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Q: What caused you to look for a management consultant?
A: After going through all of dental school and not knowing anything about management, I figured I needed to educate myself. I was 6 months into taking over a practice from a dentist who had retired. During the two months he stayed to turn it over to me, he was teaching me how to run the practice out of a spiral notebook he had. I knew there was more to it than that. He left and I skated along for 4 months, doing some things well and other things not very well. Hiring a consultant was based on a decision to invest something in myself. I had never gone to business school and I thought of it as an investment in education. I thought the worst thing that could happen is that I'd learn something about business and management that I didn't know before. And I figured I might as well do it now rather than wait for some years and then regret that I hadn't done it earlier. I was told in dental school that it takes 5-7 years to build a dental practice. Personally, I didn't want to wait that long.
Q: Why did you chose Silkin Management Group over other consulting firms?
A: I really didn't even consider any other firms. I called Silkin Management Group because of what I'd heard and read about them. They sent a representative out to my office to do a free analysis of the practice. I was very impressed with the gentleman who came out. I didn't feel the need to shop around. Each contact I had with Silkin Management Group was handled very professionally and they just happened to provide everything I was looking for. It was an easy decision for me.
Q: What has been your greatest success with the Silkin Management Group program?
A: Being able to expand. I like to say we've grown sideways. What I mean by that is as soon as the practice expanded to a certain point of stable growth, I purchased another one and created stable growth in it and then I purchased another one and repeated the process. I took the organizational procedures I implemented into the first practice and applied those exact same procedures to the second and third ones and they've all just taken off. So instead of taking one practice and putting it into a phenomenal condition, I have taken on several and have created a nice, strong and stable condition in each one. That's how I wanted to do things and it is a great success that Silkin Management Group has helped me achieve. They taught me things I could do in a wide variety of situations. Each one of these practices is unique and had different problems when I took them over.
Q: How did your staff react to you hiring a consulting firm?
A: I'm lucky because I had a good staff in that first practice. They became very excited that we were going to have a consultant working with us. They'd been working for the doctor who retired and they were all ready to expand into a whole new organization. I was not as fortunate with the second practice because the staff was somewhat resistant to change. But I was able to solve the problems there with what I had learned and now we have a very happy, productive group of people in that practice. In fact, they are leading the way in production right now. I believe that no matter how the staff reacts to finding out a consultant has been hired, if you have the right consultant, it will all work out for the best.
Q: What results have you gotten that you attribute to your association with Silkin Management Group?
A: My first practice doubled in the first 6 months on the program. In the few years I've been working with Silkin Management Group, we've doubled many times over. We've experienced an increase in every area of each office. I would have never dreamed of handling money the way Silkin Management Group has taught me to because I just didn't think of it. It works like a charm in every office. The accounts receivables stay very low.
I've also learned how to bring associates into the practice, which is something I did not know how to do. Silkin Management Group taught me how to find a suitable associate and how to make a smooth transition. I was concerned that my patients would feel I was abandoning them when an associate took over. But that didn't happen at all. After we got the first associate, I was able to find another one and repeat the earlier successful actions with very little help from my consultant.
Without Silkin Management Group, I would not have been able to have three offices. I certainly would not have three offices that are doing so well.
Q: How long did it take you to see results?
A: The very first month we saw great increases. Our production went up and that was followed by an increase in collections. The staff's morale went way up. My staff used to come to me with their concerns about changes they felt needed to be made. I kept a list. I would write these items down, but I was so busy and running all over the place that nothing ever got done. Now we get things done! When we first began the program we could take an action that seemed rather easy or small and find that it made a huge difference. With a little bit of training the person at the front desk was able to feel in control and no longer felt overwhelmed by the phones and patients. The increase in statistics followed.
Q: Have the results been stable?
A: Yes. In my situation, I have tested that stability several times. Keeping one or two practices going while opening up a new one is a challenge. If any of them were unstable, it would show up. Bringing in associates and training a staff without any significant interruption in our increasing statistics has proven that our organizations are extremely stable.
Q: What did you have to do to get the results you've had?
A: We participated in the management courses Silkin Management Group provides and disciplined ourselves to apply what we learned. We began having regular staff meetings and were committed to following our consulting program. I've told other doctors who have asked me about the Silkin Management Group program that a Silkin Management Group client has to be active. Silkin Management Group doesn't get their great results by waving a magic wand. They do give you everything you need to succeed, but the doctor and staff have to use it. I think our dedication to applying what we were taught is the basis for the results we've had.
Q: How has the executive training provided by Silkin Management Group helped you?
A: It has helped me be completely organized. As you can imagine, managing 3 offices has made my hair stand on end at times. I now recognize that when I feel that way, there is some area I need to organize better. I take a step back and put things in order. Before this training, my hair could stand on end and I would have no idea what to do or what the real source of the problems were. The executive training causes you to become more aware of what is causing a problem and includes precise procedures and techniques to resolve non-optimum situations. I also learned that I don't have to be so serious about managing. I can enjoy it. There's a successful way to operate as an executive and the value of the Silkin Management Group training is that you learn what it is. This is precisely the education I did not get in school.
Silkin Management Group taught me a streamlined and efficient communication system, an exact formula for paying bills and managing money, procedures for hiring and training staff, a brilliant statistical management system, job descriptions, office policy and much more.
Q: Has the Silkin Management Group program helped you to overcome the obstacles of manage care?
A: Yes, they've taught me not to become a victim of it. They got me to see that I do not need to be dependent on these plans. I thought that in order to get all the new patients I wanted I would have to sign up for all these insurance programs. My consultant said don't do it and I didn't do it. I trusted them on this point and I'm so glad I did. We get a lot of new patients every month and I don't have to treatment plan according to any insurance company.
Q: Have the changes improved patient care?
A: Definitely. It was pointed out to me early on that I was not presenting treatment plans correctly. I was too worried about financial arrangements and costs. I began presenting the treatment plan that I knew the patient needed. This meant that I was doing the right thing for the patient. I wasn't selling a large multi-surfaced filling to a patient who wanted to keep costs down by avoiding a crown. The quality of care increased immediately and I felt much better making the right decisions for everybody. I didn't have to be concerned that a patient would return with a broken filling or a sensitive tooth. We are very thorough and we learned how to communicate with each patient about his/her needs. The patients appreciate this and I know we get referrals because of it. When our patients walk out the door, we know we've delivered the best care available.
Q: Has your quality of life improved?
A: I'm a much better communicator with my staff, my husband, friends, other relatives and everyone. I've taken the management tools I've learned and used them in my personal life. My family is better organized, I've been able to pay my student loans at a much faster rate than I would have been able to and we've been able to take some great vacations. Before Silkin Management Group, my husband and I took 1 week off and I had to shut down the office. Now we can leave and all 3 offices remain open because my associates and staff can keep things going. What I've learned from Silkin Management Group has been so helpful, it has been natural for it to spill over to areas of life outside the practice and cause improvements in each one.
Q: Anything else?
A: It keeps getting better! Last February my staff and I attended a Silkin Management Group symposium. Since then, we doubled the total monthly production (again) in our offices and have maintained it for the past 3 months! The staff morale is better than ever. Our success continues and we are very stable. Silkin Management Group is a fantastic group of people to work with and they've made my job, as well as my life, more enjoyable. I don't believe the Silkin Management Group program can fail, unless a doctor is just not willing to do it. I also believe that the sooner a doctor does this program, the better. I'm glad I didn't wait. I think each dentist out there would be doing him/herself a favor by finding out about their program.
Dr. Esposito is a graduate of NYU College of Dentistry and currently practices in New York.