Aug 3, 2026 · 34 min · 9 segments
Every dental practice has systems—whether they're written down or not. In Part One of our special three-part series honoring Dr. Robert Westerman's 90th birthday, Sandy Pardue explores the first leg…
Sandy PardueHost
Dana PardueHost
And it's really interesting because obviously we've worked with well over 600 dental practices over the years.
And when I first start talking to doctors, a lot of times they will say to me, "Sandy, I'm not sure I have the right team to bring you in, because I just don't feel like the, my, my person at the front, like she-- I hate to say this, but I don't know if she's really smart or she makes lots of mistakes." And so I ask this very simple question: Has she been trained? And I often get the answer, "Well, no."
So when we're talking about this, we're talking about that it is a staff problem or a training problem or a systems problem.
Yeah, because if you-- That's exactly right, and, and that's usually what it is.
But whenever you think about systems, what-- why would that make a difference? See, when you have the protocols in place and you've got your systems in place, training people becomes very easy because most practices, I'll tell you, they are set up to where the systems are in the team member's head.
And this is one reason why so many dentists will not replace team members if they need to.
Dana, what I was thinking today about somebody that I know, a dentist, that had an embezzler for three years because he didn't wanna confront getting rid of her because nobody else knew how to post on the computer.
Maybe I'm almost ready to do it, but we need some systems so I know what to do and what her job entails when I do fire her."
It really is the trifecta of all things practice management because some people think, "Oh, if I could just find better people, all of my problems would disappear." But is that really true? I mean...
Or sometimes are we blaming people for problems that started somewhere else? Yes, an embezzler in this particular situation, it's a problem with the person.
They brought a certain lack of morals to the table, but there's some other issues tied to it.
And it's really interesting because obviously we've worked with well over 600 dental practices over the years.
And when I first start talking to doctors, a lot of times they will say to me, "Sandy, I'm not sure I have the right team to bring you in, because I just don't feel like the, my, my person at the front, like she-- I hate to say this, but I don't know if she's really smart or she makes lots of mistakes." And so I ask this very simple question: Has she been trained? And I often get the answer, "Well, no."
So when we're talking about this, we're talking about that it is a staff problem or a training problem or a systems problem.
Yeah, because if you-- That's exactly right, and, and that's usually what it is.
But whenever you think about systems, what-- why would that make a difference? See, when you have the protocols in place and you've got your systems in place, training people becomes very easy because most practices, I'll tell you, they are set up to where the systems are in the team member's head.
And this is one reason why so many dentists will not replace team members if they need to.
Dana, what I was thinking today about somebody that I know, a dentist, that had an embezzler for three years because he didn't wanna confront getting rid of her because nobody else knew how to post on the computer.
Maybe I'm almost ready to do it, but we need some systems so I know what to do and what her job entails when I do fire her."
It really is the trifecta of all things practice management because some people think, "Oh, if I could just find better people, all of my problems would disappear." But is that really true? I mean...
Or sometimes are we blaming people for problems that started somewhere else? Yes, an embezzler in this particular situation, it's a problem with the person.
They brought a certain lack of morals to the table, but there's some other issues tied to it.
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