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Listen in as host David Mandell interviews Dr. Madan Kandula, ENT surgeon, entrepreneur, and CEO of Advent, which he has grown to over 250 team members across 18 locations, serving over 1500 new patients monthly.
Dr. Kandula shares his background, including a brief description of his family’s immigrant story from India, emphasizing the struggles his parents overcame and how this impacted his life and career.
The conversation shifts to Dr. Kandula’s career journey, starting with his first job out of training, where he initially joined a solo practice in Milwaukee which went terribly, eventually motivating him to start his own practice, Advent. He highlights the importance of providing outstanding patient care and building a strong referral network, and how these principles contributed to the growth of his practice.
Dr. Kandula then delves into the decision to partner with a private equity firm in 2020, a move aimed at expanding and professionalizing the organization. He emphasizes the importance of coming into such partnerships from a position of strength and how his unique approach to healthcare made Advent a successful venture.
The podcast concludes with Dr. Kandula stressing the significance of mindset in both personal and professional growth. He encourages physicians to recognize their power and potential, and to develop a strong, positive mindset through daily practice and habits.
Key Takeaways
Takeaway 1: The importance of discipline in building a successful medical practice
One key aspect of Dr. Madan Kandula’s success in building a thriving ENT practice is his strong discipline. He established a consistent routine of providing excellent patient care and promptly communicating with referring doctors. This discipline extended to every interaction, even in the operating room, where he saw every procedure as an opportunity to enhance his personal brand.
“Every time I enter to the operating room was a chance for me to add value in the minds of those people in the audience by doing a good job on that patient,” Dr Kandula said. “Every single brand, you’re either adding to the value of your brand in every interaction or subtracting from.”
Dr. Kandula stressed that this discipline, coupled with consistently providing quality care, led to the growth of his practice. “The fundamentals never change that way. Even if you’re a huge hospital system, at the end of the day, if you’re a physician, it’s taking good care of those patients that you’re basically honored to be able to take care of, and you’re providing service to the patient, you’re providing service to those individuals who put that patient in front of you,” he said.
Takeaway 2: The power of a physician’s mindset in shaping their career and practice
Dr. Madan Kandula emphasized the importance of mindset in shaping a physician’s career and practice. He suggested that having a strong, positive mindset can lead to greater success and personal satisfaction. This mindset should come from a position of power and abundance, recognizing the unique roles and responsibilities of physicians in the healthcare system.
“For those physician listeners in particular, I would be very, very cautious if you are looking to partner with an outside entity because your practice is sort of whatever, teetering on the weak side of the equation,” Dr. Kandula advised. “On the flip side, I’d say if you are a physician, and this is not just for physicians, it’s probably for everybody, but I’ll say physicians in particular, for those listeners that are physicians who have a very strong idea about where they want to take things into the future, they hopefully have a strong practice, then you are in the position to define the terms that you are willing to accept to partner with, fill in the blank.”
Dr. Kandula argued that maintaining a strong mindset requires consistent practice and habits that take care of oneself and promote personal growth. “Once you have it, it will unlock doors to destinations you can’t even imagine. And most people will never understand what that looks like. But I am telling you, for physicians in particular, in this country in particular, everything is possible and all of those things are only possible if you have that mindset that’s sound and locked in,” he said.
Takeaway 3: The benefits and challenges of partnering with an outside entity
Dr. Kandula shared his personal experience of partnering with a private equity firm to grow his practice. He cautioned other physicians to approach such partnerships from a position of strength, not weakness. The success of his partnership was based on mutual understanding and a shared vision for expanding the practice.
“My goal is to take what we’re doing here at Advent and what we’ve done in Milwaukee and take that coast to coast,” Dr. Kandula said. He explained that his partnership with the firm was not about acquiring other smaller practices, but about expanding the unique services and model of his practice.
Insights surfaced
- Dr. Kandula emphasized the importance of taking good care of patients and maintaining good relationships with referring doctors. He believes that every interaction contributes to the value of a physician’s personal brand.
- He shared how he became known as the “trach king” of Milwaukee by being reliable and efficient, and treating every surgery as an opportunity to perform well and enhance his reputation among medical staff.
- He started Advent with his wife in 2004, and by 2020, they had expanded to 10 offices. He recognized the need to professionalize the organization and partnered with a private equity firm. Unlike typical private equity partnerships, their goal was to expand the existing practice model rather than acquire smaller practices.
- Dr. Kandula believes that physicians who have a positive experience partnering with external entities are those who come from a position of strength. He advises physicians to understand their power and importance in the healthcare system and to use it for good.
- He stressed the importance of mindset and daily habits in strengthening one’s mindset. He believes that a strong mindset can unlock doors to unimaginable possibilities.
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