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Introducing the "Orthodontic Products Podcast", a journey into the dynamic realm of orthodontic innovations. Each episode dives into fresh research, transformative technologies, and the methodologies redefining the field. Expert interviews seamlessly blend with in-depth analyses, offering listeners a comprehensive look into the ever-evolving world of orthodontics. This isn't just a podcast—it's a portal to the future of orthodontic practices and breakthroughs.
Hello and welcome to the orthodontic
products podcast.
I'm your host Alison Werner.
Today we're taking a deep dive into the
Dolphin practice management platform.
so often practices implement a software
system and then never really maximize all
its functionality.
But today we have with us someone who can
talk you through how to do just that.
Rebecca Pickett is a treatment coordinator
at Pickett Orthodontics located in Mobile,
Alabama.
She's a longtime user, which means she
knows the ins and outs of the platform,
and she's found ways to maximize its
functionality and is here today to share
those tips with you.
Rebecca, thanks for joining me.
I'm happy to be here.
Thank you, Allison.
Great, so let me get started by asking
you, what brought you to orthodontics and
how long have you been working as a
treatment coordinator at Pickett
Orthodontics?
So my husband was originally in a joint
practice and in 2008 he kind of had a
forced redirection there and I at the time
was working for an oral surgeon's office
and he called one day and said, I need you
to help me open up a practice.
And he was just kind of on a whim.
And so with just a lot of adrenaline and
urgency, we just kind of went home and I
had some experience in graphic design.
I whipped up a...
really random logo and all of a sudden
overnight became his treatment
coordinator, office manager, IT, the whole
nine yards there.
So it was kind of crazy, but we wouldn't
have it any other way.
So.
So how many chairs does the practice have
now and do you still just have the one
location?
So we actually have two offices.
We have our primary office is located in
Jackson, Alabama.
We have a satellite that we go to once a
week in Jackson, Alabama, about 45 to 60
minutes due north of Mobile.
That was part of the practice when he
bought in in 2000.
It's been a huge blessing for us, just
super sweet people.
They're very appreciative of us going up
there to see them once a week.
And in both offices, we run a five chair
clinic.
In Mobile, we have two consult rooms.
In Jackson, we only have one consult room.
So how long has your practice then been
using the Dolphin platform?
So we have been using Dolphin since day
one.
Kevin was a Dolphin user in residency.
The practice that he was in was not a
Dolphin practice, but that was kind of one
of our first calls that we made when we
decided to open up the business.
So there was never a question for him, the
direction he would go from a practice
management standpoint at all.
So how are you interacting with it from
day to day?
Because we kind of want the staff
perspective, because honestly, you're the
ones who kind of use it more often than
the doctors.
yes.
So I really think in all honesty, the
question is how are we not interacting
with it daily?
I mean, it is such an integrated part of
our lives.
Every single thing that we do is within
Dolphin.
It is just such a big part of our
practice.
We're using it not just to facilitate our
daily protocol, our processes.
But the patients are using it.
We use a lot of different things, whether
it's concierge, letters, the MyWortho app.
I mean, there's just so many valuable
tools that are a big part of our practice.
features you find valuable because we kind
of talked before all this and you
identified some and so I want to start
with number five and we'll work our way
down.
So number five is the letter system which
you kind of just mentioned there for a
second ago.
Can you explain the feature and how it
benefits your practices work?
Okay, so letters is for long time users is
really just an inherent part to them.
We're also used to using that, but for new
users, basically it is a program that is
called technically the letter system.
It utilizes the Microsoft Word program and
it allows us to pull desired data or
desired fields from the patient chart,
from dolphin information to design letters
that are patient specific.
I primarily use them as a treatment
coordinator every day to do my fee quotes,
my fee sheets.
Our financial coordinator uses them to
design our contracts, our pretreatment
information there as far as the financials
go.
So it really lets us to customize really
patient information there.
Okay, and then the next one you had,
number four, was the proposals feature.
What does this do and how are you using
it?
So proposals is something that really I
think in many offices is probably not
utilized enough.
Any user meeting I go to, it seems like
there's a lot of long time users that
really don't know much about the
proposals.
But basically Dolphin, there's several
layers in proposals.
I'll just say that from the beginning.
You have the ability to design specific
proposals.
