Last updated on September 21st, 2019 at 09:34 am
I graduated from the Louisiana State University School of Dentistry in 1981. After associating in 2 different practices, my wife Mary and I decided it was time to open my own office. I looked forward to being my own “boss” and my family and I enjoying the benefits of financial freedom. So, in 1985 I started out from scratch with one operatory in Thibodaux, Louisiana, with Mary as the office manager (and everything else as she was the only staff member)! From the beginning, we saw that our weak point was organizational issues – my first patient walked out without paying us and disappeared! We did a great job clinically, but could never seem to gain control over the business aspects of the practice.
Despite this, over the next eighteen years we built up from a one operatory office with just Mary and me to a five operatory, 2500 square foot office with four additional staff. I thought that as I grew, things would become easier, but things just became more hectic. The organizational problems in the office seemed to grow along with the practice! By 2005, we were pretty stressed. The office was getting about 24 new patients per month but the business aspects of the practice were a constant source of worry and concern. I loved being a dentist. No question about it. To say we didn’t “love” the business aspect of owning the practice would be an understatement! The hours were too long, the overhead was too high and the profit was too low! I also felt that my case acceptance was not where it needed to be. Mary and I felt like we never went home at night. Whatever difficulties we were having at work would consume hours of conversation and time at the house, leaving not enough time to spend with our three children. I thought that by this point in my career I would have had an associate doctor, but I couldn’t justify hiring one based on my numbers – we wouldn’t have had enough work.
Again, I knew I was a good dentist, but began to wonder with everything that was going on if maybe I just wasn’t cut out to be a business owner.
We knew we needed to do something, so at the end of July 2005 we attended the MGE: Management Experts, Inc., New Patient Workshop. Mary and I never could have imagined that this simple trip down to Florida would have been the trip to change our lives! We did the two-day New Patient Workshop and loved it. We learned how to go about promoting our office effectively and professionally. We were finally being trained on a step by step system to use when we went home so we knew what to do! We decided to sign up for the MGE Communication & Sales Seminars to raise case acceptance. After just the first seminar and the New Patient Workshop, things immediately began to improve. In August 2006 new patients shot up to 42! With the communication and sales training I was really connecting with my patients and getting them to fully understand their needed treatment plans. With regards to our marketing, the first patient that came from the promotion that we learned to do at the New Patient Workshop accepted their full treatment plan. With this success the atmosphere in the office began to change. It became more upbeat and fun for the both of us and the staff!
Needless to say we were impressed. Our MGE training helped us immensely and we wanted more. We decided to sign up for the MGE Power Program to learn how to be more organized and become trained as executives. This training has been fantastic! With what we have learned so far we have begun to implement a smooth organizational system and structure, manage by statistics and manage overhead to increase profitability. In essence, the training taught us how to run our business ourselves. This allowed me to accomplish the freedom that I was seeking when I decided to become a business owner in the first place! Not only has the idea that I could not cut it as a business owner become an afterthought, now I am more pumped up and excited about doing it than when I started! It’s a great feeling not to be stuck in present problems!
Since we’ve become MGE clients in 2005, the practice has grown every year.
For 2010, our collections are up by a total of 305% and we see 84 new patients per month. And keep in mind – this is all fee-for-service – no HMOs, PPOs or discount plans. Profitability is up, we have an excellent team of staff and we’ve also finally added the associate I was looking for!
We’ve tripled our practice, added a few staff and an associate since starting at MGE and despite all this it seems 10 times easier to manage the office than before!
Being a dentist and a business owner doesn’t have to be hard. It doesn’t have to burn you out, and it doesn’t have to affect you or your family negatively. It may be hard to realize now, but there is help out there! I’m going to save you a lot of valuable time and energy by telling you to call MGE.
Start off with the MGE Communication and Sales Seminars and New Patient Workshop like we did. You can go from consultant to consultant and spend lots of money, or you can just go to the company that works. This technology is the best out there, and I assure you that it will change your life! All you have to ask yourself is: What is personal and professional happiness worth to you? Call MGE now!