November 2009 | Dental Products Report
10 questions: Dr. Lou Shuman

Q +A: Dr. Lou Shuman

President of Pride Institute

Photo: Pride Institute

01 What drew you to Pride Institute at this point in your career?

For the last 10 years my focus has been on education through technology. I have seen the challenges manufacturers can face in educating the dental community on products. Through feedback from my peers, I see a great need to have confidence in making purchase decisions on technology, as well as implementation and integration support. I feel the best way to support this initiative is through the practice management community. Finding a company like Pride Institute—that matches my vision, values and demand for integrity—made the decision an easy one.

02 How does Pride Institute define effective practice management?

Effective practice management is focused on: leadership, staff management, strategic planning, operational systems, technology, marketing and clinical excellence. Effective management creates a culture that represents the leader’s vision and values in all of these areas. 

03 How is Pride uniquely qualified to help dentists meet that standard?

Pride Institute offers more than 30 years of participation in the dental community through R&D that has created a depth of content and practice norms that is unlike anything I have ever seen. The consulting team consists of not only experts in dentistry, but MBAs, PhDs and psychologists. It’s an incredibly capable and diverse team.

04 How are you making these resources more available to dentists?

Pride programs, products and services are expanding to provide the practitioner and team with a way to interact with Pride at all price points. Strategic relationships with publications, Henry Schein Practice Solutions (HSPS), Greater New York Dental Meeting (GNYDM) and ADA will provide educational venues to offer practice management and technology education to the dental community.

05 You are driven to make technology a significant part of practice management. How is your relationship with HSPS furthering that goal?

The Pride Institute has been working closely with HSPS to help integrate key performance indicators, benchmarks and recommendations into Dentrix that will be released in future versions of the software. Pride also has helped HSPS build their coaching program that they now offer to new Dentrix customers to increase profits and efficiencies.

06 Is the Technology Fair set for the GNYDM part of meeting this technology education goal as well?

Yes. We used an unbiased process to select leading technology companies to provide a true hands-on educational event for the practitioner. It provides the right environment to comfortably assess how these products can help the dentist provide the best clinical and office experience to patients.

07 What do you hope dentists at GNYDM will take away from their experience at the Technology Fair?

That there are high integrity, credible voices available to provide the information needed in choosing and implementing new technologies. It is Pride Institute’s goal to fulfill that role.

08 Many practices are looking for ways to save money. Why are consulting services worth the expense?

Many dentists have been working harder not smarter. Money is being spent, but the focus has to shift from expensive silver bullet solutions that may or may not return the investment, to deeper foundational change that ensures success in any economy.

09 Is it right to launch a technology event in light of dentists’ collective belt tightening?

Practices are still purchasing (cautiously). When dentists open their check books they need to be assured they are first, making the right choice; second, that they have a plan to use the new purchase; and third, that the technology can pro-actively ensure a return on investment. That is why the Technology Fair is perfect timing.

10 What is your guiding principle for 2010?

It’s time to put the economic challenges of 2009 behind us, and create initiatives, in partnership with the rest of the community, to make 2010 a year of abundance and success in dentistry.