So say I have a full banding case that is
estimated to be 18 to 24 months or
whatever.
I can actually pre -design a certain down
payment with so many monthly payments that
are inherent to that treatment plan.
And so what that allows us to do is be
able to pull up a letter.
We just talked about that.
Merge that specific or patient specific
data and show them their proposals right
off the bat without really having to do
much other than bash a single letter with
that.
And so that's one part of it.
A lot of offices are using programs, I
believe, like OrthoFi or I think OrthoBank
might now.
I'm kind of removed from all of that, but
honestly, because we use so much of
Dolphin.
But with the new or one of the newer
updates with Dolphin, there is actually a
proposal presentation option.
So say I have.
three proposals within that treatment
type, maybe one for a $600 down payment,
$1 ,000 down payment, a $2 ,100 down
payment.
That proposal presentation actually gives
the billing party the ability to use a
slider and say, what if I don't want to do
1 ,000, what if I want to do 850?
And they can actually physically move that
slider up and down.
And that will save that in that chart
where we had already put those proposals
before.
And then that lets me print a letter right
there with the proposals that they have
chosen themselves there.
We're in the South, so there's a lot of
moms that come, but they also want dad's
approval before they start.
So we're not the office that really
necessarily pushes same day starts.
We do a lot of that, but a lot of it we
want them to have the family conversation
and be comfortable in their decision.
And so that allows them to take that home
and sit down as a family and really say
what fits us, what works for us here.
Okay, so it's really personalizing that
information.
Yeah.
Okay, so the number three feature you
listed was the questionnaires feature.
Can you talk about what that, how you're
using that?
So questionnaires is something that I was
really kind of intimidated on early on in
our time with Dolphin, but it's really
very simple to the proposal.
It's very simple to the letters where you
can customize your own questionnaires.
Think of those essentially as digital
forms and you can use it for patient
information, health history.
We have a pretreatment questionnaire or
financial questionnaire that they will
complete before we actually do their
contract.
which will allow them to say, hey, we want
to do the braces option or we want to do
InvisLine.
Hey, we want to do metal brackets or clear
brackets on the upper arch or the lower
arch.
Here's how we want to take that financial
proposal and use it to fit us best.
So how do they want to make their
payments?
Do they want to do automatic draft?
Do they want to pay through the app or do
they want to pay online?
I spent a good amount of time during COVID
really designing our custom
Pickett Ortho questionnaire for new
patient information in general.
And it actually combines patient info,
responsible party info, insurance, health
history, referral information.
HIPAA is all in one questionnaire for
them.
So they go to one place, fill out all that
information, and Dolphin actually allows
them to sign that too and save it to their
chart for us.
And what's really cool is that they have
mapping fields.
So you can choose what information the
patient gives you.
and automatically links to Dolphin so you
don't have to do that data input too.
So that takes a lot off the staff as well.
So it really does, like you talked about
during COVID, how you customize that.
It really does walk you through how to
customize it.
And you can do it in the platform, so
you're not trying to figure it out on your
own in like a Word document or something.
Yeah.
And to say, to of devour a little bit from
that, but just highlight that in a way
too, Dolphin has so many different
webinars that are available to users.
Of course, our user meetings are a huge
deal too, but so much of the
questionnaires for me was really just
taking time and sitting in that and really
figuring how it worked, not just within
the questionnaire, but how it worked for
us and what we needed from that.
Questionnaires are probably one of my
favorite things to actually work with just
because there's so many things that you
can do with it.
It's really pretty impressive.
They are on the capabilities of that.
So number two for you was the messaging
center and the concierge features.
And you mentioned concierge when we first
kind of started this conversation.
So, and I know you added this at the
beginning of the pandemic.
So what does this feature do and how are
you using it?
so in a way, a lot of newer users can kind
of think of SMS or messaging center and
concierge is just kind of one in the same,
but they're not.
They're they kind of highlight each other.
They're really a compliment to each other.
You know, everybody in the orthodontic
field or dental field knows what it was
like to be shut down during that time
during the pandemic.
And for us, we just said right away, we
know we're going to be shut down, but we
want this to be a time of innovation for
us.
And so we really
really spent a lot of manpower in
designing and doing things and systems
that we really had wanted to do, but just
didn't have the time to do that.
