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New Orthodontic Insights You Can’t Afford to Miss

3rd Qtr 2017 reSource Now Available 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.

MTV Meets Orthodontics

MTV Meetings Orthodontics - Bentson Copple & Associates
Bentson Copple & Associates are known within the industry as valuation, transition and recruiting specialists; however, over the last five years we accidentally became known for our annual holiday video. The holiday video is a hot topic that comes up in conversation throughout the year from clients, consultants, vendors and friends. There is an unspoken anticipation of how we’ll top the previous year’s video.

Let’s rewind for a moment. In 1992, I was in the second grade and was one of the cool kids because my parents allowed me to watch MTV. I was fascinated by music videos – these pieces of visual art were not only a way to promote the newest song by an artist, but back then, there was a story being told within every video. I will never forget the first time I saw Guns N Roses’ November Rain on MTV! It contained so many memorable elements: a symphony playing alongside a rock n’ roll performance, a wedding, two rainstorms, a funeral sequence and a swooping helicopter shot during the guitar solo. It was the most epic piece of cinematography I had ever seen! It was at that very moment I decided, at the age of 8, that I wanted to become a music video director.

Well…that career choice didn’t quite work out as planned, but video has always been in my blood (thanks Axl & Slash). In 2011, video marketing was starting to become a major influence, so I created a holiday greeting video for our company. The first Bentson Copple & Associates holiday video was a far cry from the extravagant November Rain performance. It was simple, it was generic and it wasn’t very memorable – but it was the beginning of something much larger, an annual tradition at the BC&A office.

In the fall of 2016, our team filmed the Holiday Carpool Karaoke video. It began with a four-page script, but as the cameras rolled, our team began to shine; our individual personalities broke through, we shared real laughs together and offered a glimpse into our office culture. The carpool video has come a long way from that first video of stock footage, one camera and less than two hours of editing. The 5:46 minute video was much more than meets the eye. Let’s break down the 2016 Holiday Video by the numbers:

25 Hours of Editing
12 Team Members
10 Hours of Research
7 Songs That Were Sung
5 Cars Used
4 Hours of Filming
3 Script Re-writes
3 GoPros
3 CDs
3 Hours of Recorded Video Footage
2 Planning Meetings
1 Handheld Video Camera
1 Encounter with a Policeman
1 Borrowed Santa Suit
1 Trip to Target
1 Burn Out
1 Catered Lunch
Too Many Laughs to Count

As Director of Marketing, I’m blessed that the entire Bentson Copple & Associates team has always been receptive and willing to participate in the yearly holiday video shenanigans. There is always a bit of apprehension when the theme of the video is announced, but after a bit of persuasion, everyone eventually gets on board.

Yes, it’s only August – but you never know when inspiration may strike. My eyes are open, my ears are to the ground and the creative ideas are already flowing for the 2017 holiday video. We look forward to presenting the next holiday video, hearing your future feedback and stepping out from behind our desks for your entertainment pleasure.

-Laura Overcash, Director of Marketing

Good Old Fashioned Customer Service Is Alive

Good Old Fashioned Customer Service Is Alive
I went grocery shopping yesterday after work. Normally there is nothing special about doing that. We all do it; some of us enjoy it, and some of us – not so much. Yesterday, however, was a special grocery shopping day in that it was the grand opening of the new Publix grocery store in High Point, North Carolina, just down the street from our office.

I lived in Texas for many years, where there were no Publix stores, although the Texas giant H-E-B was considerably close. However, when my father retired, he and my mom moved to Tampa, Florida and I had the opportunity to spend a lot of time visiting with them the 20 years they lived there. During those visits, I went to Publix with my father on many occasions. It was always a positive, enjoyable experience.

Yesterday during my shopping experience, I saw firsthand what exceptional customer service is all about. Publix’s mission statement on the homepage of their website says it all, with the first bullet point being “Passionately focused on customer value”. Every job I have had since I was 16 years old has involved customer service. It is something important to me and something that I feel has sadly diminished rapidly throughout our country.

Upon entering the store I found it to be clean, beautiful and, of course, brand new. I was greeted at the door with welcomes and smiles – the kind of smiles that reflect genuine gratitude. There were associates at every turn down every aisle, ready to take care of any need. They were outgoing, smiling and all made direct eye contact that showed sincerity. I realize it was their grand opening and day-to-day operations will not include that much customer attention, but what an impression it made. This company obviously does a great job in recruiting and training its staff members. These staff members are also the owners of their company, as Publix is the largest employee-owned grocery chain in the U.S.

