Dentaltown November 2021 - 69

by Jay Geier
Jay Geier is a world-renowned authority on growing
independent practices. His passion is in turning practices
into businesses, doctors into CEOs, and employees into
high-performing individuals and teams. He is the founder
and CEO of Scheduling Institute, a fi rm that specializes
in training and development, and coaching doctors how
to transform a private practice into a thriving business
that they can keep for a lifetime of revenue or sell for
maximum profi t. The phenomenal growth of Scheduling
Institute is a result of Jay practicing what he preaches
and helping those around him live up to their full potential. To hear more, subscribe
to his " Private Practice Playbook " podcast at podcastfordoctors.com/townie.
In this series, I'll be talking about the three types of doctors who own private
practices. I like to think of it as three different games that are going on throughout
the industry. Unfortunately, doctors rarely recognize the game they're playing,
much less understand the rules or how score is being kept. So it's not surprising
that many independent practice owners aren't winning at their own game and don't
even realize it.
Based on the descriptions here, you should be able to recognize which
game you're playing-if you're honest with yourself. Once you understand the
ramifi cations of playing one game versus another, you can decide if you need and
want to play a different game to ensure you end up with the winning score.
GAME #1:
Working doctor
Almost every doctor starts out playing this game.
You worked hard to earn your degree so you could enjoy
the privilege and satisfaction of caring for patients. You
may have worked for another practice for some time,
and at some point decided to buy or start your own
practice. So, then you started treating more patients
... and more patients ... and more patients.
Caring for patients is all you do, day in and day out.
All you think about is how to better care for patients
with the latest technology, latest equipment, and latest
procedures. Especially if you're a single-doctor practice,
your clinical work will begin to consume you. You've got
your head down, working as hard as you can, because
you think those are the rules of the game and that's
what drives up your score.
Years go by, and eventually you become almost
mummifi ed by the role-in fact, you view yourself as
only a doctor, not as a business owner. You introduce
yourself as the thing that you do and not as the owner
of a practice and the leader of an organization. You're
almost oblivious to what's going on at the front desk,
how your employees are performing as a team, whether
your patient numbers are growing, the state of your
cash fl ow and why it's not what it should be, and your
long-term fi nancial trajectory. You stay focused on
working with patients because the game you're playing
is one of being only a working doctor.
http://www.podcastfordoctors.com/townie
Dentaltown November 2021

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