Advice for the Orthodontist – Follow the rules for setting goals. Goals should be written down and measurable—and have deadlines. They should be reviewed, and updated if appropriate, annually or …

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Honor members of your team for their accomplishments. Reward successes with praise and special gifts. Celebrate individual and practice achievements by holding staff dinners or fun events. Convey a …

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Advice for the Treatment Coordinator (TC) – It’s not over until you follow up. In today’s economy, one consultation may not be enough to convince parents to move forward with treatment. Follow up with …

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Learn to read body language. Patients communicate quite a lot about how they’re feeling with their posture, gestures, facial expressions and other types of body language. By learning to read the …

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Advice for the Orthodontist – Review practice loans periodically. If you haven’t considered refinancing your business debt lately, take a look at the terms of your loans. You may discover …

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Advice for the New Orthodontist – Implement step-by-step systems early. Many ortho practices have habits­­––instead of actual systems––which impede practice growth. Younger orthodontists should …

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Advice for the Treatment Coordinator – Learn from rejection. When orthodontists have a case rejected, they tend to feel badly and take it personally. Sales people don’t react that way. When they have …

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Create a highly structured observation program. All observation patients should be seen every six months. If they miss an appointment, a staff member should reschedule it within 24 hours. The …

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Turn appointment failures into “teachable moments.” To reduce no-show and last minute cancellations, reschedule the patients involved no sooner than two weeks later. This sends the message that …

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Rehearse scripts regularly. Team members need to be so familiar and comfortable with their scripts that they become second nature. By providing opportunities for rehearsing and role-playing with …

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Reduce overdue debonds. Many ortho practices think they can’t handle any more appointments because they have an extremely high overdue debond rate. A front desk team member should analyze overdue …

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Inform the doctor about patients who miss their appointments. This will ensure doctor awareness of your practice’s no-show situation. It will also give him or her the opportunity to communicate with …

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