So our first thing at that point was
really diving into the messaging center,
which allows us to do 2A texting with the
patient.
There is standard SMS, but then there's
also secure messaging that will lead to
the MyOrthodontist app that we'll talk
about in a little bit too.
And so it gives patients the opportunity
to reach out to you, but it also gives us
the opportunity to help confirm
appointments.
Every single SMS that we have is
customized pretty much.
So, and we're thinking of new ones every
day.
That's the best part of it is that we
don't have to sit there and type out a
paragraph every time we need to answer
something.
If somebody says they have a wire stick or
texts and say they have a wire stick, we
have a auto -generated message for that.
So, and that's customized for everything
for us.
And so SMS is a huge part of that.
We had a platform before that was outside
of Dolphin, but having this within Dolphin
and saving it to the chart automatically
is a game changer from a history
standpoint.
But then Concierge is really the
compliment to SMS.
So that allows us to customize
appointments or appointment scheduling
really based on what our specific
appointment schedule template looks like.
So if I have a banning appointment or a
new patient consult open or a removal or a
debond open, we're able to send links to
the patient and we can specify what
specific days of the week we want them to
come.
Do we want them to come in the morning?
Are they that trouble patient that always
wants to come in really late?
We need to kind of veer them to the
morning appointments.
We get to spec out exactly what timeframe
for Dolphin to look at.
We send them a concierge link and then
they can use that and see, hey, here's
three different options I get to choose
from.
Here's what date and time that I want to
come, automatically drops them on the
schedule.
Same thing with rescheduling.
So they send a text message, I'm so sorry,
I can't make it to my appointment
tomorrow.
No problem, we'll send you a concierge and
it just shows them right away when their
options are and it moves them from their
existing appointment to their new
appointment.
We can use concierge to confirm
appointments and we can even use it to
check in for appointments.
So there's a geo tracking feature.
We use this a lot more in our Jackson
office where we can send a concierge about
five minutes before the patient is due and
it'll allow them to check in right as
they're walking into the office there.
So many really cool features with that.
There's a lot of it right now that we
don't have enough users that are really
using it.
So development is...
Needs more.
They need more people to really embrace it
so that we can we can really maximize the
use of it.
Developments sitting there that they want
it.
They want to get it where it needs to be.
But there's so many different ways to use
it that we need a lot of users to really
be a part of that for sure.
Okay, so your number one feature was the
Myorthodontist app.
So you already alluded to it a couple of
times there and talked about this is
connected to other things.
So let's talk that through.
Yeah, so it sounds funny to say this, but
I kind of think of my ortho as this like
nice, beautiful mansion and all of the
things that we've already talked about are
kind of the specific special rooms or
pieces of furniture there and there that
make that such a beautiful place.
And it sounds so cheesy to say that, but
my ortho is really the culmination of
bringing all of the things that we just
talked about together.
This is another thing that we actually had
my ortho before the pandemic.
But we really being able to use
questionnaires within that really changed
the whole entire flow of our practice as
far as patient acquisition and everything
kind of went there.
With MyOrtho, basically when we schedule a
new patient consult, they will get our
whole spiel at the beginning about how
important it is for them to be a part of
the MyOrthoHonest app.
When we schedule the consult, it
automatically generates an email to them
from Dr.
Pickett that basically invites them to
download the MyOrthodontist app, complete
their new patient questionnaire.
So they go through that process.
And the way that we've kind of designed
certain parts of that allows the system to
alert us once they've completed that
questionnaire.
Our front staff is able to make sure the
data input is where it needs to be.
using the MyOrtho app.
Once they finish the questionnaire, they
can also submit their ID.
They can submit copies of their insurance
card.
So that's already loaded into the chart
before the patient arrives.
So when they come in, we're actually able
to spend more time talking to the patient
about the patient and the family when they
first come through the door, then, hey, we
need your paperwork.
We need you to sign this.
We need you to do that.
So that really builds a whole different
camaraderie between us and the patient.
They're a really, really good
relationship.
But then we see them for the consult.
We're using questionnaires within the
Dolphin program to do their new patient
exam.
But I can share all the letters that we
would normally print for them, whether
it's their fee sheet, their treatment
plan, all of that through the MyWortho
app.
So they can access that anytime.
