The fourth quarter edition of the Bentson Copple reSource is now available. Each quarter, the reSource orthodontic newsletter publishes articles regarding the current issues and concerns within the world of orthodontics. This edition features five articles focusing on a variety of timely and relevant topics for today’s orthodontic community. Below is a brief overview of each article included in the latest Bentson Copple reSource (Volume XII, Issue IV).

Communicating Amongst Ourselves
By: Chris Bentson
Orthodontists spend time, money, and effort communicating to their patients and general drawing areas, but how much time do they spend communicating with one another? The orthodontic industry is ever evolving and Chris Bentson looks into the recent popularity of ortho-focused Facebook Groups. Ten large groups are discussed within this article, including Mari’s List, The Digital Orthodontist, and OrthoPreneurs, along with a brief description of each. This short, but extensive, list provides groups whose discussions range from digital marketing to podcasts to woman in orthodontics and everything in between. This is a great overview of the Facebook Groups every orthodontist should join!

More Than the End Result
By: Debbie Best
The importance of open communication and transparency is so very vital in taking care of customers/patients in any situation. Debbie Best talks about an unfortunate experience with a company she did business with and how it applies to the rules of basic customer service. She discusses taking the time to update and educate each patient and parent. “It is only the extraordinary companies who stand out above their competitors,” and communication is a common thread to make that happen.

Building Your Focus Vault
By: Curt Steinhorst
“We have entered the age of distraction,” states Curt Steinhorst in this discussion about focus or the lack thereof. Four factors that can have an effect on how much we are able to focus and concentrate are as follows: energy, experience, emotion, and environment. Creating a vault or a barrier in order to separate yourself from others to prevent interruption is important. Those who take control of their attention will see their value in the marketplace multiplied. This article advises on tips and tools to aid in taking control of our most precious asset – our attention.

“MOP” ing Up Profitability with a Bucket of the Accidental Patient
By: Dr. Jonathan L. Nicozisis
Manual Osteo Perforations (M.O.P.’s) and high frequency vibration combined with Invisalign has allowed this orthodontist and author to capture a whole new audience of people previously not willing to step foot inside an orthodontic office. Here, using Invisalign with Propel is something many doctors don’t think they need, but can have very positive results for the patients, as well as the practice. Any business-minded orthodontist should consider the pairing of these two technologies in potentially reaching into an untapped market.

12 Years Later…
By: Laura Overcash
Our Marketing Director, Laura Overcash, reflects on the past 12 years of the Bentson Copple reSource. This article is a nostalgic journey that takes us on a quick review of some of the most popular articles and interviews. The variety of content has been and will continue to include articles from doctors, industry leaders, orthodontic consultants, marketing experts, and best-selling authors. Our genuine gratitude goes out to each and every person who has played a part in this over the last 12 years.

New Gaidge CEO: Looking Ahead and Moving Forward
An Interview with Ryan Moynihan
As you may recall, we featured Ryan Moynihan’s article, Gaidge Market Report in last quarter’s newsletter. We recently had the opportunity to interview Ryan about his new role as CEO and his outlook for Gaidge, an orthodontic practice management tool. Since 2010, Gaidge and its analytics tools have become a leader in reporting practice performance, as well as industry trends. Ryan chats about the future of Gaidge and how this reporting tool can help accelerate growth for all orthodontic practices.

Click here to read a sample version of the fourth quarter 2017 Bentson Copple reSource. Not a subscriber and want to learn more about the publication? Click here to visit our website.

The third quarter edition of the Bentson Copple reSource is now available. Each quarter, the reSource orthodontic newsletter publishes articles regarding the current issues and concerns within the world of orthodontics. This edition features five articles focusing on a variety of timely and relevant topics for today’s orthodontic community. Below is a brief overview of each article included in the latest Bentson Copple reSource (Volume XII, Issue III).

Teledentistry & Market Expansion
By: Chris Bentson
Our lead article in this edition of the reSource written by Chris Bentson discusses, among several things, the definition of teledentistry and the question of whether or not your practice can benefit from this new concept. A brief description of teledentistry is provided with insights into Smile Direct Club’s direct-to-consumer marketing model – just one company using this business model. Can the orthodontics market expand using teledentistry? No one can predict the future, but this article will provide some insights and food for thought.