From asking the location of an item and being assisted by a knowledgeable associate, to the friendly girl who rang up my groceries, to the sweet young man who pushed my shopping cart to my car, it was a 10 out of 10 experience. I remember when assistance taking groceries to your car was normal. When this young man asked if I needed help taking the groceries to my car I replied with “no, I can handle it, thank you – his response was “but it would be my pleasure to assist you.” How do you say no to that? During our short walk he explained that he was 16, in high school and after much training, he was excited to actually be putting the training to good use. He seemed to be an exceptional young man and passionately focused on customer value. I love their mission statement!

Customer service is an attitude, not a department. No matter what industry, field or business you are in, this should hold true to all. People want to feel important and appreciated. That extra step taken to show that real care goes into how someone is treated is so very valuable. Whether you are selling clothing, flipping burgers or straightening teeth, people have choices. When you want them to choose you, you have to go above and beyond the usual steps to create something worth coming back for. I have three grocery stores very close to my office and home. Publix is a bit off my daily commute, but with the quality of products they offer, along with the atmosphere and culture that they have created in which to sell those products, I am eager to go back.

The reSource: Knowledge, Wisdom & Some Favorites

The Bentson Copple reSource Knowledge, Wisdom and Some Favorites

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.

Music to The Ears of Orthodontic Residents

Bentson Copple & Associates - Music to the Ears of Orthodontic Residents
As Steven Tyler of Aerosmith belts out in the chorus of Dream On, his unforgettable raspy voice sings, “Dream on…Dream on…Dream on…Dream until your dreams come true.” Isn’t that what life is really all about, making your dreams come true and reaching for stars in both your personal and professional life? Reaching for your dreams is a common theme heard across all musical genres. Here are just a few musical examples that quickly come to mind:

Break My Stride – Matthew Wilder
“Ain’t nothin’ gonna break-a my stride. Nobody gonna slow me down, oh no, I got to keep on moving.”

I Believe I Can Fly – R. Kelly
“I believe I can fly. I believe I can touch the sky.”

Gonna Fly Now – Bill Conti
This is an inspirational ode to Rocky Balboa; how can you not be motivated to reach for your goals after hearing this tune?

However, along the way, everyone needs a little bit of help obtaining his/her dreams or goals. Help in overcoming the roadblocks that might be encountered. Help tackling any setbacks that might happen along the journey. Help maintaining the inspiration to keep one’s goal in sight. Help in overcoming all forms of discouragement. When it comes to obtaining career goals, help comes in a variety of outlets, from one-on-one connections, to educational opportunities, to lifetime mentorship (just to name a few).

Let’s focus on one excellent learning opportunity created solely to help residents focused on their future orthodontist career. For over 28 years, the Graduate Orthodontic Residents Program (GORP) has been an educational outreach designed to arm residents with the tools needed to become a successful orthodontist. The 3-day event offers a variety of educational lectures, access to industry vendors, raffles and exciting extracurricular events.

This year, GORP is being held in Cleveland, Ohio (home of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame – hence the musical inspiration for the blog post), at the Cleveland Marriott Downtown Hotel, August 3-6, 2017!

If you are planning to attend GORP, take a moment to meet Shannon Patterson, CPR, CMSR, Director of Practice Opportunities and Anthony Copple, JD, Transition Specialist. Shannon and Anthony, along with our entire team, are here to provide doctors, both new and established, help in reaching your orthodontic dreams and goals, in terms of your future orthodontic careers. They will be happy to answer any questions you may have regarding practice opportunities, placement services, buyer representation services and current market trends.

If you are unsure about the direction of your future orthodontic career, Shannon Patterson, our Orthodontic Placement Specialist, can provide guidance with your career choices and discuss current market trends in the orthodontic industry. She will have a list of our current practice opportunities, including associate positions, equity-minded associate positions and practices for sale throughout the United States. If you have identified a practice purchase opportunity or an opportunity to join an existing practice as a partner, Anthony will be available to address questions you may have regarding buyer representation.

To quote the famous catchphrase of Casey Kasem, “Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars!” Also click here to listen to a great playlist assembled by the Huffington Post about pursuing your dreams; hopefully it will provide inspiration during your orthodontic journey!

Celebrating at the 2017 AAO Annual Session

Dr. Jerry Clark Receives the 2017 AAO Humanitarian Award

Just like you each of you, we enjoy learning about new trends, advancements and the overall health of the orthodontic industry at the AAO Annual Session. As a company, we use events such as these to increase our knowledge and, in turn, pass along this wisdom to the orthodontic community in articles, lectures or during our client transactions.

