Maintain observation patients on a regular schedule. Observation patients should be seen every six months, no exceptions… certainly not every year or two as is often the case in some practices. When …

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Advice for the Orthodontist – Show your team that you care. There are many different ways to demonstrate caring for staff members, from sending cards and gifts on birthdays to allowing scheduling …

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Target areas for improving communication. Ortho practice success depends heavily on effective communication. Locate the areas where there is any breakdown in efficiency and design simple communication …

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Do you know the practice vision? It’s the source of professional motivation—the reason everyone comes to the office each morning. A vision articulates where the ortho practice should be in the future. …

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Advice for the Ortho Assistant – Make it personal. Always begin patients’ appointments by asking something personal—there will be plenty of “ortho talk” in a few minutes. Instead, touch on a topic of …

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Advice for the Orthodontist – Be aware of how you affect your team members. As the doctor and practice owner, you may be inadvertently making your staff nervous or insecure. Make an effort to reassure …

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Advice for the Treatment Coordinator (TC) – Emphasize treatment benefits. TCs should have comprehensive knowledge of ortho treatment. But the “what” isn’t as important as the “why” when it comes to …

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Avoid delaying consults and starts. If parents have to wait weeks for a consultation, they probably will look elsewhere for ortho care. The sooner you can schedule the appointment, the greater the …

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Advice for the Front Desk Team – Improve telephone skills through scripting. Even in the age of the internet, the telephone is still the ortho practice’s main lifeline for new patients. When parents …

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Advice for the Marketing Coordinator (MC) – Know your responsibilities. The role of the MC actually encompasses several jobs, all of which bring a great deal of value to the practice. The main …

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Advice for the Orthodontist – Good leaders know what not to do. Good leaders learn to work through their teams—not around them. The most successful orthodontists figure out how to delegate …

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Advice to the Treatment Coordinator (TC) – Understand the change in consumer behavior. In today’s slower economy, consumers at all income levels who once were impulse buyers now often postpone …

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