Pride Institute Dental Practice Management

Jim Pride was such a forward thinker; he saw where dentistry was heading and where it needed to be directed long before most of the leaders in the profession were aware of what was happening. . . . I have been personally blessed by his friendship and the sizeable influence he had on my life.

Dr. Peter E. Dawson
Founder and Director, Dawson Center for Advanced Dental Study

What made Jim Pride remain popular and respected for decades and until his last day? Honesty, real world experience, humility, genuine concern for his students and clients, and very importantly useful, highly practical information! . . . I am pleased that his organization remains with the same wonderful characteristics that Jim exemplified.

Dr. Gordon J. Christensen
Founder and Director, Practical Clinical Courses

Jim Pride’s passion and energy always came forward when he was in an arena affording him the opportunity to champion his causes or values. In my 35-year association and friendship with Jim, I learned how absolute he was about private practice autonomy, expectations of leadership skills requisite of the individual dentist, and an unwavering belief that freedom of choice was found in the ability of dentists to understand and apply sound principles of financial management to their practices. His accomplishments in these regards are the legacy he leaves his beloved profession.

Mr. Christian Sager
CEO, Pankey Institute

There are those who desire to teach as much for themselves and their personal aggrandizement as for their students, and then there are those driven to teach because of a deep desire within their spirit to make a difference in the lives of their students and everyone they touch. My experience of Jim Pride was always the latter. Incredibly driven and determined, I never questioned his ultimate commitment, which was to make life better for those he worked with.

Dr. Frank Spear
Founder, Seattle Institute for Advanced Dental Education

Empowering Dentistry with proven
business solutions for over 30 years

Our Founder, Dr. James R. Pride

James R Pride, DDS - Founder of Pride Institute

James R. Pride, DDS
Founder, Pride Institute
(1936 – 2004)

In 1974 Dr. James R. Pride founded Pride Institute, which grew to become today’s leading practice management research and consulting company in the dental field. After owning a private general practice and serving as assistant dean at the University of the Pacific School of Dentistry, Dr. Pride realized how challenging it was for dentists to give comprehensive care due to a lack of training in sound business and leadership skills needed to deliver quality dentistry.

To fill this need, he formed Pride Institute and through it left an indelible mark on the profession and on the countless dentists whose lives he touched. During his distinguished career, Dr. Pride introduced many innovations that have now become standard practices in dentistry, such as dual-entry operatories, 10-minute appointment scheduling, an array of quantitative tools to statistically analyze the practice, and an unprecedented scientific approach to systems, management, and leadership that revolutionized the dental office.

He led the vanguard in financially preparing dentists for retirement and created original concepts and agreements for practice transitions, which have aided dentists in making pivotal changes at the crossroads of their lives. As countless letters and tributes from dentists and their families attest, his coaching helped dentists achieve levels of success and fulfillment that they had never thought possible. He enhanced the professional and personal lives and futures of thousands of dentists who studied with him and his consultants at Pride Institute.

Dr. Pride provided dentists with innovative tools to improve their efficiency and enhance their growth as managers and leaders. Through the practice-management consulting division of Pride Institute, he and his consultants made on-site visits to practices to establish efficient systems for appointment scheduling, financial arrangements, continuing care, new patient examinations, staff meetings and huddles, etc. These enhancements transformed the typical seat-of-the-pants dental practice into a sophisticated, well-run business. Pride Institute continues to train and develop dentists through its consulting services.

To measure success statistically, pinpoint problems, and achieve an in-depth understanding of the dental practice, Dr. Pride created his widely disseminated “Trend Indicators®” for dentists. This array of statistical parameters gave dentists a level of control over their practices that was unheard of before that time. These statistical measures are to this day a vital part of Pride’s consulting services.

Dr. Pride was one of the first people in dentistry to see the need for leadership training. Dentist-entrepreneurs needed to develop competent, committed staff members and lasting relationships with patients. To help fill this need, Dr. Pride established the education division of Pride Institute, in which he and his team of experts conducted seminars on leadership throughout the country and abroad. These continuing-education seminars are still given, with the offerings expanded and updated through the years to keep current on all of the latest advances in leadership and the teachings of the world’s most renowned management experts to provide dentists with the best leadership training available anywhere in the field.