This year’s annual session was packed with lectures and events that we were honored to take part in. Thanks to everyone who stopped by our booth in the exhibit hall, attended one of Chris Bentson’s lectures, visited with our team at the Orthodontic Career Fair or participated in the New Orthodontist/Resident Conference.

One of the highlights of this year’s meeting was attending the Excellence in Orthodontics Awards Ceremony. Our great friend Dr. Jerry Clark, whose name has been associated with us since our company was formed in 2004, received the 2017 Humanitarian Award at this year’s event. He has had an impressive orthodontic career and remained focused throughout on his many philanthropic efforts in the Greensboro, North Carolina community.

He founded the Make-A-Wish Foundation of North Carolina in 1985 and his many years devoted to the organization saw the wishes of more than 5,000 children fulfilled. He is active in the Kiwanis Club and youth soccer coaching. For many years, he has helped feed the homeless at Grace Community Church and has tutored at-risk, inner-city children. He helped found and served more than 10 years as chairman of the board of directors of Journey Resources, a non-profit organization providing spiritual direction to individuals, businesses and churches. In addition, Dr. Clark has participated in many dental and construction oriented mission trips.

We are very proud of Dr. Jerry Clark and congratulate him on his contributions to the specialty and our community.

Click here to read the official press release from the AAO.

Seven Articles to Instantly Improve Your Orthodontic Practice

Seven Articles from the Bentson Copple reSource to Instantly Improve Your Orthodontic Practice
You may have noticed our company logo has changed on our website, on our social media pages and even on header of this blog page. Bentson Clark & Copple, LLC is officially Bentson Copple & Associates, LLC. The name change has also affected the newsletter; the official name of the publication is now the Bentson Copple reSource. Don’t worry, everything about the publication will remain the same! You will continue to receive the highest quality news and information regarding the business aspects of operating a successful orthodontic practice! The newest edition of the reSource is no exception. We are excited to publish the largest newsletter in the history of the publication with a total of 16 pages and seven articles/interviews. Below is a sampling of the 2nd Quarter newsletter.

Align Turns Twenty – Why You Should Care
By: Chris Bentson
Our first article in this edition of the reSource focuses on Align Technology, Inc. As the company reaches its 10-year anniversary, Chris Bentson offers insights into their industry relevance. The article provides a glimpse into the company’s history and leadership, offers a brief analysis of the company’s stock price and shares general information pertinent to the orthodontic community. With consolidation and competition in the specialty accelerating and Invisalign’s growth rate four times above the market, who knows what the future may hold for Align Technology!

Let’s Chat: Insights from Marketing Experts
An Interview with Jeff Wilson & Scott Hansen
Our team recently ‘chatted’ with Scott Hansen, Owner of OrthoChats and Jeff Wilson, Founder of Ortho Engagement, who are both leaders in the marketing channel of online chat. This side-by-side interview offers insights into the quickly expanding world of chat and what services are available and which companies offer them. Both Jeff and Scott reveal how and why this form of digital marketing can help to improve the overall patient experience. Their unique backgrounds and their marketing perspectives offer readers awareness into why live chat can easily become a successful part of your orthodontic practice’s marketing plan.

What You Need to Know about EasyRx’s New Ownership
An Interview with Todd Blackenbecler
Chris Bentson speaks with Todd Blackenbecler, President and CEO of EasyRx as he reveals his new role in this company and the ways it can streamline and organize the prescription and lab process in one’s orthodontic practice. Dr. Marc Lemchen, founder of Dolphin Imaging, is onboard helping to create a product that improves the practice-lab prescription process, which ultimately positively impacts the bottom line of the practice. The 100% cloud/browser-based system has recently announced integrations with popular practice management software and the team looks forward to what the future may hold.

Highlights from the 2017 ADSO Summit
By: Doug Copple, CVA & Shannon Patterson, CPR, CMSR
There are many questions when it comes to Dental Service Organizations (DSOs). In order to learn more, two Bentson Copple & Associates team members attended the Association of Dental Support Organizations (ADSO) Annual Summit – a two and a half day meeting featuring a variety of speakers from diverse backgrounds, both inside and outside the dental marketplace. Doug Copple and Shannon Patterson share their eye-opening takeaways from the meeting in this article. Shannon discusses the focus on patient experience and the DSO employee/associate model. Doug also examines the patient experience, as well as continuing education & professional development, technology, access to capital and efficiency ethics & regulations.

