Joe Blaes, DDS, Editor
email: [email protected]
It is the middle of October as I write this, the leaves on our trees are turning colors and many are falling, making the surface of the pond behind our house a bright yellow. The temperature is finally changing and thoughts of the hot, dry summer are passing. It's a great time to be alive!
I'm just returning from a 10-day trip. It started with a speaking engagement in Sarasota, Fla., at the Sunrise Dental Solutions Annual Summit. Sunrise is a dental consulting company that was founded by a very good friend of mine, Dr. Tony Feck of Lexington, Ky. The meeting was at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, which is always very nice, and Tony was nice enough to include my wife, Sue.
The meeting was a challenge for me because this was a group of very strong dental practices and their coaches. During the last year, they were working on a program that was new to me called "212º the Extra Degree." The premise of the program is that at 211º, water has no power; but, change it one degree to 212º, and water turns to steam and steam can power a locomotive. So, the mantra of this program is to "turn up the heat." I did an Internet search of the program, and ordered the books and DVD. The 212º book is quite motivational and quotes a number of people who turned up the heat in their lives, careers, relationships, and everything they do. Sam Parker is the program author, and I feel that it really applies to dentists and their teams who want to achieve results beyond their wildest expectations.
One of the accompanying books in the package is "Walk the Talk" by Eric Harvey and Al Lucia. This is the real meat of the program. I know that "walk the talk" has become a cliché in today's world. But if you learn to walk your talk in all that you do, I truly believe that you will get the results that you want. I encourage you to research this and go to walkthetalk.com for more information.
So the title of my program became "Turn up the Heat in Your Practice." I did not have to explain the power of this concept to this group, so I wove in several ways they could turn up the heat with practice management changes. I showed them other ways they could use products to make techniques faster, better, and easier, thereby turning up the heat. Many of these dentists were looking for more ways to reduce overhead and keep more of what they make. So I gave them some ideas for some tried and true methods of increasing production and seeing more patients, such as speed dentistry.
I often refer to a group practice in McKinney, Texas, in my articles and talks. There are four partners in this group, and they all believe that the answer to every question in their practice is yes. They also believe in "Do It NOW Dentistry." I will not tell you the practice's collections results for 2010, but I will tell you that I was amazed given the fact that we were in the depths of a recession. They made a decision to not participate in the recession. What an attitude! They had just moved into a new 26-operatory facility in October 2010. Theirs is an amazing story that was told in the June 2011 issue of DE. Dr. Marvin Berlin will be speaking on how this group does it at the American Academy of Dental Practice Administration (AADPA) Annual Meeting on March 7 in Las Vegas. Visit www.AADPA.com for more information.
Do not miss Dr. Rich Nagelberg's column this month. He describes a new Internet experience for dentists. It's called DentistOneWorld, and it is only for dentists. The site is not owned or driven by a manufacturer, company, or other entity. It is by dentists, for dentists. It is a gated, secure, closed loop site for dentists to communicate and collaborate with their peers. Be sure to read his column to learn more about it!
Dr. Tom Nabors has written an excellent continuing-education article for this month's DE. Be sure to read it, take the test, and get the CE credits as well. I'm sure you'll enjoy the great information in the article.
One last thing … as you hopefully are able to gather your family around you at Thanksgiving, be sure to give thanks for health, happiness, and all the other good things in life. God bless you all! Happy Thanksgiving!
