Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Summer 2013 - (Page 12)
PRACTICE MANAGEMENT DIARY
MY niGHtMARe
A
By Gerald Nelson, DDS, PCSO Bulletin Editor
After leaving the Air Force in 1967,
I took over an existing three-dayper-week practice in Berkeley, CA.
This was a small office space in a
two-story professional building, with
two clinic chairs, a private office and small lab. The
reception room was 10’ x 12’, with a closed door to
the clinic, and a translucent sliding glass window
between the reception room and the appointment
coordinator (who was also the bookkeeper—and
everything else). One dental assistant rounded out
the staff. Sounds grim perhaps, but it was typical at
the time.
As the practice started to grow, I was plagued by my
schedule. I just could not seem to see all the patients
on time. That is when I started to have this dream:
Patients, parents and siblings filled the reception
room. Every seat was taken; several youngsters were
on parents’ laps, people stood against any wall space
available, and lined up at the sliding glass window.
The door from the central hallway was open, and
people milled in the hallway. Everyone was looking
at a magazine, staring off into space, or somehow
trying to wait patiently. No one was speaking.
Soon, I connected with a UCSF graduate who became
my practice partner: Dr. Michael Meyer. Together we
made many changes that brought improved experiences to our patient families.
These changes included:
•
An open reception area. The sliding glass window was eliminated. In our new office, the front
desk was made visible to both the reception room
and the clinic. Today, the former is pretty standard. The latter served us, because while we’re
in the clinic we occasionally overhear situations
in the reception room that necessitate feedback
to the staff. I always prefer to keep tabs on the
reception room ambience.
•
A parent chair in the clinic. We have four treatment chairs in the clinic, with a chair at the foot
of each one for a parent or other family member.
There is only room for one person, so if additional people attempt to accompany the patient
into the clinic, a team member helps them to a
comfortable place in the reception room. The
value of having someone in the parent chair is
that that person can listen to explanations you
and your staff give to the patient. They listen to
these educational moments more carefully than
if delivered face-to-face in the reception room.
While in the clinic, they are available to converse
with you and the team members.
•
Local high school yearbooks. Every year, we
purchase yearbooks from the two local high
I was at one of the two clinic chairs working with a
patient, trying not to give the impression that I was
hurried or worried—but inside my head, anxieties
brewed and stewed furiously.
After some time, I would wake up full of relief at
the hopeless exaggeration of my fears, but also with
the realization that I had a problem, and needed a
solution.
12
P C S O B u l l et i n
•
SUMMER 2013
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Summer 2013
AAO House of Delegates Meets in Pennsylvania
Time to Invest in Education
Synergy & Diversity
AAO Trustee’s Report
My Nightmare
Class II, Division 2 Malocclusions: Etiology, Development, Diagnosis and Some Aspects of Treatment, part I
Glenn Sameshima DDS, PhD, Chairman and Program Director, Adv. Orthodontic Program, Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry, University of Southern California
Quick and Easy Lingual Treatment
Bonding Outside the Box
AAOF Report
PCSO Business
Component Reports
PCSO at a Glance
Case Report Pre-Treatment
Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Summer 2013
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