New Articles

Real-life Business Solutions That Work for Dentistry, Too:
Strategic Planning for 2010
By Amy Morgan, CEO of Pride Institute

There is no doubt that most dentists know how to diagnose and plan for a patient’s goals for their long term oral health. However, when it comes to understanding the diagnostic and strategic planning processes required for continuously improving the overall business health of the dental practice, many dentists or team members have never had the opportunity to be trained to even know where to begin!.

Originally published in Dentrix.com

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Hygiene Philosophy Meeting
By Amy Morgan, CEO of Pride Institute

Having a productive and effective hygiene department adds significant value to today’s dental practice. A dental team that maximizes their dental hygiene department to promote long term health, support restorative and adjunctive services becomes a key solution in each patient’s well being and long term commitment to the practice. In turn the effective hygiene department can be a vital component to practices’ productivity and long term success.

Originally published in Dentrix.com

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Fasten Your Seat Belts—It's Still a Bumpy Ride!
By Amy Morgan, CEO of Pride Institute

Before our recent economic roller coaster ride began, many practices were moving steadily towards a cash-only and fee-for-service basis.  Now, more practices than ever are exploring what the roles of insurance and financial arrangements should be when it comes to supporting the level of care that their patients want and need.

Originally published in Dental Economics

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Members Wield Web Marketing Tools
By Arlene Furlong, ADA
Featuring Amy Morgan, CEO of Pride Institute

"If your Web site doesn't establish a relationship with its viewers and lend your practice credibility, all the technology in the world won't save it," says Ms. Morgan. "Falling in love with just the technology is a common mistake dentists make."

Originally published on ADA News Today

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Hidden Treasure
By Amy Morgan, CEO of Pride Institute

Do you know that most dental practices have hidden treasure right at their fingertips? It’s in patients’ charts in the form of diagnosed, unscheduled treatment. In fact, Pride Institute has seen this treasure amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars in potential productivity (a figure that can give cardiac arrest to a moose)! By implementing an internal chart audit and patient reactivation project, you can kick-start a sluggish practice—even during these challenging economic times.

Originally published in Insurance Solutions Newsletter

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Can't Buy Me Love: Leveraging Your Relationship Capital
By Wayne Pernell, Pride Institute

You’ve got to be tired of hearing yet another battle cry and being given yet another chance to cringe during “these challenging economic times.” Many dentists have paid out a lot for ad campaigns to bring in patients, only to find their efforts and expense yields “the wrong type” of patient. You are trying to attract patients who want to be in your practice and will follow through on treatment recommendations. That’s simple. Getting them — and keeping them — that’s not as easy.

Originally published in DentristryIQ.com

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Becoming a Dr. DoRight Practice!
By Amy Morgan, CEO, Pride Institute

Dr. Doright’s daily practice schedule is close to perfect.  His team starts with an organized morning huddle to review the day; all patients are seated on time; and there is plenty of relationship-building and treatment presentation time built-in.  Few appointments ever run over and everyone gets to enjoy a full lunch hour and go home right on schedule.  Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it?  Not so if you follow these steps to becoming a “Dr. DoRight practice.”

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Generating Real Motivation through Leadership
By Amy Morgan, CEO, Pride Institute

Your practice’s productivity and profitability depends on your team’s MOTIVATION to do the right things at the right time. Although a dentist as leader cannot force or beg employees to be motivated (many have tried – all have failed), you can create a culture in which team member’s are encouraged to grow, trained to new levels of performance and are valued and rewarded for their contributions. The first step in creating this new environment is by linking motivation and compensation.

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Real Numbers Equate Real Solution: The Real Way to Confront a Challenging Economy
By Amy Morgan, CEO, Pride Institute

There certainly has been a lot written about surviving our current challenging economy. In fact, if I had a dollar for every article or advertisement that I’ve seen that promises to have the silver bullet needed to keep a dentist’s practice from shrinking, I probably could replace the 30 percent loss in my own retirement plan! The truth is that there is a lot of information out there—some good and some bad. The trick is in knowing how to actually use all of that information in a way that improves the situation for the dentist, the team, and patients.

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The Self-Directed Assistant—Creating Value in Everything You Do
By Amy Morgan, CEO, Pride Institute

Calling all Dental Assistants! Do you think you are always valued, appreciated and acknowledged every day for the knowledge, skills and outcomes you contribute to your practice?  Do you have a detailed job description that highlights the tasks and results you are responsible for in priority order, based on the vision, goals and strategies that the dentist has set for the year?