Five Year Follow-Up: What’s New with Mari’s List?
An Interview with Mari Sawtelle Dunn
Mari’s List is an elite orthodontic buying group and study club celebrating its 5-year anniversary! The company, founded by Mari Sawtelle Dunn, has negotiated deals individual orthodontists are unable to obtain on many of the best quality products and services available. This interview is focused on the growth of the company and the four core benefits of Mari’s List – evaluation of current spending, buying list, coaching and the Facebook study group, where questions are asked and ideas are shared. Mari’s core value of providing exceptional savings and customer service, while maintaining one-on-one service is evident throughout the interview.

Lifecycle Design for Your Orthodontic Office
By: Joyce Matlack
Each doctor needs to consider the current and future needs of one’s office space while focusing on the long-term return investment. When preparing for your ideal future orthodontic practice, Joyce Matlack explores a variety of options available in selecting and building your perfect office. This article explores six paths an orthodontic career may take in regard to office design: academics to private practice, start up to successful flagship, or opening a satellite (or two), bringing on an associate and reducing days in the office, selling your practice and building a semi-retirement office or moving to a satellite.

The Competition Has Changed
By: Angela Weber
Many industries, including orthodontics, have felt the forces of ‘disruption.’ In a recently conducted OrthoSynetics study, it was found that 68% of consumers don’t understand the difference between the role of a dentist and the role of an orthodontist. Angela Weber discusses several steps an orthodontist can take to educate potential patients and address the changing landscape today – by simplifying the orthodontic treatment process, becoming an educational source, making personal connections and reflecting on the competition.

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

3 Reasons to Visit Our Team at the AAO

Visit Bentson Copple at the AAO Annual Session
The AAO Annual Session is one of the most highly anticipated events for the orthodontic community each year. There are so many activities, as well as networking and learning opportunities under one roof for doctors, staff and exhibitors. Just like you, we enjoy learning about new trends, advancements and the overall health of the orthodontic industry at the Annual Session. As a company, we use events such as these to increase our knowledge and, in turn, pass along this wisdom to the ortho community in articles, lectures or during our client transactions. There are three reasons you should take note of the events Bentson Copple & Associates are participating in at the AAO Annual Session (April 21 – 25) in San Diego.

Opportunity for Information Sharing

The Annual Session offers many educational lectures and we are honored to share our knowledge in a variety of learning environments. Listed below are a few lectures that you may want to attend:

Practice Transition Seminar
Friday, April 21 – 8:00am – 5:30pm
The all-day Practice Transition Seminar is a tool to aid orthodontists during the challenging time of a career transition. The seminar brings together a four-person panel of transition experts to share insights for orthodontists preparing for a future transition.

Invisalign In-Booth Lecture
Saturday, April 22 – 12:00pm – 12:50pm
Chris Bentson will be presenting an Invisalign in-booth lecture (Booth #505). The title of the lecture is “No Voodoo – How Invisalign Adds Profit to Your Practice” and its content will offer market data showing that practices are growing their business with Invisalign treatment. Seeking growth and higher profits? This presentation will offer real data and insights about how Invisalign treatment can fit into one’s practice model.

State of the Orthodontic Industry
Sunday, April 23 – 10:30am – 11:30am (Repeat Monday, April 24 – 10:30am – 11:30am)
Results for the solo and small group practice were very strong in 2016, and doctor-owners are looking to build on that in 2017. With many forces pushing and pulling to change the shape of dentistry, Chris Bentson will offer doctor-owners the knowledge to make necessary strategic decisions with present facts regarding the current market.

New Orthodontist/Resident Conference
Sunday, April 23 – 2:30pm – 4:00pm
This program, sponsored by the AAO, with keynote speaker Chris Bentson, will address the steps to follow to pursue specific orthodontic career paths or practice modalities. Following his 40-minute presentation, attendees will break into small groups for discussions. Shannon Patterson, our Director of Practice Opportunities & Orthodontic Placements, and Doug Copple will be two of many leading the discussions.

Networking

Many doctors attend the meeting just for the available networking opportunities. One of the most anticipated networking opportunities is one especially for doctors seeking career opportunities. Our team will be a part of the third annual Orthodontic Career Fair.

Orthodontic Career Fair
Sunday, April 23 – 4:00pm – 5:30pm
The Orthodontic Career Fair offers the opportunity to engage face-to-face with employer representatives and discuss possible opportunities. The event will feature many companies and practices with available opportunities, such as associate positions, equity-minded associate opportunities and practices for sale.

