phies may seem similar, that his leadership qualities and his
expectations of the staff were different from that of the previous
owner. I also assured him that quality of care begins with his
practice culture.
I feel strongly that developing our culture and the folks who
serve our patients is the best way to create sustainable growth
for our service oriented business. It has been my experience that
we too often lose sight of the importance of our staff with regard
to their critical role in our practice’s success. We frequently
make the mistake of believing that technology is more important than people as a key success factor for our practices.
While technology can become a potential adjunct for growth when
used in conjunction with a well-developed culture and the correct
business strategy, Jim Collins, author of the bestselling book Good
to Great, contends that technology by itself is never a primary
cause of growth. He refers to technology as “an accelerator.”
With regard to a dental practice, technology will accelerate practice growth only if the practice’s fundamental core business and
cultural principles are in place and functioning. Relying on technology to serve as a primary practice builder is a costly mistake.
One practice may grow exponentially after investing in new technology, while the practice next door languishes in spite of having
purchased the same technology. In one scenario, the practice is
able to pay for the new technology through increased practice
revenue, while in the other scenario the practice does not grow
and is saddled with the additional expense of the new technology.
The difference between these two practices is that in the less successful practice, the doctor sees technology as a quick fix, and
never examines the underlying issues that are negatively impacting the practice’s ability to provide quality service for its patients.
The other, more successful doctor understands that technology
cannot create growth, but rather can only enhance the growth of
a well-run practice.
In a broader context, technology represents a competitive advantage for a well-run practice. By definition, a competitive advantage is the ability to provide a service or product in such a way
that it allows you to maintain a market advantage over your competition. Technology can do this for our practices. The question
is whether this advantage is sustainable. Take my practice, for
example. We recently purchased a cone beam scanner. We were
one of the first endodontic offices in our area to have this piece
of equipment. Financial gain was not the deciding factor in our
decision to purchase the scanner. We decided to purchase this
technology based on its ability to significantly improve our diagnostic capabilities. We fully understood the temporary nature of
any competitive advantage that we might enjoy from being the
first to own this technology. Indeed, our competitive advantage
was short lived, and disappeared as other endodontists also purchased scanners for their offices.
So what would constitute a “sustainable” competitive advantage?
A sustainable competitive advantage is an advantage that is
enduring due to its uniqueness or because it is very difficult to
copy or reproduce