Monday, December 29, 2014
Friday, December 26, 2014
13 Secrets of a successful practice
Revealed by: Sukhdeep Singh
When: 13th Jan 2015
Where: Sharda University, Greater Noida.
Registration details*:
By 31st Dec'14 1st till 12th Jan'15 Spot registration
Rs. 1300 Rs. 1500 Rs. 2000
Mode of payment- cash
*Registration includes:
-One 3M bulk fill composite syringe worth Rs. 1475/- free
- One Colgate goody bag
- Hospitality
- No refunds on cancellation after 10 Jan 2015
- Spot registration will not include syringe & goody bag.
PROGRAM DETAILS:
9:30 am - 10:00 am ~ Registration
10:00 am - 10:30 am ~ Inaugural
10:30 am - 11:00 am ~ Breakfast
11:00 am - 1:00 pm ~ First interactive session
1:00 pm – 1:30 pm ~ Lunch
1:30 pm – 4:00 pm ~ Second interactive session
4:00 pm onwards ~ Q & A session
For registration contact:
Dr. Gaurav Mittal ~ 9971953076, Dr. Ruhanijot ~ 9582272789, Dr. Pooja Chaudhary ~ 9953439961.
To confirm send name & mobile number to lead@toothstory.com
Registration details*:
By 31st Dec'14 | 1st till 12th Jan'15 | Spot registration |
Rs. 1300 | Rs. 1500 | Rs. 2000 |
Mode of payment- cash
*Registration includes:
-One 3M bulk fill composite syringe worth Rs. 1475/- free
- One Colgate goody bag
- Hospitality
- No refunds on cancellation after 10 Jan 2015
- Spot registration will not include syringe & goody bag.
-One 3M bulk fill composite syringe worth Rs. 1475/- free
- One Colgate goody bag
- Hospitality
- No refunds on cancellation after 10 Jan 2015
- Spot registration will not include syringe & goody bag.
PROGRAM DETAILS:
9:30 am - 10:00 am ~ Registration
10:00 am - 10:30 am ~ Inaugural
10:30 am - 11:00 am ~ Breakfast
11:00 am - 1:00 pm ~ First interactive session
1:00 pm – 1:30 pm ~ Lunch
1:30 pm – 4:00 pm ~ Second interactive session
4:00 pm onwards ~ Q & A session
For registration contact:
Dr. Gaurav Mittal ~ 9971953076, Dr. Ruhanijot ~ 9582272789, Dr. Pooja Chaudhary ~ 9953439961.
To confirm send name & mobile number to lead@toothstory.com
Sunday, December 14, 2014
A million dollar question!
The most
frequently asked questions at my practice management workshops are,
"How to enhance
my practice?”
“How to increase
new patients?”
“How to
retain patients?”
“How to
achieve success?”
I always
encourage participants to ask themselves this question: “Why should a patient
come to my practice?”
Most often this question leaves the audience bewildered, for the simple reason that
we never think on those lines. The two most important terms that answer this question
are ethics and brand. How do we build an ethical brand?
We need
to be ethical at all times in all our endeavours as professionals.
We also
need to create a brand of our own which compels our patients to spread the word
around to others. There is an urgent need to train ourselves in the field of
management and to acquire skills in business strategy, organizational
leadership, finance, marketing, information technology and associated subjects
in order to excel in our practices. Of course it is a given that all
professionals have the ability to deliver an acceptable standard of care. The following may help create a successful ethical brand:
Exclusivity
What is
it about a practice that makes it stand apart from the rest? Most clinics look
identical in all ways, both inside and outside. They offer the same kind of
treatment options. More often than not, for a patient the only differentiating
factor between various practices ends up being the dentist’s professional fees.
So should we fight a price war to beat the competition? Let’s not forget that
the marketplace is full of examples where the price war only led to radical and
painful consolidation or demise of the sector itself. Often,low charges may win
some new patients, but will it retain them, as they will move on to others who
charge lesser? Practices need to convey to their patients why and how they are
different from others. This is a subjective issue and each practitioner needs
to envisage what will make his/her practice unique. If we are going to set up a
practice which looks like and behaves like scores of others then we can’t blame
the patient for choosing one based only on charges. The process of creating a
niche in the patients’ mind about our services being unique helps us create a
brand image. More often than not it is the lack of such business managerial
skills and not of professional skills that lead to a practice’s poor
performance or even demise.
Walk
the talk
Just
having a differentiator from the rest of the practices for its own sake is not
enough. Mass marketing has created a lot
of brands out there in the marketplace but unless a brand delivers on its
promises it is bound to fail. Promises made must be kept. Only ethical brands
survive the market forces. New practices often have to face tough challenges
and make some difficult choices but in order to survive ethics must never be
compromised upon. A practice must be able to deliver on its professional
standard of care consistently and persistently. As far as possible the outcome
of all procedures must be predictable if we are to create the right brand image
in the patients’ minds.
