The Next Generation of
Practice Development
Build a self-sustaining, thriving practice by training a competent, Goal Driven manager while empowering yourself as a true CEO and leader.
Hi,
My name is Ed Petty. I've been helping practices grow since the 80s, and at this point, there's not much I haven’t seen or dealt with in business.
I appreciate you stopping by.
Ed Petty, Lake Michigan,
March, 2025
The Goal Driven Practice MBA certificate program is for growth-minded chiropractic business owners and their managers. It is also for larger practices. It provides in-depth management, leadership, and marketing training for entrepreneurial chiropractic practices.
I have selected the most practical subjects from experience and put them into a series of 30 short lessons. These are designed for the manager and the business owner, but the emphasis is on the manager assuming most of the management duties.
This training does not cover how to bill insurance, set up retirement plans, work out lease arrangements, buy real estate, or analyze tax or legal issues. Nor does it cover patient scripting for the doctor or the front desk.
While these subjects are important, they do not make or break the success of a practice in the long run. Ultimately, the lack of professional and motivated management limits growth and profits in a growing or larger practice.
As a practice grows, management becomes more challenging but also more necessary. For these reasons, we have launched the Goal Driven Practice MBA.
This is an entirely new approach to building and sustaining a thriving practice. This isn't theory. It's built on over 30 years of hands-on experience working directly with practices like yours.
It is also based on the most recent studies in business management.
THE WORLD HAS CHANGED—BUT MANAGEMENT PROCEDURES
HAVEN'T KEPT UP
While the world has changed dramatically over the last 60 years of my life, practice management hasn't. Sure, there's new equipment, and computers have taken the place of ledger cards and small travel cards.
But the actual management styles and skills are still mostly in the Industrial Age. I have observed this in my work over the years and described the situation in my book, The Goal Driven Business.
About the same time my book came out, Gallup published It's the Manager. In it, Gallup validated my observations.
About the same time my book came out, Gallup published It's the Manager. In it, Gallup validated my observations.
"While the world's workplace has been going through extraordinary historic change, the practice of management has been stuck in time for more than 30 years.
"The practice of management has fallen behind how people work, live and want to experience their lives. We need to adapt."
Because the world has changed, the management model in most practices also needs to adapt to the new "will of the world," as Gallup calls it.
Your business leadership and management must adapt to a faster, more agile approach for this decade. This change demands enhanced management and leadership skills.
"SO WHAT?" YOU SAY. WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH ME AND OUR PRACTICE?
Because chiropractic and your services are not what are holding you back from greater prosperity and success.
It's everything else!
It is managing an office – scheduling staff, keeping procedures in place, planning your marketing, team training, hiring, accounts receivable, and accounts payable! It is supplies, equipment, team meetings, and implementing new procedures. The list goes on and on.
It is all the mechanics of running a business that can get in the way of growing a business.
You are a doctor, not a manager. You don't have time to be a manager, aren't trained to be one, and most likely, don't want to be one!
But unless you have someone proactively taking the initiative to manage, almost like a Chief Operations Officer, admin issues will creep up and wrap themselves around you.
A motto we have used for years is:
Do what you do best and delegate all the rest.
But, until now, there was no training for someone to whom you might want to delegate your management responsibilities.
Now there is.
IT'S THE MANAGER
For over 30 years, Dave Michel and I, as Petty, Michel & Associates, have visited and worked directly with doctors and staff at offices across the U.S., observing what works and what doesn't.
The best practices I observed had a manager, although most were poorly trained in management, as were their clinic owners. Despite this, offices with managers outperformed those without, showing higher and more stable production.
But I am not the only one.
Gallup states:
"Based on our largest global study of the future of work...the quality of managers and team leaders is the single biggest factor in your organization's long-term success."
And I repeat: "...the single biggest factor…"
In our visits, we saw that doctors with a managers could act more effectively as leaders for their staff and doctors for their patients.
