Orthotown November 2023 - 36

OFFICE VISIT
For many years, I read about which
roles and responsibilities for employees
of an orthodontic practice were
most valuable. What I found was that
people bring different skill sets to
your team. If you can figure out what
those skills are and capitalize on their
growth and development, employees
are more satisfied with their work and
the team is more productive. I think
about it as a list of all the tasks that go
with our job and give them to the people
who can serve those tasks the best.
We also cross-train extensively.
The clinical team has been referred
to as " junior doctors, " and I show them
what we're doing and why, so they can
be engaged in the treatment process
and be knowledgeable when they communicate
with patients and parents.
There is also a monetary investment
in the team. Retaining high-quality
team members is one of the most
important aspects of running an
orthodontic practice. Employees have
had the opportunity to enroll and
benefit from a 401(k) as well as other
benefits, but this expensive benefit
didn't really receive the appreciation
that it deserved until the plan was
switched to a self-directed fund.
With educational classes on
investing from my husband, who has
a background as a financial advisor
to professional athletes, the team was
finally able to see what a benefit it is
for them and our investment in their
future. Now the team is excited to see
their funds grow and appreciates the
investment the business is making for
their future.
We provide a medical reimbursement
account that allows flexibility
for employees to select the health care
they individually require. We also pay
for cellphones because we communicate
via text so much.
What are the most effective patient
education tools in your office?
Pictures and videos. Our patient education
software shows videos and photos
of diagnostic and treatment principles.
What I love about it is the years of cases
that are built into the software, so I
can show a patient someone who looks
similar to them and walk them through
the process of correction-including
options they may not have thought
about, such as gingival contouring or
buildups on lateral incisors.
Personal stories are how we share
our love of orthodontics. Team
members have stories to share, such
as their own MSE or surgery for sleep
apnea or buildups on the lateral incisors.
We practice what we preach!
Talk about the " Smile Power Way "
and your intern program.
The Smile Power Way is a set of procedures
and protocols that streamline
our work efficiency. It is a tedious process,
but it can yield big results. After
growth was complicating our schedule
and we started feeling squeezed
in the clinic, a full overhaul of the
scheduling was performed with doctor
time scheduling in mind.
When our office was on high alert
during the 2020 pandemic, we consolidated
our schedule, and then were
well behind our typically punctual
practice because of deficiencies in the
way we were working and sterilizing
handpieces. Each employee was working
differently enough that the flow
was choppy.
With much effort, each step was
written down, including what was to
NOVEMBER 2023 | 36 | ORTHOTOWN.COM
be prepared, what we say, how we say
it and so forth. Now, my team doesn't
love the drill-down on the procedures,
but they do reap the rewards of the
progress and now we have meetings
where we discuss speed bumps and
clarify and streamline any parts of the
practice that need revisions.
Sometimes old-school methods
work, too. We have taken the steps
with the state of California for assistant
training certification; the books
have been written and procedures
developed. What we found works
with us is a little more of a traditional
hands-on learning approach.
We participate in a local community
college intern program (the school
I attended) to bring in new faces and
teach them as much as they want
to learn. When a position opens, we
can offer it to the best and brightest.
One of our interns was accepted into
Berkeley and is getting ready to apply
to dental school. She wants to be
an orthodontist!
What's a trend in the
profession you love?
The trend in orthodontics I appreciate
is the application of technology for
better, faster orthodontic outcomes-
technology such as 3D radiographs,
3D scanning with artificial intelligence
and the InBrace lingual braces.
On the administrative side, we are
able to have cloud-based management
programs, better insurance
processing integration and online
appointment scheduling.
I support the message of examinations
that are paid. We have a lot of
expertise to share, and that knowledge
is valuable. Our expertise as specialists
is undercut if we're offering free exams.
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Orthotown November 2023

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