Many of our readers may know I thoroughly enjoy hiking and climbing as my hobby. This past week I had the opportunity to climb Crestone Needle in Colorado.
Out of all the 14,000 foot peaks in Colorado, Crestone Needle is one of the most difficult to summit. You can check out the peak at www.14ers.com.
The distance of this climb is not the biggest challenge. It’s the intensity of the climb that is most daunting. We started at 4:45 a.m., reached the peak at 9:45 a.m. and finally finished at 5 p.m.. The climb included some great views, tough climbing sections and a brief - but intense- thunder and lightning snow storm.
Without the strong team of climbers around me there is no way I would have made this summit. This very concept is the key to success I've found in climbing, family and business.
If you are one who enjoys this kind of thrill, I would highly recommend climbing this peak.
I have included a few pictures of our climb to enjoy.
As you've probably noticed, we now offer the ability to subscribe for e-updates in the upper left column of this blog and on the homepage of the OrthoSynetics Web site.
We send out regular e-newsletters to keep you abreast of important company updates - and would love to add you to our distribution list.
If you'd like to receive e-updates - even if you think we have your contact information - please fill out the e-subscribe form to ensure that we have your most accurate and updated information.
And, as always, make sure to check the blog regularly for important updates!
In an effort to challenge the OSI team to continually improve our service, I periodically ask our senior staff to read books that I think will help them better serve you - our customers. Recently, our team just finished reading The Breakthrough Imperative. From time to time, I will pass these books along for your information.
Here is a brief synopsis of The Breakthrough Imperative from the book’s publisher:
Mark Gottfredson and Steve Schaubert, consultants and former managers themselves, interviewed more than 40 CEOs from both industry and the nonprofit sector, conducted an intensive study of what successful managers do right-and the rest do wrong-and drew on their own combined 50-plus years of experience at Bain & Company, where their insights have consistently been found in the pages of the Harvard Business Review. Together they came up with the straightforward principles-deceptively simple yet remarkably powerful-that everyone must follow if they're to succeed at achieving breakthrough results:
Although seemingly simplistic, mastering these four laws means mastering the basics of great management-a foundation on which to build the rest of one's management strategy. Whether you're managing one assistant, or a multinational corporation, a single division, or an entire nonprofit, The Breakthrough Imperative presents these core laws of business to set you on the road to stellar results.
I recently spent a weekend in Washington State with Dr. Sinha and his family, and recruiting some new doctors to OSI. It was a great weekend of deepening personal relationships. I spent Friday acting as a personal caddy for the doctors as they golfed and then spent Friday afternoon having a fishing derby with all the kids. It was a blast and lots of fun. The following day, Dr. Sinha’s daughter Manisha was fishing off their dock and caught this large Northern Pike! What a fish and a great way to cap off a super weekend. Congratulations Manisha!
OrthoSynetics attended the 2008 Graduate Orthodontics Residents Program (GORP) and worked to recruit new doctors for our existing doctor’s practices. We met with almost all of the 360 attendees and established ourselves as the place for associates to come and find opportunities.
Our booth and contest was once again a hit. More than 250 residents signed up for our contest and to learn more about OrthoSynetics and the opportunities we can offer associates. This is a continuation of our successful efforts to recruit new associates for our existing doctor’s and their practices.
We are looking for OrthoSynetics employees who want to help the community as we head to Second Harvest food bank on Friday, August 15 from 1-4 p.m.
This is a PAID day to help the local community- and is limited to the first 10 volunteers who sign up.
Second Harvest is the largest food bank in the world, and is leading the fight against hunger throughout southern Louisiana. They need help sorting food that has been donated by grocery stories.
In addition to a great OSI team-building activity, we will be helping a great organization fulfill a vital need right here in our community.
For more information or to sign-up, please see Felicia Davis or email her at fdavis@orthosynetics.com.
Orthonewsline this week highlights OSI's Webinar, held last week and moderated by Angela Weber.
Here's an excerpt from the story:
The economy may be in a downturn, but this might be the best time for orthodontists to think about marketing.
Angela Weber, marketing director for OrthoSynetics, a company that works with orthodontists with non-clinical business and administrative assistance, said during Thursday’s Lunch with OrthoSynetics Webinar a time like this one, when other advertisers are scaling back their influence, is a good time to stay steady.
"Statistics show that in the 2001 recession, advertising as a whole, the spending dropped nine percent," Weber said. "So while your competition is going silent and they're going dormant, this is going to eliminate a lot of noise from the marketplace that could hinder your message or really keep it from being seen or heard."
OrthoSynetics is sponsoring a new orthodontic industry news wire that launched this week - www.OrthoNewsline.com.
OrthoNewsline.com is a web-based news wire focused on filling the void for those orthodontic industry professionals looking for insider news, industry trends, and best practices for your practice.
OrthoNewsline will cover the industry from highlighting best practices, to analyzing trends and even new hires and new office openings. OrthoNewline is a one stop resource for the latest news that impacts the orthodontic industry.
Please join us in welcoming April Stewart to our team as our new Corporate Communications Manager.
