Client interview, August 2016

How were you introduced to Prime Practice?
When I first came to Australia, I was introduced to Prime Practice via DJS who were sponsoring me. We were offered to attend Prime courses as part of our sponsorship, and I chose to attend Primespeak Seminar. I then chose to attend this course again as I found it so impactful. After a few years, I opened my own practice with my wife Nihal, also a dentist. I had been introduced to the concept of practice management at Primespeak, so decided to try it out at Practice Owner’s Workshop about 6 months after opening.

How did Practice Owner’s Workshop help your practice?
I knew that there would be room for improvement and there would be a lot we would learn and benefit from that we didn’t learn at dental school. At that point, we were not sure how much value we would get out of it. But we wanted to do it to see if we could improve our practice and communications. The workshop gave us a great deal of tools to take back to the practice as well as insight as to how Prime Practice would be able to support us over the next few years. It was definitely a big help getting Prime Practice on board at such an early stage in practice ownership.

What do you think the Practice Management Program has given you?
It gave me great insights into what we can do as a practice. When you own a practice, there are lots of things you want to do but don’t know how to go about them. For example, you see that a certain system is just not working. How do you go about changing that to the best, tried and true policy? How do you get your team on-board? How do you communicate the changes effectively? Prime Practice has really helped us with all systems and policies in the practice. Our coach is amazing. Very empathic. She takes in everything we say and understands exactly where we are coming from. She gives us great advice on how to move things forward and supports us.

Having systems in place in our dental practice really helps us feel supported. For example, having a tried and true system in place for daily huddles, setting up the booking schedule and implementing regular maintenance consistently removes a heap of stress and headache. We now know that we are following the ‘best practice’ way to do this and everyone knows their role in making the systems run smoothly. Having this in place takes part of the worry about running a practice away. You have more space in your head for bigger things. You can take on more of the business side if the every-day worries are taken care of. A lot of systems have really supported us over the years and makes our lives easier knowing the systems are all in place.

Imagine where do you think you would be without the support of Prime Practice?
We have been working with Prime Practice for 3 years and 4 months. It has really added a lot to our practice. Taken away much of the headache involved in running a practice. We are able to structure things in the practice a lot better. Systems to help us with accreditation. Also, all of the training and courses we attend helps us to see what other practices are doing and helps us to improve.

You’ve attended many workshops, which has been your favourite?
Primespeak is a great course and I have done it many times to help me understand all the nuances. Just getting a patient to own their own dental problems was a massive shift and took a huge weight off my shoulders. The position statement is also very basic, but very powerful. It helps a lot. Also all of the courses that have been run on-site have been very powerful and effective for our team.

How have you found the coaching experience?
It is like having a sporting coach- extremely beneficial. Our coach has done a great job. She is very understanding and it is great to feel so supported. Otherwise dentistry can be a very lonely career with no one to bounce things off.

We know we are always covered. She will always try and be available for us to support us and provides great advice and support on EVERYTHING from team communication to systems and procedures to communicating with patients.

What is the best thing about working with Prime Practice?
The best thing is that Prime Practice is growing with us. As running a practice becomes more complex, Prime Practice create better solutions. For example, as the Practice grows and you would like to add on a hygienist or a dentist, Prime will have the toolkit to support. Similarly, if you decide to sell the Practice at some in in time, again Prime would have the tool kit to help. 

Click here to find out more about how Prime Practice can help your practice grow.