Is it time for a practice checkup?

By Joe Blaes

Can you believe that it is June already? We are almost at the midway mark for 2003!

How are you doing? Is the practice growing? Are you happy with the growth rate? What midcourse changes can you make? Are you watching your numbers? Are you sharing your numbers with your team? Do they care how the practice is doing?

Are you having any fun in and out of the practice? Does it make any difference? What could you do tomorrow to make the person we call "patient" more comfortable in your practice? Does the office need a mid-year cleaning? When was the last time you looked at the office from your patient's viewpoint?

When was the last time you took the whole office to a continuing education course? When did you last take the whole office out for lunch or dinner? Is your staff enthusiastic and motivated? Are you a great leader? Have you tried leadership training? Does "stinking thinking" invade your office at times? How do you prevent it?

Is your office too small or too large, is it time to remodel, rebuild, or move? There are no right or wrong answers — only your answers.

This month's cover story is the winner of the fourth annual Matsco Dental Office Design Competition, Dr. James B. Brennan of Grand Rapids, Mich. I congratulate Dr. Brennan and his dedicated staff on this achievement. The Matsco Dental Office Design Competition has evolved into the best-organized and fairest contest in the country. I would personally like to thank the people at Matsco for their commitment and dedication to making this annual event the "best of the best." It is an honor for Dental Economics to be associated with this.

I urge you to submit your office in the 2004 Dental Office Design Competition and join Dr. Brennan in the winner's circle on the cover of DE. For more information, send an email to Laura. Horsley @matsco.com.

I know that there are a lot of problems associated with the people who work for us. I have always wanted to do what is best for my team, but sometimes found myself in conflict with what the federal and state laws allow. I have been searching for the right people to help us with these ongoing problems and provide us with solutions that hopefully will keep us out of trouble in the first place.

I am happy to announce the start of another great column to help in this critically important area. Bent Ericksen and Tim Twigg will author "Focus on Human Resources." Bent and Tim have been in dentistry for many years, so I know that you will receive a lot of very timely and useful information for your dental practice.

Many dentists have told me that they enjoy my monthly column, "Pearls for Your Practice." I want to keep this column fresh and informative for you, the reader, so I invite you to contact me with questions via email. I will answer the questions personally and use the information as a guide on what products interest you the most. I define "Pearls" as those products or techniques that make my clinical practice easier, faster, better, and, sometimes, even less expensive. Contact me at joeb@pen nwell. com.

Those of you who know Dr. Eugene Antenucci are aware of an embarrassing mistake in the May issue. Gene's office was featured as an "office of the month" on the May cover. However, when you turned to the related article, his name had mysteriously changed to "Steve." Changing a person's name is a horrible mistake, and we are not sure how it happened. Nevertheless, when I received my copy of the May issue, I immediately called Dr. Antenucci and apologized. Gene, please accept this public apology as well!

I would like to thank you all for the many warm and caring responses to my April editorial.