When
is the right time?
Today the
foremost confusion amongst the fresh dentists is what to do and when to do it? Before
establishing a practice it is advisable to be an apprentice with a senior
successful practitioner to gain experience and then take the plunge. Managerial
decisions need to be made on a daily basis in a running practice and one can
only make good decisions when one has gone through enough training for the
same. It’s always wiser to learn from others mistakes and/or experiences. I
have interacted with many dental practice owners who acknowledge the fact that
had they been taught practice management skills before establishing their practices
they would have done far better much sooner.
Rome wasn't built in a day...beautiful things take time to build
Finally,
the creation of an ethical brand ensures that a practice will remain the first
choice of any existing or prospective patients and would also lead to the
existing patients’ referring new ones by word of mouth. Interestingly word of
mouth remains the most favoured and persevering form of marketing any brand
could aspire for. Ethical branding will also lead to better productivity,
enhanced efficiency and prevent a professional burnout thereby meaning more
success and happiness. But we must remember it takes a lot of hard work
and patience to achieve success and anything worthwhile takes time to grow! May I say Taj Mahal wasn't built in a day JJJJ
If you do what you always did, you will get what you always got~ Anonymous.
Saturday, November 22, 2014
Friday, October 31, 2014
iPhone 6 Plus v/s Galaxy Note 3
Are you looking to buy a new phone/device?
I have used these two phablets ( for the uninitiated, phone+tablet=phablet) and thought of sharing my experiences with you.
Hardcore iPhone fans will always support 6 Plus and ditto for the Note 3 fans and my opinion is subjective too. Please do your own due diligence before spending money.
The hard facts
iPhone 6 Plus Galaxy Note 3
Screen size: 5.5 in 5.7 in
Height/Width/Depth 6.2in/3.06in/0.28in 5.95in/3.12in/0.33in
Weight 172gms 168gms
Screen resolution 1920x1080 pixel- 401ppi 1920x1080 pixel- 388ppi
Processor A8-64 bit 1.9GHz Quad-Core
Operating system iOS 8 Android 4.3 upgradable to 4.4
Rear camera 8MP 13MP
Front camera 1.2 MP 2MP
RAM 1GB 3GB
Internal memory 16/64/128GB 32GB with option to expand via card unto 64 Gb
Connectivity 4G LTE 2G/3G
Battery capacity Not declared 3200mAh
Price INR 62500 for 16GB INR 38000 for 32 GB
iPhone 6 Plus
Pros:
1. Premium build quality
2. Superior multimedia experience
3. Much better battery life than previous iPhones (easily lasts through the day with moderate use)
4. Thinner than Note 3
5. iOS 8
5. iOS 8
Cons:
1. Cost
2. No multi window feature
3. Less features as compared to Note 3
Galaxy Note 3
Pros:
1. Larger screen size
2. Great battery life
3. Removable battery (heavy users can carry an extra battery along)
4. S-pen- a very versatile and productive tool (personally this is the reason I prefer Note 3 to 6 Plus)
5. Cost
Cons:
1. Plasticky look
2. Picture quality not as good as 6 Plus
Final verdict
If you are an active social media person and looking for a multimedia phone go for the iPhone 6 Plus
but if you are looking for productivity and business tools functionality then Note 3 will be a better choice.
IMHO Note 3 gives better value for money. And although it is more of plastic it is quite sturdy. My Note 3 hit the floor at a very high velocity but survived with only minor damage!
In case you are wondering why Note 4 is not mentioned here its because I don't have it yet :-)
If you have a different opinion please drop a comment below.
Friday, October 17, 2014
Saturday, October 11, 2014
Success mantras from Dr Y K Virmani
Toothstory – 1
Toothstory is a compilation of life stories of successful dentists and is a tool to help us understand the subtle nuances which lead to success in dental practice. Toothstory acts as a vehicle to unravel the layers of mystique that covers and surrounds success in a practice in particular and dentistry in general.
Toothstory is a compilation of life stories of successful dentists and is a tool to help us understand the subtle nuances which lead to success in dental practice. Toothstory acts as a vehicle to unravel the layers of mystique that covers and surrounds success in a practice in particular and dentistry in general.
Dr Y K Virmani's brief biosketch:
- In practice for more than 35 years
- Served as Member Dental Council of India
- Board member International College of Dentists
- Has coined the phrase on Sealants-“Fight Cavities Away Get Sealants Today”
In conversation with Dr. Y K Virmani:
We all have 24 hours
every day. What differentiates the quality of our lives is what we do with
those 24 hours. Successful people invest their time differently.
