Dentistry and General Electric

Thomas K. Hedge D.D.S., F.A.C.E.
Dental Economics
January 2002

I was reading General Electric's annual report the other day and realized that there are a number of things that they are doing that can be applied to our dental practices. General Electric is one of the largest and most successful companies in today's world. They develop, manufacture, and market products and services worldwide.

In their most recent annual report, they reflected on what GE is today, why it works, and the values and beliefs it is built upon.

The company has hade four big company-wide initiatives - Globalization, Services, Sigma Six Quality, and Digitization. They want to "change not only where they work and what they sell, but how they sell, but how they work, think, and touch customers". Beyond these initiatives GE strives to be a Learning Company while embracing Integrity, The Customer, and Relishing Change. Other key points in their annual report include Annihilating Bureaucracy, encouraging Self-Confidence, Simplicity, Speed, Leadership, Training, People, and Informality.

If we apply some of GE's goals to the practice of dentistry, we can see that both huge corporations and dental practices can and should have similar goals.

Globalization and Services has diversified GE. A dental practice should no longer be a place where teeth are fixed when broken. A dental practice should explore expanding the scope of the services offered. Comprehensive dentistry, cosmetics, orthodontics, whitening (Britesmile), TMD and fresh breath therapy, and dental products are but a few of the many ways a dental practice can diversify.

Sigma Six Quality was Chairman Jack Welsh's initiative to reduce mistakes and defects. This program has had a huge effect on the bottom line and with customer satisfaction. Shouldn't we develop systems to reduce the same problems to reap the financial and satisfaction benefits?

Digitization is the future. Digitization will reduce GE's costs, speed fulfillment, and enhance the customer experience. Isn't that what digital photography and radiology, and software applications are doing to dentistry?

GE has "recruited and nurtured the best people and cultivated in them the insatiable desire to learn, to stretch and do things better each day. By finding, challenging, and rewarding these people, by freeing them from bureaucracy, by giving them all the resources they need - and by simply getting out of their way - we have seen them make us better and better every year". Wow! Isn't that we need to do? Doesn't this demonstrate the need for staff continuing education?

Integrity. What are we as doctors if we don't have impeccable integrity?

The Customer. Our customer is the reason for existence. Treat them like gold.

Relishing Change. Without change, we are the dentists most people remember from their youth. No one misses those days. Embrace new technology and concepts.

The future of the dental practice can be as great as that of giant General Electric. There isn't really that much difference from the building blocks of the business model.