High-Tech Clinic Workflows with a Human Touch

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[00:00:16] Welcome to Practice Talk, brought to you by people in practice where we specialize in digital marketing, website development, SEO, and so much more. I'm so excited for today's discussion as we dig into the topic of High Tech Clinic workflows with a human touch with my guest, Rebecca. Rebecca has been nominated by GRIN as an outstanding team member and the grin specialist that nominated her specifically said, and I quote, she is a highly positive team member who is always willing to help.

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[00:01:08] Welcome, Rebecca. Hi. Thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be here. I'm so grateful that you have taken the time to join me and kind of geek out a little bit on orthodontics, a world that I absolutely love. So, um, I'm excited to chat about how your office is utilizing technology and kind of the role that you play in that innovation.

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[00:01:52] Um, they start by showing our certificates, you know, just kind of validating us and who we are. We also, [00:02:00] um, I work for Dr. Rete and he's really great at teaching us to be mini orthodontists. So he likes us to go above and beyond. We have an extra degree, um, a specialized orthodontic assistant. So we showed those off as well.

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[00:02:38] Let, let me talk to you a little bit about grin. So, you know, it's great because we get to see you from home. We don't actually have to see you in the office if you have any questions, an emergency bracket pop, um, broken, uh, or well broken bracket, poke wire, anything like that, we just help guide them over grin, Hey, this is what to do.

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[00:03:16] So the, um, technology for GRIN with your office isn't implemented prior to them coming into the practice. 'cause I know some, um, offices use it to like. Do the patient intake or do like a, a virtual exam or something like that. But you specifically, you guys are using it once the patient is in the practice?

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[00:03:52] So great. Once they come in, they get bonded or aligners, we give it to them. We'll go over the instructions. We'll do the first stand with them. [00:04:00] Okay? That way they know when they get it done. Great. And so every single patient that starts treatment with your practice, um, goes into the GRIN system. Um, lately we've been doing aligner patients, we were finding braces.

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[00:04:33] Versus you having to come in, but, and then are you monitoring those scans as they come in, or do you have, do you take turns as team members or who is monitoring the, the information once you get it? So, I'm in charge of grin. I, um, I, pretty much, every time a scan comes in, I let grin do their job. I also don't wanna step on their toes.

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[00:05:16] Perfect. So I'd also love for you to give, uh, us an overview of how your clinic functions, since I know you're the clinical lead, starting with how you welcome a patient back for their appointment and just kind of, you know, do you work in columns? Do you work? How, how do you guys function as a back office?

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[00:05:51] You can either wait in the back or go run, grab some coffee, come back, whatever you wanna do. Sometimes I'm, I'm a little cheesy and I like to joke around, so I'll be like, if you wanna leave them [00:06:00] here, we'll have 'em help us clean or something. So they get a good laugh. Um, we bring 'em back and we just get started on working.

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[00:06:32] The way our doctor does it is he'll kind of stagger appointments, but there's set appointments that he'll do. So like bondings, we'll do like at nine or 10, or we'll do them at one or two. Um, so he puts those and columns, so not everybody would be grabbing the same thing. So we just kinda, if a patient's here just go ahead and grab them.

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[00:07:07] So we like to stay on time. So if I see like, Hey, that's gonna run us back a little bit. This patient's on time, take the patient that's on time versus the one that's early so everybody gets seen. Perfect. I love that. Um, I, I've worked in both settings. I've worked in offices, um, started as a chair site assistant and I worked in offices where we didn't have columns, and then I've worked in offices where we did.

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[00:07:48] And then I've worked in offices where there wasn't great teamwork in the back, to be quite honest. And, um, it was really helpful to have columns so we could see who's actually on time and doing, you know. [00:08:00] Who's here and like showing up and doing the work versus, uh, somebody who's maybe not pulling all of their weight.

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[00:08:24] 'cause every practice just runs and functions so differently. It's its own little organism, you know? I agree. Um, you know, my job as lead, I'm a leader first before I'm an assistant at this point. So I empower my assistants, not my assistants, but you know, I power our assistants to be the best they can be. I always, they're always saying like, oh, we wanna be like you, you know, as great as you are.

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[00:09:09] There's nothing in that office that they don't know how to do. So I make sure that from the beginning, like, Hey, you're. Out everything. So you can't come to me and say, I don't know how to do this. Because then we sit down, we have a training, I'm always checking in on them, Hey, how can I help? What can I, where can I strength strengthen you?

