ortho - the international C.E. magazine of orthodontics

ortho1_201216 I I practice matters_ staying competitive JCO practice studies, which is the smallest increase in 30 years. Additionally, the current economic environment is making it difficult to increase fees while asking the consumer to pay for the fee in an abbreviated amount of time. The use of automatic monthly pay- ment services has greatly increased over the last five years, and some practices are choosing to allow patientcontractlengthstoextendbeyondestimated treatment lengths if certain requirements are met (often either a credit check and/or the insistence of automatic payment method). There are certainly a number of other trends cur- rently occurring in orthodontics. As the landscape evolves,practiceownersarewellservedtostayahead of the curve wherever they can. Our observations are that consultants are a great help to practice owners. Consultants see dozens and sometimes hundreds of practices per year and can bring transferrable concepts that owners can implement as they address a changing consumer and market. It is also more important than before for practice owners to monitor key operational and financial metrics with more scrutiny than perhaps they have in the past. This effort will help identify areas in the practice that need attention and allow practice owners to make better and earlier decisions as they operate in the current environment. As stated at the beginning of this article, “Private practice orthodontic ownership in America is and willcontinuetobeoneofthebestincomeproducing vocations in all of dentistry and medicine.” Stayfocused,beawareofthetrendsandchanges and keep your seat belt on. The ups and downs of practice ownership are not for the lazy or faint of heart, but the results are enormously rewarding._ Chris Bentson has been working with orthodontists regarding the business as- pects of their practices for more than 23 years. He is currently the president of Bentson Clark & Copple based in Greensboro, N.C. Bentsonalsoservesaseditor in chief of the Bentson Clark reSource, a quarterly newsletter focused on the business aspects of running a successful orthodontic practice. He is a frequent guest lecturer, most recently presenting at the invitation of the AAO at the 2011 AAO Transition Seminar in Chicago. He has personally visited more than 1,000 orthodontic practices in the United States, Canada andAustralia.Hemaybereachedat(800)621-4664orvia e-mail at chris@bentsonclark.com. _about the author ortho Thetopfivetrendsinorthodontics: 1)DecreaseinGPanddentalspecialtyreferrals 2)Increaseininternalmarketingprograms 4)Abbreviatedtreatmenttimes 5)Newapproachestofeesandpayment methods 3)Increaseinuseofwebsiteandsocialmedia (Graphic/www.sxc.hu) Reference 1. Lublin, S. Year of the Oops: Firms Spent 2011 in Reverse. Wall Street Journal. January 2012.