April brings talent and experience that will be a welcome addition to our growing marketing team. Her experience in marketing and sales will help us recruit new doctors and assist in our sales efforts.
April joins us from The Athena Group in New York, where she served as Vice President of Marketing & Sales. There she was responsible for all nation-wide sales and marketing activities for a company with gross sales of over $650 million. Prior to that, she worked for Sky Life Concepts where she specialized in business-to-business services and strategic market management.
She is a graduate of Tulane University in New Orleans with a degree in Marketing and Management.
OrthoSynetics continues to add talented professionals who will serve our doctors and practices across the country. We are glad April will be joining the OrthoSynetics team.
Congratulations to Cathy Green and her husband who recently welcomed the newest Jr. member of the OSI team to the world. Cathy gave birth to Lilly Grace Green. Both baby and mom are doing well.
Congratulations to Sirrounda Myles, now Sirrounda Brens. She and her husband Stephen Brens (a Jefferson Parish Police Officer) got married on July 16th. The happy couple spent their honeymoon in San Jaun, Pureto Rico. Sirrounda has worked in the Purchasing Department at OSI for 8 years. Congratulations Sirrounda and Stephen!
You have seen the casting process and even a sneak peek on location...
We have been busy in the editing studio putting it all together and it's now time to unveil the final product...
We are pleased to introduce to you the new 2008 TV campaign designed to give you a big boost in summer starts.
We have 3 very exciting options for you which include a lot of firsts:
- Humor Approach - More Models Without Braces - An Entire Spot Focused on the Benefits of Braces - An Adult-Focused Spot
The current format only represents the first half of the commercial, while the second half will be customized for your location. Please email us at communications@orthosynetics.com for any further information.
And, without further adieu, we present the commercials:
The good news is the company continues to be extraordinarily successful in the cases that have been tried in New Orleans since the beginning of 2007. The best news is that in 2008 OSI has settled cases resulting in 30 practices returning to the company under new service agreements. In fact, just this week Dr. Ralph Grant of Tennessee resolved his case with the company and has returned as an affiliated doctor.
How is it that doctors who were locked in litigation with the company, and represented by lawyers who are bent on punishing the company until the end of time, have come full circle? It is because of the new team, real practice value and customer service attitude that has been created at OrthoSynetics. If you were to speak with any of the returning doctors, I am quite certain they will tell you they had no appreciation for how significantly OSI has changed since they were here; until they spoke with our staff in Metairie and came to town to see for themselves. There are no better witnesses for the restructured company than those doctors and their staff. I am confident they will tell you that this new company is committed to serving their practices in a way that creates real economic value for them.
The regrettable news is that more of these cases remain to be tried, and each one of them will be in front of a New Orleans jury. We all know who the winners will be - it is as certain as the sun rising tomorrow morning. No matter the outcome, the lawyers are the winners.
In the end, the lawyers have demonstrated they are billing machines and the litigating doctors keep feeding it. Most of the doctors are wallowing in a legal quagmire that will end up costing those at the end of the litigation process far more than virtually any resolution with the company would. And, they can look forward to being locked in that firestorm of litigation, depositions, real life economic uncertainty and paying enormous legal bills for at least another 5-7 years, taking into account the obligatory appeals process. These doctors were sold a legal panacea that current facts and reality do not support.
The returning doctors have brought certainty to their lives and they are receiving real, valued services to help their practices grow and thrive. They made the decision, as have we, to get rid of the wasteful trauma of being in a lawsuit, worrying about how large the downside will be, and whether they will end up in personal bankruptcy as two litigating doctors have already been forced into. This entire situation is unfortunate for our doctors as I have said before. In the end the lawyers move on to the next “client, think opportunity to bill someone else” and our doctors and their families suffer the damages after many wasteful years. Our doctors that have settled are now back doing what they enjoy which is taking care of patients and focused on their practices.
I know you will join me in welcoming back to the company each and every one of the doctors who have determined that litigation is not the panacea they were told it would be - no quick and cheap results as they were promised. There is nothing quick and cheap about continued litigation. It will be very expensive for the doctors who decide to continue litigation with enormous downside risk and that is all after paying legal costs for the next 5-7 years. I am very pleased to tell you we are engaged in settlement discussions with a number of litigating doctors and expect to bring them back into the fold this year, which will allow them to vacate the money trough where the lawyers gather like flies.
I trust you will join me in encouraging the doctors you know in litigation to speak directly with those who have returned to the company. These doctors and their advisors carefully considered their situation, conducted extensive due diligence and in the end realized continued litigation is an enormous waste of money and not in their best interests. Certainly some will take this fight to the bitter end. So be it. Yet, there are other alternatives the company offers, while always remaining true to all of you who have been with us through thick and thin. We continue to be extremely grateful for your support. Know that we maintain that at the forefront of our settlements.
My cell phone number is 479.769.0103. As always, call me anytime on any issue. And, if asked, do your litigating doctor friends a favor and pass my message along to them. I welcome the opportunity to speak with them and reason together to end this madness. Thank you all and hope you’re having a great summer!