Because of our firsthand observations and later from surveys and research from management scientists, we have embarked on a program called the Goal Driven Practice MBA to improve the skills of managers and the leadership of clinic directors.
Now, more than ever, a business needs to have excellent leadership and team management to grow and thrive in this decade and beyond.
A NEW CONCEPT IN PRACTICE DEVELOPMENT —
FROM THE INSIDE OUT
Most practice development programs are seminar-based and directed at the doctor. This is an "outside-in" approach.
You return inspired but too busy to implement what you've learned. You may see a brief bump in your statistics, but it doesn't last. You experience the Practice Roller Coaster.
Instead, we train your manager who works within your practice to implement the needed changes and equip you to be a strategic leader.
IT WORKS!
It is no surprise that the procedures of Petty, Michel & Associates work. If they didn't, we still wouldn't be in business after 30 years.
But what came as a pleasant surprise was just how effective our MBA training works.
I really didn't know what results the training would have in the offices. There is no other course like this out there, nor has there been.
The results have been quietly spectacular. I am thrilled with them.
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In one office, the doctor mostly noted how calmer the clinic atmosphere had become. Office procedures were finally getting completed. Everyone seemed in "alignment" – and happy. He didn't really spend much time on the fact that his NPs were up 64% from the year before, or his visits up 25% and his collections up 23%.
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In another multi-doctor office, collections were up 36%, but long-term conflicts that had become "calcified" finally started to show up – and get resolved. This has been a big win for me as I have tried for several years to get this situation addressed, but it has hampered the clinic's services and morale.
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Another office has so many positive things happening that the doctor can't tell if it is good or bad! He keeps telling me of the miraculous success stories of his patients, his front desk is driving visits to their highest in years, his marketing is going like never before, and patients are closing left and right for treatment programs. Oh, and by the way, collections hit their best ever in years!
Questions?? Email linda@goaldriven.com
Here are what some of our students have to say:
Donna Brown, D.C.
Excel Family Chiropractic
(2 doctor office)
"We Give Ed's Goal Driven Manager
Training Program 5 Stars!."
The Goal Driven Practice MBA helped me realize my role in the office as the doctor and clinic director.
Laura, Practice Manager
(2 doctor office)
"This is exactly what all independently owned chiropractic offices need to get to the next level."
This course has helped me become a more confident manager, it has helped the entire office flow to be efficient and streamlined, it has helped our clinic director focus on what she does best, and it has helped our patients receive the best care possible.
John Friedrichs, D.C.
Chiropractic, Aesthetic Wellness Center
"Since taking the MBA Course my manager manages the details of the clinic and I use my time to do what I love most... helping clients and patients. Five Stars
Kim, Practice Manager
Chiropractic, Aesthetic Wellness Center
I recently completed Ed's Practice Manager course, and it was fantastic! The course provided invaluable insights that helped our office streamline and implement effective policies and procedures. Ed's book is also an excellent resource -- it's an easy read and filled with practical advice that we could apply right away.
See below for more reviews from our students and their clinic directors.
We can't predict the future, but the world is rapidly changing. Companies and governments are restructuring – trimming expenses and replacing workers with new AI systems. And it has just started.
Your best guarantee is investing in your business, your people, and yourself. Build a moat around your practice so that it is secure and can support itself and everyone in it.
Imagine what your practice could look like if you had a competent, proactive, and goal-driven manager -- someone who could free you from daily operational bottlenecks, stabilize your practice growth, and help create a thriving, well-organized business.
For over 30 years, we've seen firsthand that practices with a trained manager consistently outperform those without. They're more productive, more resilient, efficient, and less dependent on the clinic owner for every decision.
The truth is, you can't do it all alone. And you shouldn't have to. By investing in your manager's development through the Goal Driven Practice MBA, you're investing in your business's long-term health, profitability, and sustainability.
The World Is Changing. Your Management Strategy Must Too.
Spring term begins March 31. Maximum of 15 students.
Apply now to secure your place and transform your practice.
