This summer, chart a course for practice growth

Four months from now, summer will be here. We’ll be more than halfway through 2019, and by then you should have a pretty good idea of where your practice is headed this year. You’ll either be cruising toward higher revenue, sailing along with the status quo, or drifting into stormy waters. It will be a good time to step back, evaluate your systems, and decide whether you’re on track to reach your practice’s long-term goals.

But in doing so, you might realize (once again) that being a practice owner can be a lonely commission. You’re the captain of the ship, and you alone control the fate of your journey. Your team looks to you to make the right decisions and fearlessly lead them. Yet, after a while, you run out of tricks. The next thing you know, it’s harder to get inspired and find new sources of revenue. Instead of being motivated to make a change, you see all the obstacles: difficult employees, endless trickery from insurance companies, and too many Google-educated patients. With all the distractions, it’s hard to focus on the big picture and take your practice to the next level.

Norfolk, Virginia

© Jon Bilous | Dreamstime.com

And that’s exactly why we created the Principles of Practice Management Conference.

The PPM conference (as we call it) gives you a chance to come together with like-minded dentist-owners instead of going it alone. These are your peers who want to break through practice plateaus, just as you do.

This year marks the fourth anniversary of our business boot camp, which will be held in Norfolk, Virginia, July 18–19. Each year we’ve learned how to make the conference better. At this year’s conference, you’ll have more opportunities to gather actionable advice from our authors. You’ll meet new exhibitors who we feel are providing solutions to today’s most frustrating practice problems.

The conference topics we’ve selected this year are many of the hot-button issues in dentisry today. They will be addressed by DE authors and collaborators as follows:

• Major transformations in dentistry—Roger Levin, DDS

• Solo versus assisted hygiene models—Dianne Glasscoe Watterson, RDH

• Ethics and malpractice—Ian Shuman, DDS, and Jim Kouzoukian, DDS

• Digital marketing—Joshua Austin, DDS, Dave Monahan, Graig Presti, and Lou Shuman, DMD

• Multipractice models—Vin Cardillo

• Medical coding—Patti DiGangi, RDH

• Practice transitions—Allen Schiff, Rob Ziliak, and Chris Salierno, DDS

We’ve also learned that attendees want time to blow off steam. So, this year we’re going for a two-hour cruise (historical sites, libations, etc.) to cap off our first day of speakers and workshops.

We all know the dental marketplace is changing quickly. We believe, however, that it’s possible to thrive. It just takes better systems, smarter strategies, and investing in yourself. Don’t get complacent and let your practice go adrift on a sea of change. Take control and chart a course for practice growth.