From the moment I first interviewed with Dr. Paige, as a new graduate, we both realized we shared a lot of common philosophies as pertains to dentistry, healthcare, and our role as doctors in relation to the patients we serve. One of those major philosophies was the fact that neither of us felt that one has to be rich to afford excellent state of the art dental care. Within a few years I became a partner in the Covington office and within the last 3 years I also partnered in the Bellevue office. And I am proud to say that eight years later we still operate our practices guided by that philosophy. But many wonder what the catch is. How do we keep prices so low? The answer may surprise you in its simplicity. Are you ready? Here it is: we love what we do.
But wait! How does that correlate to lower prices? Allow me to explain. Your typical business person will tell you that running a business is about maximizing profit margins. Making sure money spent running a business is way less than the money made by he business.
But…there’s the rub. We are doctors first and foremost. Running a business is a secondary responsibility. So for us, it’s not about making the most money with the least amount of work.
Both Dr. Paige and I truly love having the privilege of operating on patients. We love advancing our knowledge, expanding the scope of our practice, being on the fore front of new techniques and technology, and most of all making a difference in people’s lives. So the ideal situation is not for us to walk in the office a few days a week, do a few procedures, end the week early and party all weekends.
We love applying our craft and helping people…as many people as we can. And that my friends is how we keep prices low. We have several doctors that work for us. We two happen to specialize in surgical procedures like implants,sinus lifts, bone grafts, IV sedation, and other such reconstructions. And we love doing it so much we have built a business model that truly keeps us genuinely busy 5-6 days a week.
We have found a price point that allows your working class patients the ability to have access to care they would otherwise have to dip into their 401k for. “The more patients that can afford treatment, means the more we get to do what we love.” That has been our motto. So yes your typical business theory will talk about market values, and price optimization….blah blah.
And don’t get me wrong, we have bills to pay too. And we do. All our employees make very livable wages, enjoy full benefits, paid holidays and vacation. We keep the lights on, the water running, and every now and then take a vacation ourselves. But we do so with the core values we’ve bonded over firmly in place.
We love helping people, we love doing surgery, and we are always doctors first and foremost.
I leave you all with a quote from my favorite poet Kahlil Gibran
“It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.”
Go Hawks!