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[00:09:53] But when they start from the beginning. We're not doing that. If you have a problem, we can [00:10:00] sit down. Either you talk to them one-on-one, or the three of us are sitting down and we're having a conversation about what, what it is that's bothering you. We don't wanna let it fester. We don't want it, want you one day to explode and just, you know, so.

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[00:10:32] Yeah. So I love that. I think the offices that nail communication. Tend to struggle less with, uh, the issues that I, I mean, you're right, it's a primarily a group of women working together and that's not always an easy thing. And I think when you just cut through the crap, so to speak, and just like, just say it how it is, and let's have open dialogue and like, we're gonna have bad days and some of us are gonna have great days, and where can we help [00:11:00] when somebody is struggling?

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[00:11:23] Number one, and then great communication and then taking great care of your patients. Like it, it just all flows together. So it sounds like you guys are doing it makes it go smoother. Yes, for sure. You know it. I'm not gonna say we don't have our days. We all have our days, so it's fine, but we just keep it going.

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[00:12:06] So let's listen to our first question. How does your team manage emergencies within your busy schedule? That's a great one. You know, with the holidays there's always emergencies and we just got through a holiday. So again, if they're on grin, I have them. Hey, go ahead and do your scan. Let me see what I can help with.

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[00:12:45] I, I, we always figure it out. We always make time for our emergency patients. You, you also don't wanna be with a pokey wire dabbing in your cheek. So we're like, Hey, if we can do it real quick, let's take care of it. We don't. Want, you know, them [00:13:00] suffering or anything, so. Sure. So do you put them, do you have like an overflow chair that you can triage if somebody does need to come into the practice?

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[00:13:29] It will get taken care of. Um, our treatment coordinator had actually started as an assistant, so she also, if she sees it and she's not busy with a console, it, she'll say, Hey, come on back. Let me take care of you. So. They're very, very helpful. Uh, I'm, I'm the biggest proponent in the world on cross training because I started as an assistant.

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[00:14:11] A little bit of a clash between the front and the back. And then when you've sat in the front office chair and you're like, oh my gosh, there's so much stress. The doctor needs this and I've got three patients asking me that, and the phones are ringing off the hook and like it's, it can be very overwhelming.

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[00:14:50] You know? So them knowing, working in the back and then transitioning to the front, it's also helpful to say, oh, that's gonna make someone, you know, [00:15:00] not happy. So let me not do that, but let me offer you this time to not put us in that predicament. Yes, I love that. It's easier. Yeah, for sure. Um, all right, let's listen to our next question.

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[00:15:31] So if a patient has a question that where they've already stepped away from Dr. Ortega or the parent does, we'll make a note of it so that when their next appointment comes around, we'll, at the morning meeting, bring it up. Hey, parent had a question about when Johnny's getting braces off, or, you know, whatever the question may be so that we know he's gonna be caught up right here.

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[00:16:17] Um, he's really caught up right now. I'll give you a call back with that answer. So. They're at ease and they know that's perfect. Yeah, we always, I, I think. All orthodontists love to just share this knowledge that they've gained, um, of, of, and it's just like for them, like, this is exciting for me 'cause you and I get to geek out about this world that we live in.

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[00:17:01] And, um, it just, sometimes we had to be like. All right. So actually with that doctor, um, we got a bright, it was like lime green sticky notes. And when he saw those come out and onto the desk of the tc, he would know it's time to say, I'm gonna leave you with my expert and she will answer all of your questions.

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[00:17:40] Is that kind of how it works for you? Yes. Well sometimes, you know, if the treatment coordinator, she spends time with them first before Dr. EO goes in there. Mm-hmm. So she'll come out and she'll let me know, like, Hey, so my patient has like a ton of questions. He's gonna be caught up with me. Um, that then lets me know I need to [00:18:00] clear this clinical bailout before he goes in there so it doesn't waste our time.

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[00:18:21] I was at the longest in like. Me as the tc, we didn't have a clinical lead in the office I was with the longest. So it wasn't as easy for me to go to one person and be like, Hey, this is gonna be a long one. Or like, so I think. Probably having that person in the back just kind of working that flow is probably one of the biggest keys to managing that doctor time because then you guys can work together in, this is what we have coming up next and this is what, you know, this is what we've got going on.

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[00:19:09] I tell them, Hey, you're not only a mini orthodontist, but you're also a mini lead. Like, I want you to take that initiative and figure it out on your own. Not that I'm gonna leave you stranded, but I'm here to help. But. I push them to think on their own. So when I am caught up and the TC comes back there and she's like, Hey, we have a chatty patient.

