The third quarter edition of the Bentson Copple reSource is now available. Each quarter, the reSource orthodontic newsletter publishes articles regarding the current issues and concerns within the world of orthodontics. This edition features five articles focusing on a variety of timely and relevant topics for today’s orthodontic community. Below is a brief overview of each article included in the latest Bentson Copple reSource (Volume XII, Issue III).
Teledentistry & Market Expansion
By: Chris Bentson
Our lead article in this edition of the reSource written by Chris Bentson discusses, among several things, the definition of teledentistry and the question of whether or not your practice can benefit from this new concept. A brief description of teledentistry is provided with insights into Smile Direct Club’s direct-to-consumer marketing model – just one company using this business model. Can the orthodontics market expand using teledentistry? No one can predict the future, but this article will provide some insights and food for thought.
Neon Canvas: Painting the Picture of an Orthodontic Practice
An Interview with Kyle Fagala, DDS, MDS
Dr. Kyle Fagala wears many hats; he is the owner & orthodontist at Saddle Creek Orthodontics, as well as the co-owner of Neon Canvas. He shares a bit of his digital marketing genius in this reSource-exclusive interview focused on his digital marketing company Neon Canvas. As a co-founder, he is involved daily in its strategies, goal setting, and output. The company is passionate about helping other doctors succeed. He believes if practice owners are ignoring digital marketing, thousands of dollars are being left on the table. Social media management is imperative to telling your story and creating a successful marketing campaign. In closing, Dr. Fagala shares his three pieces of advice regarding digital marketing that no orthodontist should miss.
The Power of a Brand
By: Dr. Clarke Stevens & Davin Bickford
Learn about two successful companies in this article. Launched by WildSmiles, Inc. in 2015, Mascot Braces has created tremendous added value for practices participating in one of the fifteen programs the company has currently launched. Mascot Braces translates the impact of a billion-dollar collegiate market into individual orthodontic practices. A comprehensive understanding of Mascot Braces can be explained in four categories: Brackets, Marketing, Exclusivity, and Profit. This article introduces this revenue-generating product and explains how it can easily be utilized in your office.
Gaidge Market Report
By: Ryan Moynihan
Gaidge has partnered with orthodontic practices across the United States, Canada, the Caribbean and Australia to automatically gather and deliver key performance indicators that assist doctors, managers and team leaders in assessing needs, setting goals and driving practice performance. Gaidge Business Analytics includes the opportunity for orthodontists to compare key practice performance indicators across practices much like their own to benchmark and keep pace with the market. This high-level article offers the most current year-to-year data (through 2nd Quarter 2017) comparing net production, net collections, adult exams, patient exams and case starts. Gaidge’s new CEO dives into the company’s robust database of information to share this “big picture” data and industry trends, to help practices compete in today’s market.
Rhinogram: A New Communication Tool for Your Practice
An Interview with Douglas Ford
In today’s digital world, HIPAA compliance remains an important issue to all orthodontic practices regardless of size. Rhinogram is a modern day, HIPAA compliant, communication tool that can be easily integrated into any practice. Douglas Ford, Vice-President of Marketing and Customer Care, chats about the benefits this all-in-one solution offers to help practices adapt to a changing mindset when it comes to patient conversations. Rhinogram easily connects orthodontists with prospective patients, referrals, and team members all in one location, turning a practice’s main phone number into a text-enabled communication line. This interview dives into the ends and outs of this new communication tool and how it allows practices to focus on what they do best…taking care of their patients.
Financial Policies & the Health of Your Practice
By: Michelle Shimmin
International lecturer and trainer, now a consultant with 26 years in the orthodontic industry, Michelle Shimmin discusses the health of your practice and strength of your financial processes. She states, “If you are not keeping track of and correlating your monthly production and starts with your monthly collections number, you need to start now!” There is no accurate way to know this information aside from keeping track of your production, number of starts, and monies collected. Michelle outlines three important questions each orthodontist should ask: Where are you now and where would you like to go? Are you growing at a rate you’re pleased with? Are you meeting the goals you set for your practice last year? Understanding how many new patient exams you do on a monthly basis and your closing rate provides valuable information and assists in uncovering areas to improve on.
Game of Loans – Understanding & Managing Educational Debt
By: Shannon Patterson, CPR, CMSR
Student loans and the mountain of educational debt are discussed in this article along with several available payback options. Knowing the amount one owes, learning about personal financial management and setting goals to fast-track loan repayments can really alleviate undue stress and anxiety as one begins their orthodontic career. Residents and early-career orthodontists should explore repayment options thoroughly. Asking for financial guidance before making a major decision on a repayment plan is key, especially if the debt load is very high – $200,000 or more. Build your strategy in today’s game of loans by working with advisors who are experienced with physician education debt and the economics of career progression, rather than generalists.
Managing the Orthodontic Practice Using Big Data Insights
By: Stephen Dixon, Tamer Jarada & Dr. Hirsham Badawi
Clinical documentation plays an important part in orthodontic care by tracking patient treatment progression. If clinical documentation is incomplete or erroneous, organizations are at risk of not following through on what needs to be done for a particular treatment. Documentation also provides a way of tracking inventory and treatment effectiveness, and it serves as a bulwark against litigation. Enter big data analytics. To reap the benefits of reduced operating costs and better patient experience, orthodontists must get better at harvesting structured data from their operations. A real-life scenario is discussed in this article focused on emergency visits from bracket bond failures using Oral4D. Using documentation, a practice (as illustrated in the example) can collect metrics on its operations, reorganize and collect metrics again to see if there is room for improvement.
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