Do's and don'ts for keeping control of inventory

As a dental practice leader, you must always be in control of your inventory. Having too much inventory can lead to high overhead and low revenue. Having a shortage of supplies can negatively affect how you perform daily business tasks. Taking time to ensure that your practice has the proper inventory levels will help increase practice success.

Re-evaluate bulk ordering. Although bulk ordering can mean discounts, it locks the office into a set of purchases and may end up costing more than if the office had ordered supplies as needed. Some practices have supply closets overflowing with unused (and sometimes unusable) inventory. Look at your current inventory to see if adjustments should be made to the practice's ordering protocols.

Don't forget to take inventory every six months. As part of your program to control overhead, pay attention to the supplies you have on hand. Many practices end up with supply closets full of materials they don't really need -- or run out of essentials because they had no idea of their inventory. Avoid overages, shortages, and waste by counting inventory semiannually.

Roger P. Levin, DDS, is the founder and CEO of Levin Group, the leading dental practice consulting firm in North America. For the complete list of dates and locations where you can attend his latest seminar, visit www.levingroup.com/gpseminars.

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