Episode 35
35: The Keys to Buying a Practice and Making it Your Own - Dr. Eddie Morales
A question that a lot of young dentists have when purchasing a practice is how do they make it their own. I have the perfect person here today to answer that question. Dr. Eddie Morales has just done this very thing, and he is here today to share his story and his method for a making his new practice his own.
Dr. Eddie Morales took over his practice, Premier Periodontics, from Dr. Constantine. He had the pleasure of working with Dr. Constantine for awhile which really helped smooth out the transition and provided Dr. Eddie Morales with a mentor. Now that the transition has taken place, Dr. Eddie Morales shares some of the biggest challenges, issues, and techniques he has used to make the practice his own. He also shares his love of learning, following systems, and not being afraid of change.
You can find Eddie here:
Show Notes
[03:16] Eddie is a periodontist in Milwaukee. He also runs the Milwaukee version of the Seattle Study Club.
[03:47] After dental school, Eddie was looking for practice in the Midwest. Finding a practice in Milwaukee was a dream come true for Eddie.
[04:47] Eddie purchased his practice from Dr. Constantine Stamatelakys, and they worked together for a couple of years. Dr. Constantine was an awesome mentor for his and really helped with the business side.
[05:56] The challenge was that they both had different styles.
[07:09] How the essence of any dental practice comes down to leading.
[09:03] The slow mentoring phase where Dr. Constantine was still part of the practice helped ease Eddie into the transition of owning the practice.
[09:55] Eddie has fully embraced the fact that he needs to grow.
[10:13] Eddie teaches lunch and learns once a week. They also have treating sessions and discuss cases. These discussions can close the thinking gap.
[13:14] They also take photos of everything even their failures.
[13:54] Dr. Constantine introduced Eddie to all of the other dentist he would be working with and to all of the patients.
[14:36] Their practice philosophies were very similar.
[15:06] There are now a lot of new doctors referring to Dr. Eddie Morales.
[15:40] The Seattle Study Club really helped Eddie nurture relationships.
[16:02] Eddie loves how dentistry allows him to continue to learn and to hone relationships with people.
[17:15] The study clubs are about working together and growing together and having better relationships with people who refer to each other.
[17:39] They are also redefining their vision and their mission.
[18:28] Everything in the practice is dynamic. They have a morning huddle every morning for 20 minutes.They talk about the patients coming in and the concerns that revolve around those patients.
[19:49] They are also going to tweak the flow of the office.
[20:05] They also have two-hour meetings where they talk about systems on Mondays.
[20:15] Systems are put into place to create the proper habits.
[21:30] They are now working on changing their treatment planning system and making it more streamlined.
[22:13] they are tweaking things around their own strengths and weaknesses.
[22:49] The importance of working on yourself as a dentist. It's better to be direct over nice.
[24:06] Eddie wants everyone in his practice to be very friendly, yet he wants to give his team the proper direction.
[24:48] Things will always be changing in a new practice so stay flexible.
[25:07] Don't over think things and get caught up with analysis paralysis.
[25:54] From a clinical standpoint, everything is going digital. There is also a shift back to the old school style of perio. Saving teeth and delaying implant placement is coming back in style. Biologics and soft tissue grafting are helping with moving away from implants.
[28:41] Being a lifetime learner is what will sustain you in your practice.
[29:00] The more you read, the more it opens your eyes about the best way to do things.
[29:39] If you teach others what you know, the patients and the clinicians will see the value in working with you.
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