Although almost 90 percent of dentists own their own practices, they often have only basic knowledge about everything from staffing their offices to marketing their services. "As a result, dental practice management is often inefficient and ineffective, which negatively affects dentists' professional satisfaction and profitability," says Gregory Winteregg, DDS, Vice President of MGE: Management Experts, Inc. (www.mgeonline.com) and an expert in dental practice management consulting. "Although dentists want to focus on their patients' dental care, they are distressed that much of their time is spent dealing with insurance companies and business administration."

Further, Dr. Winteregg says that, while dental schools do an excellent job teaching dental students about state of the art procedures and equipment, they fall short when it comes to teaching business and communication skills. As a result, dentists often become dependent upon a business consultant to guide them in practice management. "MGE: Management Experts takes a different approach," says Dr. Winteregg. "By training dentists in business technology, communications, and human resources, they are empowered to efficiently run their practices, which positively influences their bottom lines."

MGE trains dentists, their office managers and staff on subjects ranging from marketing, case acceptance, organization, management, financial planning, and leadership. Collectively, MGE's entire training program is called the MGE Power Program. In a statistical study conducted at the end of 2005, MGE found that the average client starting the Power Program had average monthly collections of $37,000. Within three months, clients increased monthly collections by an average of 31 percent, while after two years, the average monthly collections increased by 132 percent. "After five years, the average MGE Power Program client is collecting $123,500 per month," says Dr. Winteregg. "That's an increase of 232 percent!"

Dr. Winteregg spent eleven years in private practice as a general dentist before turning to MGE to help him streamline and build his practice. As an MGE client, he found the principles and tools he needed to have his practice become one of the top four percent of practices nationwide. "I discovered that the keys to growing my practice were learning how to effectively market for fee-for-service new patients so as to stay out of HMOs and PPOs, to hire the right people to staff my office, and to learn how to communicate with my patients to increase comprehensive treatment acceptance," says Dr. Winteregg.

Within two years, Dr. Winteregg decided to dedicate his career to helping other dentists thrive, and joined MGE as a partner with Luis Col'n, a leading national executive trainer and speaker.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment growth in the field of dentistry will not outpace the average growth of other professions or industries in the coming decade. "Because dentistry is not a high-growth profession, dentists must be proactive in building and streamlining their practices," says Dr. Winteregg. "In today's environment, the cornerstone is to attract fee-for-service patients and those with traditional insurance plans, and to avoid the reduced fees and time-consuming overhead that comes with being a member of an HMO or PPO."

MGE: Management Experts, Inc. guides dentists through the maze of business administration hurdles, human resources challenges, and communication barriers that often prevent dentists from feeling professionally fulfilled and reaping financial rewards. Dr. Winteregg concludes, "We're committed to providing professionals with the tools to develop sound dental practice management. Time and again, we've found that when dentists have these tools in place, they not only feel enormous professional fulfillment, but the monetary rewards flow effortlessly."