To meet the needs of dentists to plan for a prosperous retirement and to execute a practice sale or partnership, Dr. Pride formed alliances with experts in these fields. Today the Institute has a transitions services division and continues to form and expand its alliances to offer dentists a full range of services for every stage of their careers.

In partnership with the University of the Pacific School of Dentistry, Dr. Pride and Pride Institute launched the first joint effort between a dental school and a professional practice management company to teach business and management skills to dental students as a standard part of their curriculum. Preparing dental students for business success was one of Dr. Pride’s most cherished goals. Today Pride Academia has grown to encompass five of the country’s leading dental schools offering the Pride curriculum.

In the formative years of the Institute, Dr. Pride vastly improved dental office design to streamline the flow of both clinical and business tasks. He developed the “Pride office” design, which utilized principles of ergonomics and instrument transfer that became the basis for the design of dental operatory equipment and treatment room layout for the decades to come.

Dr. Pride and his team of consultants at the Pride Institute successfully introduced their leadership concepts to Pride Scandinavia, a group of forward-thinking dentists whom they mentored in establishing thriving private-care practices as an alternative to the socialized medicine systems in their countries.

Known as an outspoken proponent of private care dentistry, Dr. Pride was a founding board member of the Alliance for Dental Reimbursement Plans, which promotes the direct reimbursement dental benefit to employers around the country, eliminating the third-party payer and preserving the doctor–patient relationship in employee dental plans. He was the co-founder of the prestigious Summit Group, comprised of dentistry’s top leaders, who addressed the issues facing private dentistry.

Dr. Pride’s teachings have been widely disseminated to dentists through four major volumes on practice management published by Pride Institute, through the numerous leadership seminars and other courses he gave nationally and internationally and that the Institute continues to give, and through the dozens of articles he wrote for leading dental journals, including the Journal of the American Dental Association, Dental Economics, CDA Journal, and the Journal of the American College of Dentists.

Among the copious awards and honors bestowed upon him, Dr. Pride was inducted into the American College of Dentists, the International College of Dentists, and the Academy of General Dentistry. He won the Maynard K. Hine Award and the Chairman’s Award from the American Dental Trade Association, just to name a few of his accolades.

As an undergraduate, Dr. Pride attended Chico State College and the University of California at Berkeley. He obtained his DDS degree in 1961 from Loyola University. Following that, he served as an officer in the United States Air Force and for 12 years was in private practice in Williams, California.

A farmer at heart, Dr. Pride founded Pride Mountain Vineyards in California’s famed Napa Valley, where he and his wife Carolyn developed a prestigious winery producing ultra-premium wines that have won the highest industry awards. Pride Mountain Vineyard’s Merlot was served at the 50th anniversary dinner of NATO, the largest gathering of heads of state in 30 years at the White House. His wife Carolyn and children Suzanne Pride Bryan and Steven Pride continue to operate the winery.

In honor of Dr. Pride, the James R. Pride Endowed Chair in Dental Practice was created at the University of the Pacific School of Dentistry. It is the only endowed chair in dental practice management in the country. Contributions may be made to:
UOP School of Dentistry, 2155 Webster Street, San Francisco, CA 94115

The dedicated staff at Pride Institute is tremendously proud of its admired and beloved founder. The Institute continues to maintain his legacy and celebrate his life through its ongoing growth and success.

Jim Pride has impacted thousands of people throughout the world, including me. Jim was not only one of the all-time great leaders in dentistry, but also a close personal friend who pushed me, as he did others, beyond what I would have done on my own.

Mr. Renny Challoner
President, N.E.W. Paradigm Advisors
Former Chairman, American Dental Trade Association

Jim Pride saw things in me that I had never seen in myself. He encouraged me to become more than I ever imagined I could be. Of all his character traits, the one that stands out most in my memory of him is his tenacity. He was fiercely tenacious when I told him that something couldn’t be done or about anything that threatened private practice, fee-for-service dentistry. He was a great visionary, leader, spokesperson, and encourager for dentists and dentistry.

Dr. Harry Demaree
Founder, T.H.E. Design