Where we are, there's a lot of dads that
work offshore or are military, so they're
not close by.
So dad actually has instant access to all
that information too.
So mom either gives him the login or she
can actually email that information
directly from the app too.
So that's been a really interesting factor
that I really didn't think about was just
including the whole family in that
conversation from the very beginning.
And if they schedule at the new patient
consult schedule their banding
appointment, that will trigger them to get
their.
pre -treatment questionnaire, which is
where they tell us, like I mentioned
before, what brackets they want, how do
they want to finance, but say they had to
go home and talk to dad.
So I'll say, not a problem.
Let me send you your concierge link.
That will allow them to schedule as soon
as dad gives them the go ahead.
And that automatically will trigger them
to get that pre -treatment questionnaire
as well.
So it's just this continual revolving.
cycle there that really just lays out
everything digitally for us and takes all
of that stress away from the office.
It's incredible.
Well, it kind of keeps it in one place for
the patient too.
So they're not having to go to 6 million
places.
Like where did I write that down or where
was that email?
That kind of thing.
Yeah.
Okay.
So now that you've outlined these
features, can you talk us through how the
practices use, how the practice uses them
as they move the patient from that new
patient call all the way through
treatment?
Cause you've talked about the different
pieces, but how does it all fit together?
Yes.
So kind of going back to what I mentioned
about kind of starting the ball rolling
with based on what the appointment code is
that we're dropping on the schedule.
That's really the trigger that that kind
of links everything together at that point
to send the questionnaire, the
questionnaire.
There's certain questions that are on
there that are linked to patients, certain
alerts for the patient.
So they're automatically adding medical
alerts for the patient.
They're automatically letting us know that
the questionnaire has been completed.
So it's just kind of stepping through
those things.
I do want to give an example of kind of
using Concierge, which is just the
craziest kind of thing for me to see it.
But back in January, we had a snow day.
You don't ever have those here in Mobile.
It was really more, I guess we call it an
ice day here.
But on a Monday at around 1 o 'clock, we
realized we probably need to have at least
a three hour delay tomorrow.
Mm.
And so when we did that, instead of us
having to call every single one of the
patients and reach out to them verbally,
we basically were able to use the program
to say for every patient before 11 o
'clock tomorrow, let's send them a text,
let them know that we are going to be
going on a three hour delay and to expect
a link from us.
And so between myself and one front desk
team member, we were able to send the
concierge link to reschedule those
appointments.
And it was as simple as going to the next
day.
we usually take an hour to hour and a half
lunch depending on the day.
We replace those reservations within our
lunch schedule and literally within 10 to
15 minutes, we had the entire three hours
rescheduled and we did not talk to a
single patient over the phone.
And so it was so much of an ease for the
patient because the initial text message
let them know what was happening.
We made it a automatic template for that,
but it also took the stress off.
off the team too, because we were able to
still work on the patients that were here
that day.
And then going back to that, some of those
were banding appointments, some of those
were new patient consult appointments.
And so because a lot of those had already
completed the treatment questionnaires, it
already completed their contracts and
everything, that didn't trigger again, the
system knew that too.
And that's something too, I don't think I
mentioned that we are actually able to do
all of our documents, the signing is
within Dolphin as well.
So,
Okay.
to use an external source for that.
So that's been a big part of our letter
system too.
Yeah, okay.
Okay.
So when it comes to the dolphin software,
what do you think?
You know, we talked about the features,
but what do you think is the biggest thing
practice practices miss?
And I think this is true for a lot of
software.
What do you think the biggest thing they
miss is?
So I think the biggest miss more than
anything is triggered by fear for a lot of
users.
It seems bulky and it seems really heavy.
And there are so many people that come in
and they're scared to really take the
initiative to learn the system.
So I think that's probably the biggest
challenge for any practice is one, getting
doctor on board because.
Usually most of the doctors, they just
want somebody else to kind of do it for
them.
That's at least what my experience has
been over the last 16 years for sure.
But also the team, you know, the team
there's, they're scared to say, Hey, I'm
going to, I'll do this.
Cause they don't want it that on their
shoulders with that.
But I think for me, it is really just
investing the time, investing the thought
process to want to learn it, to want to
understand it.
And then that just opens so many doors on
the capability and the functionality of
what it can do for you.
