Orthotown January/February 2018 - 10

Meanwhile, wages and benefits outside of the public sector continued to decrease because
of an influx of cheap domestic labor. It's a giant confidence game, with everyone depending
on one another to keep it all moving, with central banks printing large quantities of money. I
didn't make the rules!
Many years ago, Bill Gates' comment about the progress of technology and society's need
to provide incentives for the billions of potential workers is beginning to play out. One of the
most inspiring figures that I have met and enjoyed listening to is Michael Gerber, who writes
many of the e-Myth books and is credited with growing small businesses and teaching business
owners that the business or practice is more than just the owner.
Gerber suggests employing techniques to change the world (or at least the business or
profession you're in):
Transform by creating: A different vision for the specialty of orthodontics, much like Steve
Jobs creating an ecosystem around Apple products-not being better, but different.
Become scalable: Create systems for performance and training, and embrace franchising
and multiple owners of the system.
Use leverage: The above policies can be maximized with multiple offices, multiple doctors
and proper delegation.
Almost always, expanding the patient pool or demographic base is essential to allowing
the product or service to reach more persons through three key areas: mechanics, management
and marketing.

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Mechanics have been improved with the use of:
Instantaneous viewing of X-rays and photographs.
Same-day treatment planning that starts with no lack of diagnostic or treatment quality.
Scanning with built-in treatment simulation adding in the ability to visualize outcomes
and communicate to patients the expected result.
Indirect bonding for better bracket and appliance placement requiring fewer bonding
changes and simulated outcomes.
New designs for appliance systems including either aligners or conventional brackets
allowing for shorter treatment times.
Advances in diagnostic procedures and treatment modalities focusing on airway and
muscular function and how it improves overall patient well-being.
Management techniques from the business community include:
Staffing with the aid of personality testing and HR screening and team building.
Business planning using the demographic studies and techniques utilized by large and
small corporations.

Marketing can go beyond the local neighborhood with the advent of social marketing
techniques:
* Web presence with blogs and integrated social media.
* SEO and analytics to track the efficacy of marketing.
* Using modern phone call techniques to monitor and improve service and answer
questions for patients.
In the orthodontic field, products and services are available to assist in the transition to
change the world (or profession) and are regularly featured in Orthotown magazine.
As orthodontists young and old are recognizing the changing value of human capital, it is
important to utilize other forms of capital to increase the value of one's self.
We at Orthotown are positioned to inform you and assist you throughout the year with
articles written and composed by the best and the brightest in the field who have expanded on
their human capital to grow their practice and personal wealth. ■

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018 // orthotown.com

http://www.orthotown.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Orthotown January/February 2018