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[00:19:49] 'cause that is not what thank I'm hearing in multiple practices lately. It's hiring is a really big struggle for practices right now. So, I mean maybe it always is and has been, [00:20:00] but like. Getting people who actually care and want to like, show up and do a good job. And not just like, I come here, I do the bare minimum so I can go home.

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[00:20:28] What I could, right? Whether that was 110% today or 70% today, whatever it was like I showed up and gave what I had to give, and I think, oh yes. I think that's a really hard quality to find in people these days. Just say it. It truly, truly is. You know, it took us a few years to get where we're at now, honestly.

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[00:21:13] And we don't like it. We want them to come in. We, we love our patients, so we. If we know an assistant, like if they're reading that and they bypass that, then you know, he's like, then they're, they weren't a fit, but if he someone sees it, they submit their joke and they will. And we'll like, okay, cool, so let's have 'em come in.

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[00:21:51] So we set that already from the beginning. Yeah. I think clear expectations right from the jump is like. One of the biggest keys [00:22:00] and the doctor that, so I, I've told this story before, but, um, on the podcast that I was actually working in a photography studio and I, um, did pictures for the same family over and over, and the mom would bring her kids and they had like, I don't know, four or five kids.

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[00:22:34] And so I was like, no. Um, but I loved her. She was the sweetest, and so I was like, yeah, you know, I'll go in and just talk to 'em. And it was just, there was. It was very informal. I just went, went in one day and just like talked to him and like talked to the staff and he had me like sitting down and was showing me how to pass instruments.

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[00:23:11] We're like, yes, that's our, that's our girl. We want her. Um, so I, I think you can train people. Most people you can train. Most people are smart enough to pick up if they've done something over and over and over and learn a skill. What you can't train as easily is like that, that care and that intuition and the heart that it takes to show up every day and see, you know, what 80 patients like.

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[00:23:57] We check in on patients, [00:24:00] not, you know, you get your regular, like, hey, you know, here's a care call you got your braces on. Cool. No, we send videos so We'll, we have an office phone. We'll, hey Johnny, you know you got your braces put on last week. I hope everything's great. Your soreness is gone. Let me know how everything is, how I can help.

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[00:24:40] How do you get that message out there to people? So we usually do the seven and up campaign. Mm-hmm. Um, so we do push that. We do a lot of community events. Um, you know, this past year was kind of rough, so we didn't do so many, but we do try to get in where we can with the schools, with the [00:25:00] community, anything there is, if there's anything that we can sponsor, we will, um, we do like trunk or treats, and.

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[00:25:24] So. Give things out. Um, we'll give like little cards, postcards that say, Hey, you know, when you're ready to start treatment, here's two 50 off. Come see us. You know? So we're, we have a mascot. I don't know if you're not on, if you're not following our Instagram, please do. It's a rock. I'll do that right when we're done.

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[00:26:03] Not every office is utilizing that level of technology. So are you able to, you know, educate your community that that makes you guys different in any way? We do, we, I believe we have it on our website where it says like, Hey, we use Grin. Okay. Um, we also, they, I don't know if y'all know this, but they have a really great leads lead capture.

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[00:26:47] It has, um, we call our scope the remote scope because it's WRO so cheesy. I know, but I love it. Uh, we'll say, Hey, like we're gonna send you our remote scope so that when you get it, you could [00:27:00] do the scan. We don't have to see you, but Dr. Tega is able to see your scans and you know, let you know, Hey, I think everything looks great.

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[00:27:24] So we do try to. Throw that out there, like, you don't always have to come see us. We have grin. This is gonna help you. So there's people that like it and people that prefer the face-to-face. So. So if a lead comes in through Grin as a new exam, so to speak, they haven't been to the office yet, do they still go to you or does your TC take those ones?

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[00:28:10] Thank you so much for your time and for sharing your valuable insights. Rebecca, you are a gem. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. And I mean, I'm always open to feedback, so if there's anything that anybody else in their office is doing better, please let me know too. I wanna know, I want the in and how to make our office run smoother, so I'm open to anything.

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[00:28:58] Uh, we would love to hear [00:29:00] topic or guest recommendations as well as questions or comments about things that you are dealing with in your practice. Send us your questions or stories to. Practice talk.com. Please subscribe and share this episode with your friends and family that might be interested in these conversations or find them helpful.

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