering.

With these scripts, create a schedule of contacting patients. Call them once a week for three weeks, then text them once a week for three weeks, then email them once a week for three weeks. Ensure that you’re showing them that you’re compassionate and that you acknowledge the hardships they may be in with their families or finances.

You should be prioritizing the highest production first. You must block out time in your new schedule for new patients and emergencies because these will help keep your production level high. The faster you get in productive treatment, the easier your turnaround will be. New patients and emergency patients represent a higher financial value than existing patients do.

Considering we do not yet have any data about what will happen in the dental practice due to COVID-19, we might be able to learn from the Great Recession. If we look back at that time period, hygiene appointments dropped 15% and approximately 20% of hygienists lost their jobs.

We can anticipate that hygiene may be a bit of a challenge after the first two months of recovery. There will likely be a surge of pent-up demand immediately once practices open, but after that we expect a drop. You’ll need to create a temporary solution to answer that demand. However, there will be a decline in hygiene appointments in Months 3–5. You’ll have to continually reevaluate your staffing needs during this period.

Your break-even point is critical and simple. You can find it by measuring the revenue you expect to have per week against the expenses you expect to pay per week. If revenue exceeds expenses, you’re positive. If it doesn’t, you’re negative.

You must monitor this number relationship constantly. You must be taking a pulse of this number every day and getting a hard number every week. This recovery period is not business as usual, so you must be constantly aware of your break-even point.

Schedule new patients, large cases and emergencies first. These cases will lead to high production and keep your practice alive.

You might be asking whether or not this is fair. Well, this isn’t a moral debate — it's a survival debate. It is smart to have your highest production as early as possible. You need to have revenue generated so that you can continue helping patients over a longer period of time.

The first objective of your turnaround is to get to that break-even point. Once you’ve hit that, you’ve survived. After that you can start working toward profit and greatly expand the types of patients you’re seeing.

We recommend that you increase patient financing by 200%–300%. You’ll be able to make this part of your scripting for patients.

Additionally, you may want to add payment plans to your practice. Even though this likely will result in your collection rate dropping, you must keep in mind that the break-even point and covering overhead are essential for survival.

Collecting a percentage of those payments is better than continuing to turn away patients. There’s a higher percentage of patients who don’t have the disposable income to pay for treatment up front. Also, consider offering discounts to some fee-for-service patients.