Success is a function of multiple things. One such thing is to learn from others who have travelled the
same path and have reached their desired destination. A wise man learns from
others mistakes, hence I thought lets ask successful practitioners/dentists about their
journey to success. What kind of dental practice
management they follow or recommend to others who may have established a new
practice or may be on their way to bigger things in life.
Dr Y K Virmani has
been in practice for more than 35 years. This may be more than the age of some of the readers here! I am sure we can learn a lot from such a seasoned dental
practitioner.
On my asking the
reason why he chose dentistry as his calling, he narrated a very interesting
anecdote. His dislike and fear for mathematics and his love for becoming a
doctor led him to dentistry. He was deeply fascinated when he observed one of
his friends dissecting a frog. Watching a live heart pump
inspired him and he wanted to be a surgeon. He enrolled into premedical but missed getting into a medical college by a wafer thin margin. The next best option was to become a dentist.
Dr. Yogesh K Virmani
is one of the senior dental practitioners of NCR. He graduated in 1978 from
GDC, Amritsar and has been in practice since. As a student one of the biggest influences on him was that of Dr. B R Vacher who as a teacher inspired him to aim for the skies. Dr Vacher would constantly boost the morale of his students and today Dr. Virmani feels he is fortunate to have had such a teacher in his budding years and is grateful to God for guiding his destiny & moulding him into what he is today. India had approximately
twenty dental colleges at that time (today we have almost 300). Inspite of such a low dentist
population ratio not many options were available to dentists.
There were three
major options open to dentists at that time:
1. To join the army
which did not lure him as only short commission service was offered.
2. Government job
which was very difficult to get into.
3. To leave the
country and settle abroad which did not fascinate him.
*Today we have a plethora of options which often leads to confusion too ;-)
In his opinion most dentists would prefer to either go abroad or start a practice here.
Dr Virmani set up his
first dental practice in Ramesh Nagar, New Delhi in 1978.
In 1990, after
practicing for 12 years he established his current practice in Rohini. Today he
has two separate practices in Rohini with a total of eight dental chairs and
employs four full time dentists. His better half is also a dentist and owns her
independent practice. They also invite consultants for specialized work. I
asked him if it is synergistic to marry a dentist. His opinion is that times
have changed and it made sense to marry a dentist in his times but today a
dentist will be better off marrying someone from a different profession so as
not to keep all your eggs in one basket :-).
Obstacles to success in dental practice:
Dr Virmani faced a major hurdle on his way to success in practice. Many quacks
were practicing dentistry in the same area as his and it meant that the local
people were not well informed about the science of dentistry. He had to
struggle very hard to overcome the domination of quacks and make people
understand the difference between good dentistry and quackery. However within a
couple of years by sheer hard work and consistently performing good quality
dentistry this hurdle was successfully overcome and he hasn’t looked back since. Also he never criticized his
competition.
How long does it take to break even? In his experience it
takes about 2-3 years for a practice to break even and become positive.
How important is a dental practice's location? When he
started practicing dentistry location was not of any great importance as there were hardly 5-7
dentists in the surrounding 5 kms and none in the immediate kilometer. Getting
new patients was not a critical challenge. However in today’s world where we
have 5-7 dentists or maybe more within a kilometer and location does matter to some
extent especially when a dental practice is new as better visibility brings in
more patients but in the long run location does not matter much if a practice is
unable to retain patients. Location can be a good asset in the beginning but ceases to be one unless good dentistry is delivered.
His motto for success: Treat the patient
in a holistic way. Don’t forget the tooth is attached to a body J Never propose a treatment plan that you wouldn’t carry out on
yourself; do your best at all times and keep in touch with the latest.
Dr YKV believes in Bapu Gandhi’s line of thought: Gratitude for the patient who lets us treat him.
Advise for new practitioners: Never read
novels or watch movies on laptops when you have free time. Instead read
relevant literature on dentistry and stay focused at all times.
A parting thought: Dentists married to
dentists must have separate independent practices
Dr Y K Virmani in his younger days :-)
Learnings:
1. Be passionate about what you do. Give your best consistently.
2. Great teachers
make great students. Look for mentors/gurus for help and guidance.
3. Be punctual and disciplined in all aspects.
4. Never criticise your competition.
Liked this Toothstory? Please share it. Also join the site by clicking on the link under FRIENDS tab. Thanks a heap!
Liked this Toothstory? Please share it. Also join the site by clicking on the link under FRIENDS tab. Thanks a heap!
*Italics by author
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