Orthotown December 2023 - 8

Board Profi le
BY SAM MITTELSTEADT
3 QUESTIONS WITH
Dr. Donna
Galante
Dr. Donna Galante, a board-certified orthodontist who's
been practicing for 37 years, has helped guide the direction
of Orthotown content twice over-first as a member of
the editorial advisory board, a position she accepted eight
years ago, and also as a contributing author, with articles
stretching all the way back to 2013. Here, Galante discusses
what keeps her engaged after nearly four decades of
practice, the challenges her practices face today and the
changes they've instituted to solve them.
After 37 years of practice, what developments
and facets of orthodontics keep you excited
to be in the industry?
Th e constant innovation and improvements in patient
care keep me more and more excited and engaged in the
practice of orthodontics. With so many more effi cient ways
to treat patients using technology, I believe now more than
ever that patients are seeing better results in less time-
and with a way better experience than when I graduated
37 years ago.
You and your husband own three orthodontic
practices. What are the biggest challenges of
multipractice ownership and management,
and what solutions have worked best for you?
Whether you have one or 12 practices, the challenges are
the same. Today, most practices struggle with staffi ng and
hiring people who have the right attitude and work ethic.
I've seen this really develop over the three decades I've been
in practice!
Our solutions have been to outsource our fi nancial and
insurance billing and to use remote monitoring of patients
during treatment to reduce the number of in-offi ce visits.
It's also no secret that as Diamond Plus Invisalign
Each month this year,
Orthotown will spotlight
a member of its editorial
advisory board-the
doctors who've agreed to
help our staff determine
whether an article is a
great fit for publication, vet
those articles for accuracy
and clarity, and suggest
ideas and sources for
content that will run in
future issues.
providers, we treat the vast majority of our patients with
clear aligners, which signifi cantly reduces the number of
chairside assistants required to treat them.
One of the seven books you've published is called
It's All About Millimeters. Can you share an example
of putting this approach in action?
One of my favorite chapters in the book is titled " Train,
Train More, Train Again. " Many doctors feel like every day
is a new day at the offi ce with their team, meaning the staff
forgot what and how they were doing
the day before. I used to get very frustrated
about this, before I realized we
all need constant training or education
to keep our skills sharp and up to
date. Our employees go home at night
and often head off to other jobs ... or
they might just need positive reinforcement
to keep providing the best
care and experience to our patients!
Regular education and reinforcement-including repeating
the same protocols, instructions and procedures-truly
helps them gain the confi dence they need to do their jobs
with grace and ease. OT
DECEMBER 2023 | 8 | ORTHOTOWN.COM
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Orthotown December 2023

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