Questions?? Email linda@goaldriven.com
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Please click below to read about what our students and their clinic directors have to say about the Goal Driven Practice MBA
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Program Details
Practice MBA
Spring Term 2025
OUTCOMES:
1. Better management: a practice manager who is trained to manage and improve the practice so that services and revenue improve yearly. This can occur because the manager focuses on supporting and improving all admin and marketing procedures in the office so that doctors can focus on patient care and the clinic director can focus on leadership.
ALSO
2. Better marketing: marketing performance improves by implementing a tested and true marketing management system.
3. Better leadership: part of the program includes training the clinic owner on leadership and essential skills of a CEO/Clinic Director.
DETAILS:
Spring Term: March 31- June 11th
Hours of training. Approximately 55 total, or 3-5 hours per week. Some of this time will be work done in and for the clinic.
Format. 11 Classes are delivered by Zoom on Wednesdays, at 1 pm Central 2 hours. All classes are recorded.
Instructor – Ed Petty. Guest instructors include past graduates.
Study Material. The material will come from well-known management and marketing scientists, as well as best practices as observed by Ed Petty and documented in The Goal Driven Business.
Learning Process. Students will be presented with audio, video, and written information. They will be given weekly assignments to work with and apply the information, including:
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In-office practical assignments that require the application of the tools and concepts of the program to improve clinic performance.
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Cooperative coaching:
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Students will teach their clinic director/business owner on the material.
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Students will teach other students on the material.
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The clinic director will quiz the student on the material.
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Share Sessions. Students will have personal "share sessions" with each other as part of the Practice Manager Club.
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Training Partner: Each manager will be assigned another manager as a training partner for practical exercises, sharing and accountability.
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Practice Manager Club Membership. Students will have their own online forum as members of the Practice Manager Club.
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Reflective assignments. Some coaching will be personal to each student, encouraging them to look at their past and present actions and how the tools and concepts of this course can improve them professionally and personally.
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Clinic Director - Special training for clinic directors on leadership
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Capstone Project. Each student must select a project to complete by the course's end that directly benefits the practice.
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Private consultations with Ed Petty
All assignments will be turned in weekly and reviewed and graded by Ed.
SUPPORT MATERIALS
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Students and their doctor will receive a copy of the Goal Driven Business.
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A Practice Playbook binder as a template for office policies and checklists will be provided.
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Video of classes are posted, with PDF of slides and reference material.
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Works from selected authors and scientists will be referenced in written or video format for study.
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Access to Petty, Michel & Associates private Member's site which has over 550 documents and 33 audio lectures.
Additional services. Monthly Goal Driven practice analytics system set up, calibrated and delivered monthly. (https://www.goaldriven.com/analytics)
Certificate of Completion. Upon successful completion of training and all assignments, the manager will receive a framed wooden certificate of completion.
Fee. $1900 in advance, or $545 over 4 months.
Practice MBA
Curriculum Overview
The program lasts 11 weeks and has 3 sections.
SECTION 1. PRODUCE AND EXCHANGE (4 Weeks)
Phase 1 is a boot camp. The brutal facts of any business always come down to production and marketing. Understanding and accepting this reality is the first step to business leadership, management, and marketing. This phase takes the student from the level of employee to stakeholder who understands the urgent necessity of monthly production requirements. It also gives them the essential tools to manage a business.
SECTION 2. STRENGTHEN AND IMPROVE (4 Weeks)
Phase 2. However, the business must constantly improve and strengthen to sustain and increase production. During this phase, the student will learn tools and procedures that support the doctors and service providers. They will become familiar with enhancing individual and team performance and practice with other managers to upgrade their skills.
SECTION 3. INTEGRATE AND LEAD (3 Weeks)
Phase 3. Finally, a business needs more than management – it needs work that has meaning, an enjoyable workplace, happy team members, and a purpose to achieve. In the long-term, this keeps a business more profitable and less stressful for everyone. This section covers how to develop personal power and create a unified team of leaders to achieve the practice goals.