Dr. Paul Etchison, Dental Practice Heroes Podcast owner, practice owner, and writer

Did a startup 7 years ago in the suburbs of Chicago as a PPO practice with an expansion to 11 ops.

What mistakes did you make? We didn’t look at metrics because the patient flow looked good and didn’t focus on reappointment as they should.

We check for additional family members to incorporate and make sure they understand what is happening and the time constraints of the appointment. They also do recaps regularly to see how they can improve.

With 26 team members, it is important to have team leads to help with decisions. We also need to recognize that people make mistakes. If not, we risk people hiding things or avoiding conflict to prevent getting in trouble. In 7.5 years, no one has left because they are unhappy.

He works 6 days a month seeing patients doing only ortho and uses one day a week for administration. They are very full days to maximize the dollar per hour.

Have you ever fired anyone on the spot? Yes, but only when they had worked for them only a few weeks.

How do you handle raises? Cap your salaries at a solid percentage and employ a bonus system. As the production improves, they can adjust for increased pay.

How do you create a good culture? Make mistakes okay. Let your team know it is a part of the process. Communicate with your team and ask for honesty and really listen. Do the right thing before people ask for it.

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