Helping your team to help you….

This blog comes from visiting an orthodontic practice.

I often hear comments that Orthodontic practices are always one step ahead. They value

patient coordinators and they have used photography for a very long period of time.

A practice I visited recently was really quite advanced.

So why did they ask me to come to the practice?

Their nurses were all taking photographs; however their reception team had not been

crossed trained in photography.

The practice owner wanted the entire team to be confident and be able take excellent

pictures with ease.

The practice had a large team and I spent 9 hours completing the photography training in

small groups of three.

At the end of the one and a half hour training course per group each team member could

take a full series of excellent photographs in under 10 minutes. Two of the team members

could do this in less than five minutes!

Imagine this as a practice owner or a dentist: Your team can take a full set of

photographs for you in under 10 minutes.

Photography is a great tool and has many benefits:

1. Medical legal protection

2. Helps with treatment planning

3. Helps with treatment presentations

4. Builds portfolios of treatment for your practice

5. Laboratory communication

And the reasons you need to train your entire team to take these photographs:

1. The photos can be taken and downloaded before you see the patient

2. Dentists can see another patient for a short appointment while the photos are being

taken

3. Your team member can establish a relationship with the patient that you can build on

4. Dentists can assist the nurse with the occlusal photographs creating a sense of team

work

5. Empowers your team

6. Patients see your entire team as a professional unit

7. Verifiable CPD

Learn to take excellent professional photographs yourself and empower your team to do so

as well. This is a step forward when pushing your practice to a higher level.

Laura