Client interview, November 2016

How long have you owned your dental practice?
I purchased  the existing practice in 1997, so have been there nearly 20 years.

How did you come across Prime Practice?
We ran a solo practice for a period then brought a partner into the practice, but this broke up. Following the break up, we had a DA working with us who had previously worked for a Prime Practice. She suggested working with Prime Practice to invigorate and energise the team after what was a difficult ‘break up’.

So, I investigated the concept of practice management and spoke with a few different companies. I met Phillip at an ADX conference and we had a long chat. I remember it was quite emotional for me to be able to discuss all that was going on and for someone to understand and offer help.
 
Phillip totally understood where we were up to and was tremendous with on-boarding us to Prime. When we were initially talking, I made it clear that I didn’t want to do this to make more money. We didn’t do it at all on financial grounds, it was purely to help build our team back up.
 
Has Prime Practice delivered on its commitment to build your team back up?
Absolutely. And more.
I can’t imagine having the same team I had then. I mean, they are the same people, but their focus is completely different. The profile of each team member has been lifted, the DA’s, front office team all feel like an integral part of the process and truly ‘own’ their job and have a purpose.
When we started working with Prime it was just myself and an employed dentist.
One of our problems at the time was that we were too busy. We had nowhere to put new patients. We had patients waiting 2-3 months for a filling. We just couldn’t service the demand!
Prime taught us how to pre-block, which was amazing, but the greatest thing, I think, that Prime has supported us with is building a hygiene department.
We are now 2 full time dentists, 2 part-time dentists and 3 full-time hygienists. Introducing hygiene to our practice was truly amazing.
 
What was your first Prime Practice workshop?
Our first workshop was Practice Owner’s Workshop. It was great. We got a taste of what was possible, how Prime could help us and left us wanting more. I loved being introduced to the tracking aspect. I had never really looked at figures before, other than looking rudimentarily at my bank account. That has been a fantastic innovation with Prime. Not just the financials, but also tracking our practice KPIs and tracking the clinician’s production, reappointment rates and active patients. I had never thought of these aspects of running a dental practice before.
I enjoy the tracking now. I sit down once a month and go through the figures. It is nice to have hard facts regarding where we are up to. Before that, my business knowledge was largely based on a hunch. I enjoy looking at the factual data.

Was Primespeak a big thing for your practice?
Primespeak changed the way I structured the new patient exam. I have probably had more case acceptance., but more importantly, the part I liked the most is the initial building of trust that you get from the initial examination. And it’s nice to have some structure, guidelines and tools that you can use in what was otherwise a tricky situation.

What other key things has Prime helped you with?
There is not a part of the practice that hasn’t been touched by Prime. Definitely communication and team morale. But the improvement in patient experience is what I am most proud of.
Also, the team all feel they have purpose. They have been given training and direction. We have excellent communication. If there is a problem, there is a process in place for that to be rectified.
 
How have you found the coaching experience?
Coaching has been good. We have developed a great trusting relationship and I have found, in times of need, my coach is an amazing support. For example, when we introduced a new dentist to the practice. We talked through the best way to manage expectations and communication and structure her induction so she was set up for success.

Where would you be had you not met Prime?
I think we would have still been a reasonable practice, but we never would have reached the heights that we have. And, it is not just that. I have also received immense personal satisfaction from gaining all these new skills. Our team all have a great focus and they are having a good time, so we all enjoy working together. Dentistry is great, but it is a team environment. If you can’t communicate and get along with your team, it can be very difficult.

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