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Chris Bentson Takes on Brooklyn for Ormco’s University Day

Chris Bentson will be speaking in Brooklyn, New York on June 11, 2016 at the Aloft New York Brooklyn, along side Dr. Hisham Badawi and Dr. Michael Scott for Ormco’s 2016 University Day. Chris will introduce orthodontic residents to new concepts, resources and tools available to jumpstart one’s orthodontic career.

Chris is scheduled to present “Residents Need to Know: The New Golden Age of Orthodontics is About Less and More,” at 1:00 pm. The multi-point presentation will focus on the trends in the specialty and why both new practitioners and current consumers will find fewer obstacles and more options as they begin their orthodontic journey. Chris will likewise discuss the rapidly changing dental industry undergoing accelerated consolidation. He will conclude by breaking down the who, what, when, where and why for your practice transition, including the most important facts and data that an orthodontic resident needs to understand in making a future orthodontic practice transition successful.

If you are interested in registering for the event on June 11, 2016 in Brooklyn, New York, please contact your Ormco representative today! Entry is free for current orthodontic residents (and includes course materials and meals). This will be a fun and factual presentation for all residents in attendance.

Chris Bentson has been working with orthodontists regarding the business aspects of their practices for over twenty-seven years. As a Partner of Bentson Clark & Copple, LLC and Editor-in-Chief of the Bentson Clark reSource, he enjoys lecturing and educating the orthodontic community on the many aspects of valuation, transition and orthodontic career opportunities in settings such as Ormco’s 2016 University Day.

Copyright Compliance in the Orthodontic Industry

Recently, a number of AAO members have received a letter from the Motion Picture Licensing Corporation (MPLC) regarding the alleged improper showing of movies in waiting rooms or other areas of the members’ orthodontic offices. The letter that has been received is strongly worded suggesting doctors should enter into a licensing agreement in order to avoid paying penalties in the future for violations.

The AAO offers a sampling of frequently asked questions regarding the MPLC and the display of movies in orthodontic offices. Also, the Bentson Clark reSource discussed copyright compliance a few months ago before this issue was brought to the orthodontic mainstream. Contact Bentson Clark & Copple to request a copy of an article regarding copyright laws and infringement written by Daniel Sroka, the attorney that drafts the majority of Bentson Clark & Copple’s legal documents.

Reasons an Orthodontic Practice Cannot Grow

As valuation and transition consultants, we have the duty to analyze a practice for sale or purchase with great scrutiny. When performing a practice valuation study, we analyze the last three years of a practice’s financial performance and operational performance for each practice. This provides us not only the revenue and expenses, but the patient flow, the conversion ratios from new patient exams to starts, the fee structure, the marketing plan, etc. More importantly, when visiting each practice, we observe the physical facility, fixed assets in service, staff, location within the practice’s drawing area, competitors’ location(s), and so on. We also perform a detailed demographic analysis of the patient drawing area. Needless to say, we end up with a great deal of data on each practice; having the opportunity to see practices in every geographic region of the country.

Taken together, we see practices that are declining at various rates, practices that are maintaining a relatively flat “status quo” with regards to growth, and practices that are growing at various rates. We see these practices in all areas of the country, in all environments, generally battling a similar competitive and economic environment. However, there are situations that cause a practice not to grow.

There are many contributing reasons as to why a practice cannot grow: competitive environment, demographic environment, geographic limitations, and so on; however, our observation of the number one reason practices cannot grow is because they do not currently operate with efficient systems. Systems are perhaps the key foundation to growth and without them, a practice in chaos will experience greater chaos as it makes decisions and tries to grow, ultimately imploding under the weight of poor systems. Some examples are:

• If patients are not seated on time, adding growth to a practice will only exacerbate the problem.

• If cases are not finishing on time, growth presents real problems as chairs fill up with unhappy zero contract balance patients.

• If the highest level of customer service cannot be currently offered, then providing the same average, predictable, run-of-the-mill, mediocre service inhibits growth.

• If the staff is turning over at an accelerated rate, and there is gossip, backstabbing, and an ununified team that is just getting by, growth is not in a practice’s future.

• If there is poor direction and leadership from the owner, counting on the staff to pick up the leadership role and grow the practice is likely not going to occur.

To learn more, read Chris Bentson’s article, Observations on Growing an Orthodontic Practice, published in Orthodontic Practice US January/February 2013 issue.

Publication Focuses on Adding an Orthodontic Associate

There are many magazines, journals and newspapers that our team reads on a regular basis to keep up with current news and events in the orthodontic community. When a publication arrives, it gets passed around the office with a sticky note, indicating who has read it and who has not. (It’s ultimately a pretty good system unless the sticky note falls off.)

Chris Bentson has been recently published in a couple of orthodontic publications. His most current article is co-authored with Daniel Sroka, JD, who has served the legal needs of Bentson Clark & Copple’s referred clients since 2004. The April/May 2013 issue of Orthodontic Products Magazine features Plus One: What You Need to Know when Adding an Associate to your Practice.  Below is a short excerpt from the article.

