Orthotown April 2013 - (Page 64)

practice management // feature continued from page 63 Provide extended hours for your patients. When the economy turned for the worse in 2008, we started to notice that it was becoming even more difficult to schedule patients. Parents who were working were unwilling, unable or just fearful of taking time off from work to go to an appointment or bring their children in for one. We quickly made some adjustments to our schedule to extend hours to 6 p.m. several days a week. The simple change in schedule gave patients the ability to come in after work. Having these “consumer hours” will get patients raving about your office. Honor your commitments to your patients. We all have our days in our offices where treatment does not go as planned, or patients are left waiting or are upset with a financial matter. This is all part of the business cycle. However, how you and your team handle the issues that do occur will make all the difference in how your patients talk about you to others. Make sure you follow through on your verbal and written commitments to your patients. Patients will rave about your honesty and integrity. Be passionate. Exhibiting passion for what you are doing day in and day out will be felt by the patients who frequent your office. Passion is contagious. If you are passionate about your practice, your patients and your team, everyone around you will feel the same way. Change your mindset and your attitude the next day you are in the office. Make an effort to do this for at least 30 days and see what happens. Your team will follow your lead and exhibit more passion and enthusiasm for their jobs. Patients and parents will be more excited and enthusiastic about the changes that are occurring in either their smiles, their children’s smiles and their family’s overall dental health. All of these steps are relatively inexpensive or free to implement. You do not need a huge marketing budget to apply these principles. What you do need is a plan of action and determination to get them started. Begin right now with one or more of these strategies and watch what happens to your practice. ■ Author’s Bio Dr. Donna Galante was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is now living in Northern California with her husband and two teenaged children. Dr. Galante is a 1984 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine and a 1986 graduate of the Department of Orthodontics at the same university. After graduation from the Orthodontic Specialty Certification Program, she continued on for the next eight years as a part-time clinical instructor while starting her first practice in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. In 1993, she sold her practice and moved to California to marry her husband, Dr. Paul Cater, also an orthodontist and her partner in their current practices in Northern California. In 1992 she became a diplomat of the American Board of Orthodontics. Besides practicing with her husband for the last 18 years, she is a speaker, author, seminar leader and coach. You can find out about her orthodontic practice at www.luvmysmile.com and her coaching, speaking and seminars at www.drdonnagalante.com. Ad Index Our advertisers make it possible for us to bring Orthotown to you free of charge. Almost all of the advertisers provide telephone numbers in their advertisements for your convenience and fast response. Our advertisers want to hear from you. PAGE # 033 037 061 041 047 021 IBC Insert 043 005 IFC 013 64 ADVERTISER American Lingual Orthodontic Association Biolase Technology, Inc. Boyd Industries, Inc. DentalBanc – OrthoBanc Dentaurum USA DENTSPLY GAC Forestadent USA Imaging Sciences Motion View Software, LLC Ormco Corporation – Insignia Ormco Corporation – Lythos Ortho Classic APRIL 2013 // orthotown.com PAGE # 025 045 003 015 007 BC 051 011 019 023 009 ADVERTISER Ortho Organizers, Inc. Orchestrate Ortho2 OrthoAccel Technologies, Inc. OrthoSynetics Planmeca, Inc. PROPEL Orthodontics Renew Digital Sesame Communications TP Orthodontics, Inc. Ultradent Products, Inc. http://www.luvmysmile.com http://www.drdonnagalante.com http://www.orthotown.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Orthotown April 2013

Orthotown.com Highlights
Wired for Success: Big Brother is Listening
Industry News
Some Suggestions Would Be Great
Poll: Bracket Systems
Fun Class III Two-Jaw Case
You Should Know: Motion View Software, LLC
A Protocol for Creating Images from CBVI for the Practicing Orthodontist, Part II
AAO Annual Session Product Showcase 2013
Office Visit: A Community Pillar
New Products
AAO Feature AAO Membership – What’s in it for me?
Smile Assist
You Should Know: Gaidge Practice Metrics
The Combined Value of the Frontal Analysis and Growth Prediction
Getting Social Media to Grow Your Practice: A Primer for Successful Orthodontic Social Media Engagement
Get Patients to Rave About Your Practice
Ad Index

Orthotown April 2013