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Building Value for Optimal Oral Health
By Amy Morgan, CEO, Pride Institute

What can happen after ideal treatment has been diagnosed and presented to a patient that causes any dental team member to break out in a cold sweat? The dreaded first words that can come out of a patient’s mouth, “How much will my insurance cover?” Or “I can’t afford this!” or the deadliest combination, “I don’t have the money, and if my insurance doesn’t cover this… I won’t do it!”

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Is Innovation an Empty Promise?
By Tais Carter, Editor in Chief of Dental Products Report

Dr. Lou Shuman, President of the Pride Institute and former VP of Strategic Relations for Align Technology, believes that innovation is very important to the average dentist. “However, it is very difficult to recognize who the true innovators are,” he said.

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Compensation is one of the most complicated, misunderstood, and emotionally charged topics in the dental practice. When implemented effectively, the good news is that compensation can be the catalyst for an individual's personal and professional growth, as well as the inspiration to enhance motivation, morale, and performance.

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Endorsements 101: How products get endorsed and whether it matters
By Stan Goff, Executive Editor of Dental Products Report

Dr. Lou Shuman, President of the Pride Institute, is well aware of the numerous information sources currently available. He suggests you make sure you’re dealing with a credible source when you’re talking about products. This also applies when listening to speakers talk about dental products. “It comes down to three words: credibility, integrity and process,” Dr. Shuman said.

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Four Ways to Flourish and Prosper in Uncertain Times
By Amy Morgan, CEO, Pride Institute

It is easy for a dentist, as a small business owner, to get wrapped up in the drama of the news headline and mistakenly blame their practice problems on the economy. In my twenty-six years as a dental consultant, I have certainly had an opportunity to hear about the ills that an economic downturn may create and I have learned that there are some basic truths that prove beyond a shadow of doubt that dentists who actively engage in their business can survive and (dare I say it?) prosper during just about any economic twist and turn.

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"You want me to raise fees during these difficult times?" you exclaim. "But people are struggling at the gas pump and taking 'stay-cations' rather than vacations. Won't I be perceived as being unfair by my patients and team?" Honestly, the answer is that fee increases must be a standard, non-negotiable, yearly activity that every business (small and large) must be comfortable with as long as it is in business.

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Many years ago, I was lucky enough to have worked at Disney World as a “cast member.” When I later became a consultant/trainer, I carried that very special work experience with me. As a result, I do believe that I look at patients, dental teams and dentists through Disney eyes.  It has always been my desire to spread the Disney magic in dentistry because there’s no reason why we can’t make every dental experience magical as well.

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It's a dirty job, but someone's got to do it! Let's talk about the economy and its effect on dentistry in general. It never fails to amaze me that in times of economic uncertainty, dentists almost always panic and blame the economy for all that's wrong, and even more recklessly, start to look for silver-bullet solutions to address any and all real or perceived obstacles.

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Providing patients with an experience that exceeds expectations may feel like "fiddling while Rome is burning" to a dentist and team who have any feelings of scarcity. We woefully undervalue what it means to provide an ever-increasing level of service to our patients because we assume that if we are good people and provide excellent dentistry, the rest will take care of itself. That is just not the case!

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One of the hardest things to do as leader is to recognize the problems of your practice when it comes to staff, systems, and cash flow issues and not take those challenges personally but objectively so that you can be proactive instead of reactive.

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What is open book management? It is a management technique that gives all employees all relevant financial information about their company so they can make better decisions as workers.

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Does everybody recall the Wizard of Oz tale in which Dorothy had to follow the yellow brick road through a series of adventures only to discover that she had the capacity to go home from the very start? I find that story very similar to the dentist who believes that she has to go through a series of systems adventures to attract new patients and increase productivity when all she has to do is recognize that her continuing-care department can provide her with all of that and more!

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The most important feedback opportunity is the meeting commonly known as the performance evaluation. How many of you would enthusiastically agree if I asked: "Don't you love delivering performance evaluations?" Do I hear dead silence? That's because performance evaluations are perceived at best as one-dimensional, boring, judgmental events that often create blame, defensiveness, and very little change.

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