“Adding a doctor to the practice is a big decision and affects a great number of systems in the office. Change will occur. Thus, having clarity about why you want an associate is often the first question to ask. While there may be many motivations for bringing an associate into a practice, typically, an owner doctor chooses to bring an associate for one of three reasons.

The first is to help with the workload of treating patients due to practice growth. The second is to allow for more time out of the clinic or away from the practice, or, said another way, to increase the quality of life for the owner doctor within the practice but not necessarily to grow the practice. The third reason is often as a first step in a future transition plan where partial or full equity will eventually be offered to the associate doctor, but that plan is not yet defined.”

Click here read the entire Orthodontic Products article.

Be A Lifetime Learner

Last weekend, Doug Copple and I (Chris Bentson) attended a study club meeting held in Atlanta, GA.  The meeting was a two-day affair hosted by a nationally-known orthodontic consultant which brought together about 30 practices. This year’s meeting revolved around the theme of marketing.

To get the meeting started, a tour was arranged of a local fast-growing orthodontic office that is currently incorporating a number of very new, fresh ideas.  Next, a list of topics to be discussed during the event was created by the meeting’s attendees via an open discussion forum. Overall, the meeting was focused and solely centered on discussing ideas to raise the level of performance and service in each practice represented.

All in all, it was an enormously educational experience for all attendees, including myself. I came away with several key thoughts. Foremost, in order to run a successful enterprise you must commit to becoming a lifetime learner. The orthodontic marketplace is continually changing (the meeting discussed consumer and competition changes). Keeping up with these shifts require effort to study and learn how to adapt one’s business. I was also reminded that practice ownership takes a great deal of work and determination. We all can learn by sharing ideas, taking the risk to ask questions and be open about one’s successes and failures.

Every orthodontist was an exceptional student during his or her formative years. We all know that practicing doctors commit to the standard requirements for continuing education. However, not all continue with a genuine thirst for knowledge and desire for new ideas. If you feel stale, stuck in a rut, upset about the condition of your practice; pause for a moment. Ask yourself if you’re really still learning about running your business and considering new clinical ideas. The practices we see that are vibrant, growing and thriving are being operated by “lifelong learners” who are continually trying new ideas to achieve growth and excellence in all areas of practice life.

Big Shift in Patient Demographics: Does it Matter to You?

In December 2012, the United States Census Bureau released its long-term demographic projections. It revealed a fundamental shift in the US population among various ethnicity groups. The released projections included the following findings:

  • By 2043, the non-Hispanic White population will no longer make up the majority of Americans.
  • Intermarriage for first- and second-generation Hispanics and Asians is on the rise, causing a blur in racial and ethnic lines and increasing the number of individuals who identify themselves as multiracial.
  • Children of immigrants are the fastest-growing demographic group.
  • Moving forward, the United States will become the first major post-industrial society in the world where minorities will be the majority.
  • Among children, the point when minorities become the majority is expected to arrive much sooner, in 2019.

What are the implications for orthodontic practice owners? It likely depends on how much longer you plan to practice. If you are at the beginning of your orthodontic practice career or envision working for 30 more years, the implications of the minority friendliness of your practice, your market strategic and target marketing will be significant.

In 2012, for the first time, racial and ethnic minorities became a majority of babies under age one for the first time in United States history. Ten years from now, this group will be the majority of children in braces.

Perhaps it’s time to step back and ask, “How minority friendly is my practice?” That is a good starting point to begin thinking about and planning for the changing patient demographic that could be your practice’s reality in ten years.

Bentson Clark & Copple’s Resident Survey

We spend a lot of time and effort working with today’s orthodontic residents. We visit their residency programs, attend events solely catered towards the resident community and participate in resident-only webinars and presentation opportunities. We spend numerous hours speaking with them as they search for an orthodontic practice to purchase and/or employment opportunities. We are focused on actively working with and providing as much information as possible to them to help them make educated decisions about their future. This group of young professionals will ultimately shape the future of the orthodontic industry.

As part of our commitment to providing relevant, accurate and useful data to the orthodontic community, each year Bentson Clark & Copple conducts a nationwide survey of all current orthodontic residents for the purpose of collecting, compiling and analyzing information regarding today’s orthodontic resident population.

As in our previous surveys, we ask a variety of questions regarding residents’ anticipated plans after completing their residency program. The survey also inquires about income expectations, geographic locations, total educational debt, and preference of whether they would seek an employment relationship or equity opportunity upon graduation.

We have published a brief sampling of the 2012 Annual Orthodontic Resident Survey’s results in the 4th Quarter edition of the Bentson Clark reSource. We have, in addition, compiled the full results of this year’s survey in booklet form featuring our commentary and a comparison of this year’s data to that of the previous two years. This publication will be available for purchased within the next few weeks. Please check our website and blog for additional information and purchase information.

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