Neon Canvas: Painting the Picture of an Orthodontic Practice
An Interview with Kyle Fagala, DDS, MDS
Dr. Kyle Fagala wears many hats; he is the owner & orthodontist at Saddle Creek Orthodontics, as well as the co-owner of Neon Canvas. He shares a bit of his digital marketing genius in this reSource-exclusive interview focused on his digital marketing company Neon Canvas. As a co-founder, he is involved daily in its strategies, goal setting, and output. The company is passionate about helping other doctors succeed. He believes if practice owners are ignoring digital marketing, thousands of dollars are being left on the table. Social media management is imperative to telling your story and creating a successful marketing campaign. In closing, Dr. Fagala shares his three pieces of advice regarding digital marketing that no orthodontist should miss.

The Power of a Brand
By: Dr. Clarke Stevens & Davin Bickford
Learn about two successful companies in this article. Launched by WildSmiles, Inc. in 2015, Mascot Braces has created tremendous added value for practices participating in one of the fifteen programs the company has currently launched. Mascot Braces translates the impact of a billion-dollar collegiate market into individual orthodontic practices. A comprehensive understanding of Mascot Braces can be explained in four categories: Brackets, Marketing, Exclusivity, and Profit. This article introduces this revenue-generating product and explains how it can easily be utilized in your office.

Gaidge Market Report
By: Ryan Moynihan
Gaidge has partnered with orthodontic practices across the United States, Canada, the Caribbean and Australia to automatically gather and deliver key performance indicators that assist doctors, managers and team leaders in assessing needs, setting goals and driving practice performance. Gaidge Business Analytics includes the opportunity for orthodontists to compare key practice performance indicators across practices much like their own to benchmark and keep pace with the market. This high-level article offers the most current year-to-year data (through 2nd Quarter 2017) comparing net production, net collections, adult exams, patient exams and case starts. Gaidge’s new CEO dives into the company’s robust database of information to share this “big picture” data and industry trends, to help practices compete in today’s market.

Rhinogram: A New Communication Tool for Your Practice
An Interview with Douglas Ford
In today’s digital world, HIPAA compliance remains an important issue to all orthodontic practices regardless of size. Rhinogram is a modern day, HIPAA compliant, communication tool that can be easily integrated into any practice. Douglas Ford, Vice-President of Marketing and Customer Care, chats about the benefits this all-in-one solution offers to help practices adapt to a changing mindset when it comes to patient conversations. Rhinogram easily connects orthodontists with prospective patients, referrals, and team members all in one location, turning a practice’s main phone number into a text-enabled communication line. This interview dives into the ends and outs of this new communication tool and how it allows practices to focus on what they do best…taking care of their patients.

Financial Policies & the Health of Your Practice
By: Michelle Shimmin
International lecturer and trainer, now a consultant with 26 years in the orthodontic industry, Michelle Shimmin discusses the health of your practice and strength of your financial processes. She states, “If you are not keeping track of and correlating your monthly production and starts with your monthly collections number, you need to start now!” There is no accurate way to know this information aside from keeping track of your production, number of starts, and monies collected. Michelle outlines three important questions each orthodontist should ask: Where are you now and where would you like to go? Are you growing at a rate you’re pleased with? Are you meeting the goals you set for your practice last year? Understanding how many new patient exams you do on a monthly basis and your closing rate provides valuable information and assists in uncovering areas to improve on.

Game of Loans – Understanding & Managing Educational Debt
By: Shannon Patterson, CPR, CMSR
Student loans and the mountain of educational debt are discussed in this article along with several available payback options. Knowing the amount one owes, learning about personal financial management and setting goals to fast-track loan repayments can really alleviate undue stress and anxiety as one begins their orthodontic career. Residents and early-career orthodontists should explore repayment options thoroughly. Asking for financial guidance before making a major decision on a repayment plan is key, especially if the debt load is very high – $200,000 or more. Build your strategy in today’s game of loans by working with advisors who are experienced with physician education debt and the economics of career progression, rather than generalists.

Managing the Orthodontic Practice Using Big Data Insights
By: Stephen Dixon, Tamer Jarada & Dr. Hirsham Badawi
Clinical documentation plays an important part in orthodontic care by tracking patient treatment progression. If clinical documentation is incomplete or erroneous, organizations are at risk of not following through on what needs to be done for a particular treatment. Documentation also provides a way of tracking inventory and treatment effectiveness, and it serves as a bulwark against litigation. Enter big data analytics. To reap the benefits of reduced operating costs and better patient experience, orthodontists must get better at harvesting structured data from their operations. A real-life scenario is discussed in this article focused on emergency visits from bracket bond failures using Oral4D. Using documentation, a practice (as illustrated in the example) can collect metrics on its operations, reorganize and collect metrics again to see if there is room for improvement.

