“I hope you have good disability insurance my friend,” although I did not know it at the time, these were the words in 1998 that began my coaching career.

As the founding partner of a busy multi-office multi-surgeon practice, I was running all the time.  Running to see the next patient in the office, or one of the three hospitals emergency rooms I covered.  Running to deal with the next employee dilemma, equipment malfunction, patient complaint and the many business decisions and family obligations.  No matter how early I set my alarm to awaken in the morning, I was always behind.

The practice of oral and maxillofacial surgery was less hectic when I first started practicing in 1980.  However, once managed care became the pervasive delivery model for healthcare in the 1990s, everything dramatically changed. I treated more patients, spent less time with each patient, worked longer hours, and added more staff to deal with the administrative complexities of reimbursement.