Um, but another thing is to, I think
everybody goes into and not just often,
but any software or, or any, anything
business related, you, you want so bad for
it to be customized for you.
And the, the, the, that perspective is so
skewed in so many ways because dolphin has
the ability to customize it for every
single one of us, the way we need it.
So the way I do things and the way you do
things are totally different.
And that flow is totally different.
And Dolphin realizes that.
And so if you have somebody within the
office that sees that and can kind of link
those things together, you're set.
You have the ability and the mindset to
get whatever you want out of the program.
Yeah.
So how did you and your coworkers work to
customize the dolphin platform for you?
Did you work with a dolphin rep?
Did you do it yourselves?
How did that come about?
So we had the pleasure of having Steve
Murray.
He's one of the trainers, long -term
trainers with Dolphin, was the guy that
Dolphin sent us who walked in as an angel
in disguise because we really did not know
what we were getting into at all that very
first day.
But he is so versed in the program, one.
So he is so, so knowledgeable about what
it can do, but he has a trainer's benefit
of knowing what I just said, everything is
customizable per office.
So he knows how.
Hundreds of offices all over the country
utilize the program.
And so really our trainers, not just
Steve, but all of the trainers are so
valuable because they see different
components and different dynamics of each
office and they're able to say, well, this
worked here and here's a way we can tweak
this a little bit.
So that is the very first thing I would
encourage any office that's considering
Dolphin and bringing in a trainer, that
investment is going to pay dividends for
you to have the trainer in office.
not just to get the knowledge, but also
it's just such a pet for the team.
When they really have somebody that they
can trust to really learn the program,
that changes their perspective going
forward huge.
And then we also use the actual support as
needed with that.
We use that frequently when we can't
troubleshoot.
We've done it long enough that between
myself and our team, pretty much at the
time we're able to figure out what's going
on.
Or if it's something that we know we
actually need to make dolphin aware of,
because a lot of times they don't know a
problem is there unless somebody is
calling them to let them know.
So that's a big part of it too, is not
just learning the system, but also being
comfortable to be vocal with development.
I mentioned before that they're sitting
there, they want to learn, they genuinely
care about how it works for us.
And having that relationship with them has
been a really big part of that too.
Yeah, you mentioned the user meetings.
I wanted to ask like, how valuable is that
to you?
What do you get out of those?
And how many members from your staff go
because, you know, I know that a lot of
orthodontic practices do send staff these
user meetings, but there probably are
those out there who think, well, it's not
going to be worth my time.
So what do you say about those?
So this is kind of one of our like marital
disputes because I believe in taking the
whole team, I think that they all need to
be immersed in that.
And just because the user meetings are not
just specific for one job or one duty or
one function.
And so you can have the financial
coordinator doing financial classes.
You can have the clinical team learning
how to utilize imaging or.
or whatever that they have planned for it.
There's so many different valuable things
and we can't all see it all.
So the more people that are there and
dispersed between different lectures, the
more valuable that time is for you.
Kevin on the other hand does not think
that the staff, just in his mind, we just
need to go, we need to learn it and then
be able to bring those tools back with
them.
So we've gone to several meetings so far
and unfortunately it's just been the two
of us.
I don't know if I'll ever get him on board
with that.
But, and I just, I feel like it's such an
unfortunate thing and we're doing the
ladies a disservice to not have somebody
there.
The teams and the offices that do bring
their staff, you can tell that they go
back so fired up and so ready to see
patients with just a whole broad knowledge
of what they can do now.
And so I think that's a game changer for
anybody to consider, highly consider going
to a user meeting, absolutely.
Well, and I would imagine taking like the
financial coordinator, they're going to
understand what they need in their job on
a day -to basis that some, you like you
who you're the treatment coordinator and
yes, you're help running the practice, but
you're not in the weeds with them all the
time.
So yeah, yeah.
Well, Rebecca, thank you so much for
taking the time to talk to us and to share
your, you know, your knowledge about the
platform and how to, you know, better
utilize it because I think it's true for
Dolphin, but I think it's also true for
many platforms out there.
that you have to take the time to figure
out what features work for you and what's
out there and then figure out a way to
customize it for you.
So yeah.
Yeah, exactly.
Well, thank you so much.
I appreciate it.
Absolutely.
Thank you.