Click here to read a sample version of the third quarter 2017 Bentson Copple reSource. Not a subscriber and want to learn more about the publication? Click here to visit our website.

The Bentson Copple reSource has been in publication since 2006, producing 246 articles and interviews from 109 individuals. Our Marketing Director Laura Overcash and I were discussing some favorite articles and while thinking about all the information published since 2006, several articles come to mind as favorites.

The first one, “Five Principles for Creating a Culture of Excellence,” was published in the 4th Quarter 2016 edition. This article written by Bob Burg and John David Mann is a special one for me because I had the privilege of speaking with Bob when asking him to write for the publication. I have also become a kind of connoisseur of their books. When the business parable the Go Giver was shared with us by an orthodontist, I really loved what it had to say and how it applies to not only business, but the way we live and interact with people every day! The five principles discussed are so important in creating a positive and welcoming office culture. The lessons here are appreciated and shared many times. If you haven’t read this book, I recommend that you do.

“Smile for a Lifetime: Serving a Community of Needs, located in the 3rd Quarter 2016,” written by Jill Reynolds, wife of orthodontist Dr. Mark Reynolds, is another one of my favorite articles. I have spent many hours volunteering, especially with children, so of course this one really hit home. Here, she discusses the impact Smile for a Lifetime (a great organization) has on those families who cannot afford braces. Treatment is provided to qualified candidates throughout the community, bringing this amazing opportunity to those families. As a mom of three girls, I know full well how lucky we were to be able to provide this treatment for my children. Unfortunately, not all families can do so. Therein lies the beauty of Smile for a Lifetime and the orthodontists who are part of this wonderful service.

Another article that really resonated with me was in the 1st Quarter 2017 edition, written by the very creative Adam Mead. “Be You-nique, Not Just Unique: Establishing a Brand-Centric Culture” is another discussion about creating your brand or culture. Adam talks about the power of being yourself, being unique, allowing yourself to be set apart from everyone else. It is a key factor of success in orthodontics and pretty much everything else when it comes to standing out in a crowd. It is who you are and what you represent. When thinking about this advice in regard to myself and our newsletter, I believe we have really begun to utilize this technique.

Thanks for reading this post and please direct any and all comments to me, patrice@bentsoncopple.com, as I am always looking for ways to improve the reSource and increase our readership. Of course, inquiries about a subscription would be better, much better.

The second quarter edition of the Bentson Clark reSource is now available. Each quarter, the reSource orthodontic newsletter publishes articles regarding the current issues and concerns within the world of orthodontics. This edition features six articles offering a strong focus on the Millennial generation, providing an update on the CDC’s sterilization rules and discussing the impact of adult patients in regard to practice management. Below is a brief overview of each article included in the latest Bentson Clark reSource (Volume XI, Issue II).

Embracing The Next Generation of Orthodontics
By: Shannon Patterson, CPR, CMSR
In the growing world of orthodontics, older generations are retiring and Millennials are entering the orthodontic workforce. Millennials do have different needs, expectations and working styles than the previous generations – Silent Generation, Baby Boomers and Generation X. In Shannon Patterson’s article, she discusses the diversity of each generation’s viewpoints and identifies the factors impacting today’s orthodontic residents’ career choices. By understanding the Millennial mindset, skills and background, you will be able to better engage with them to make a difference in your practice and community.

The Associate Income Divide
By: Chris Bentson
Chris Bentson examines two different scenarios that the Bentson Clark & Copple team hears frequently – one from the new and younger doctor demographic and the other from the established orthodontic demographic. Presently, there is a wide divide between what a young or newly minted orthodontist can make working for a DSO versus the traditional solo or small group practice. It appears debt fatigue is driving much of this interest in employee positions versus ownership.

The Millennial Mom: Her Native Tongue is Technology
By: Brenda Ashwell
Did you know that one in five moms is a Millennial? Brenda Ashwell of PracticeGenius discusses how and why it is important to cater to Millennial mothers through the beauty of technology. She analyzes why it is important to focus on marketing strategies to reach these mothers, and how it can bring success to one’s orthodontic practice.