Meet Our Team Face-to-Face

Face-to-face meetings are not just preferable, but necessary for building deeper, stronger bonds with clients and maintaining productive relationships. The Annual Session provides just that. We invite all doctors to stop by the Bentson Copple & Associates Booth (#3537) any time during the Annual Session and speak with us in person. Our team will be happy to discuss plans for a potential practice valuation/appraisal, a practice transition, recruiting or any other change of orthodontic ownership. Residents and job seekers can also learn more about our placement services and career opportunities. Be sure to pick up a complimentary copy of the Bentson Copple reSource newsletter, published for all orthodontists, regardless of practice size or career stage.

Six Articles to Supercharge Your Orthodontic Knowledge

Bentson Clark reSource is now available. Each quarter, the reSource publishes articles focused on the business of operating an orthodontic practice. The newest edition includes six non-clinical articles. The lead article is the highly anticipated valuation review containing data that is often used by doctors to benchmark his/her individual practice. This edition also rounds out a 5-part series focused on marketing to Millennial mothers, a 2-part series concerning insurance benefits and a 3-part series regarding personalized marketing/branding.

Looking Back at the Practice Valuations of 2016
By: Chris Bentson & Doug Copple, CVA
As a tradition, the first quarter edition of the Bentson Clark reSource begins with the annual review of practice valuation metrics seen during the previous year. This year marks the eleventh consecutive year Bentson Clark & Copple, LLC has published this data set. The information presented within this article is compiled from several high-level statistics extracted from the orthodontic valuations completed by the company during the 2016 calendar year. The averages addressed in this article include net collections, practice income, overhead rate and practice value.

Management of Insurance Benefits – What’s to Like? – Part 2
By: Tina Byrne
In part two of Tina Byrne’s article, she discusses the remaining three “P’s” of an insurance system – preparation, process and punctuality (part 1 focused on plans/participation and practice policy). Tina offers insurance tidbits regarding practice management software utilization, insurance forms, patient education materials, verification of benefits, claim submission, benefit payments and the urgency of handling delinquent patient receivables. Identifying and addressing internal deficiencies will bring about positive change for the practice and patients while assisting the insurance coordinator in handling patient benefits.

Financial Mountain Climbing: What is the Goal?
By: Mart McClellan, D.D.S., M.S. & Tim Streid C.L.U.
Ascending and descending a mountain with a Sherpa is a perfect analogy when it comes to understanding financial success. When orthodontists focus on their own financial efficiency, they will reach their maximum financial potential and make it back to financial base camp successfully! Dr. McClellan and Mr. Streid provide insights in understanding efficiency as it pertains to financial decision-making. Efficient money decisions allow orthodontists to accelerate their wealth and not simply accumulate it. These advisors are the only firm in America who utilize a macroeconomic model for financial decision-making and have an orthodontist as an advisor.

Choosing an Orthodontic Site in a Competitive Environment
By: Scott McDonald
Orthodontists need to think more strategically than ever about what makes a good, bad or simply acceptable site for an orthodontic practice. There are many important variables that factor into selecting a location. Some of which include the following: median household income, educational attainment scores, type of housing, family culture, population growth and competition rates. After examining hundreds of orthodontic offices throughout the United States, Scott McDonald discusses evaluating the metrics of acceptable locations. All of these issues can be operationalized through psychographic data that will define in a rational way what makes one community more “ortho-friendly” than others.

Be You-nique, Not Just Unique: Establishing a Brand-Centric Culture
By: Adam Mead
While being unique sounds great and easy enough to do, it’s actually quite difficult in practice. It really takes guts to give yourself permission to be unique. Adam Mead, founder and owner of brand strategy agency yogg & brand design agency KARV, speaks about branding, the importance of making it unique and how it represents you and your practice’s culture. When used correctly, branding is a “relationship development tool rather than simply a marketing tool.” His experience with orthodontists and many other industries offers eye-opening ideas for doctors to consider.

Reaching Millennial (and All) Moms in 2017 and Beyond
By: Maria T. Bailey
Did you know that less than 15% of Millennials and only 19% of GenX mothers want to actually speak on the phone to a customer service agent (i.e., scheduling rep or office manager)? To maximize mom engagement efforts and get the most out of an $11 billion annual market, Maria Bailey offers tips to consider when marketing to a Millennial Mom. Using significant research and data, this article dives into upgrading customer service options, social media mantra, social listings and audits.

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