The Gorman!

Managed care, practice management companies, Orthodontic Centers of America, New Image, PPO's, and technology: sound like a dream or your worst nightmare?

These were the topics of the Gorman Institute in Scottsdale. To those of you unfamiliar with it, The Gorman Institute for Practice Enhancement is a non-profit organization to help the orthodontic community keep up with changes ranging from technique to practice management. It is named in memory of Jack Gorman, an orthodontist who exemplified the goals and integrity of our profession. Held annually it usually alternates between the East and West Coast. The main thrust of this year's meeting was the new forces at play in the economics of orthodontic care. Various speakers looked at clinical efficiency and positioning your practice to be different and unique. The trick is to choose how you want to face these changes and how to position your practice to accomplish these goals.

Dr. David Sarver looked at Freedom of Choice Legislation that was passed in Alabama and is currently under legal challenge. He delved into the unique character of his own practice. He uses high tech material to present the strengths and limitations of various treatment plans to patients and parents. He has found a far greater acceptance of ideal treatment plans vs. compromised when he can illustrate projected outcomes. Orthognathic surgery and rhinoplasty can be presented in clear and precise images that the prospective patient can understand.

Dr. Rick Roblee found his niche by setting up a truly comprehensive team to treat patients involving all dental disciplines and giving the main care giver, the general practitioner, control over goals and coordination of treatment. His group has taken high tech to its max. They have established an internet system of communication complete with electronic treatment forms, plans, and records that can be shared at will among the team working for a particular patient. Firewalls (electronic safeguards) and coded access are integrated into the system to protect traditional privacy concerns. Efforts are underway to establish such groups across the nation with systems available from them. Check out http://www.dental-idt.com

Dr. Mike Scott and quality. Using the Ritz-Carleton model of excellence, Dr. Scott dissected the orthodontic practice. How do we re-inforce the production of quality care and how do we impart to the consumer (patient) the knowledge that quality is an innate part of the service they receive? He also illustrated the vast resources available via the internet concerning the attainment of quality and consumer satisfaction. There is a lot to be learned from the business community at large that can be remodeled into the orthodontic office setting.

Dr. Richard Boyd continued his tradition of 3 days worth of material in 3 hours. The first human to have RAM chips biologically integrated, (joke!) used high tech solutions to create an efficient practice. From automated appointment reminders to electronic imaging, technology both improved quality and increased productivity. To those of you who attended and want to get the promised printed material, it is available through the Ormco home page. You can connect directly to them from here. Dr. Boyd's Handouts

Dr. Wick Alexander. I must confess that I (R. Bedette) went on a hike up Squaw Mountain that morning (it was beautiful overlooking Phoenix). But according to my spies, he spoke about paying attention to details.

Dr. James Hilgers and Dr. Bob Smith. Talk about the hot seat! As you may or may not know Hilgers and Smith and some other investors have started a practice management company that offices can join. They are also buying practices to incorporate into this new company. The reception was not warm but it was polite and professional. Many in attendance felt somewhat betrayed by Hilgers and Smith in particular since they are icons in the orthodontic community and they appear to be embracing the depersonalization and franchising of orthodontic care. They presented a most enlightening defense of the goals of their new company that was based in their perception of the paradigm shift being experienced in the orthodontic world as we know it. A couple of tidbits that were major eye openers: the average graduating ortho student has a debt of $250K. (Try paying that off on a $50 or $75K a year salary.) The average ortho practice sells for no more than one-half gross, if at all. (Try using that for retirement.) The orthodontic community is facing a set of problems and difficulties like nothing we've ever seen and they feel that their new company is positioning itself to face them.

Another goal of this enterprise was to set up a database (available outside the company) that looks at what really works and what doesn't. A statistical accumulation of methods, techniques, and appliances viewed from the point of efficiency and results. In theory, a practitioner would be able to use the database to establish THE most efficient way to treat a given case.

I hope that I do not offend anyone with my recounting of the meeting. It is meant only as a sampling of what is available at the Gorman, and may contain significant errors.

R. Bedette
Co-Editor-in-Chief
The Orthodontic CYBERjournal