Millennial Moms: What to Know About This Tech-Savvy Generation
By: Maria T. Bailey
There is an estimated 83.1 million Millennials in the United States alone; 42 million of those are women and 13 million are mothers. Today’s generation of mothers want speedy service, information and answers. In addition, they are highly connected with the world around them. It is critical for anyone who plans to do business with this group of women to understand what drives the Millennial generation. Maria Bailey presents a brief overview of Millennial Mothers, how to communicate with them accordingly and how to stay connected.

Percentage of Adult Patients Impacts Practice Management
By: Dr. Bob Haeger
Dr. Bob Haeger discusses the importance of keeping track of adult exams/starts in one’s orthodontic practice. He provides information focused on five essential areas in practice management: attracting new patients, converting patients to starts, treatment, employee management and revenue and expenses. He also focuses on the importance of statistical and factual information to help a growing practice thrive.

Sterilization Process: What You Need to Know for 2016
By: Andrea Cook
Sterilization is one of the most important functions of any orthodontic practice. Andrea Cook provides up-to-date facts, administrative measures and hygiene etiquette established by the CDC (Center for Disease Control) in her article. She also takes an in-depth look into the difference between sterilization and disinfection, as both are crucial to keeping your patients safe and remaining compliant with the CDC guidelines.

The first quarter 2016 edition of the Bentson Clark reSource is now available. Each quarter, the Bentson Clark reSource orthodontic newsletter analyzes and examines the most current issues and concerns within the orthodontic industry. This quarter’s publication features a vast array of articles targeted towards all orthodontists, regardless of practice size or career stage. Here’s a brief overview of the articles included in the latest issue:

Looking Back at the Practice Valuations of 2015
By: Chris Bentson & Doug Copple
The first quarter edition of the Bentson Clark reSource leads with the highly anticipated annual review of practice valuation metrics. This year celebrates the tenth consecutive year that Bentson Clark & Copple, LLC has released this data in the reSource. The information presented in this article is compiled from 55 orthodontic practice valuations that we completed during the 2015 calendar year.

As with prior review articles, the data discussed includes high-level figures such as the following: rounded net collections, practice income, adjusted overhead rate, debt-free value and value expressed as a percentage of collections for each respective practice. This article will review the averages and offer a window into the current values of today’s orthodontic practices. As additional analysis, the information is broken down based on the number of practice locations, to be used as a rough comparison tool for similarly situated practices.

Digital Marketing Trends to Watch in 2016
By: Mary Kay Miller
Online marketing evolves at lightning speed and each year brings new hardware, new software and new user preferences. In order to develop a successful online marketing strategy, businesses must stay up-to-date on the latest trends. Mary Kay Miller’s article discusses the latest digital marketing and the future impact in the orthodontic industry. She briefly discusses website design trends, online advertising (Google and Facebook), video advertising and the growth of video content. The information featured in this article can provide guidance for businesses integrating current trends into their marketing strategy.

The Stress of It All
By Dr. Neil Warshawsky
Accelerating orthodontic treatment is a timely topic in today’s orthodontic marketplace. Dr. Warshawsky, a Chicago-based orthodontist, discusses new competitive realities, reinvention and his personal experience with Propel. He presents a brief case study that illustrates his results using Propel and discusses the economics of accelerated care. Dr. Warshawsky examines how using the accelerating devices during treatment increases revenue per treatment, improves the practice’s cash flow and increases available chairtime for new patient starts.

EasyRx: Digital Prescription Management
An Interview with Dr. Marc Lemchen & Mr. Khashi Rahmani
EasyRx is a cloud-based, digital patient appliance prescription management software for orthodontic practices and labs. This interview with Dr. Marc Lemchen (current customer, investor and board member of EasyRx) and Mr. Khashi Rahmani (Business Development Coordinator of EasyRx), offers insight into the history of the company, breaks down core features, provides information regarding practice management integration and suggests reasons to consider the product. Dr. Lemchen discusses the advantages he has experienced using the software from consolidating workflow, improving efficiency and reducing mistakes. Last but not least, Mr. Rahmani briefly examines the impact EasyRx can make on a practice’s bottom line.

Click here to read a sample version of the first quarter 2016 Bentson Clark reSource. Not a subscriber and want to learn more about the publication? Click here to visit our website.