On this episode of Practice Talk, orthodontic assistant Jamie Kent unveils her office's secrets to successful virtual exams. She'll guide you through the entire process, from that first email to scheduling the first in-office visit. Jamie knows a friendly and qualified team member is vital to answering questions with a smile (even virtually). This ensures a warm welcome before patients ever set foot in the office. Jamie tackles common concerns like time commitment and the effectiveness of virtual exams. Tune in and discover how virtual exams can maximize time for your office.
IN THIS EPISODE:
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
Guest Bio: Jamie Kent has been an orthodontic assistant since May 2013, when she graduated with a certificate in dental assisting from CCRI. Going into the program, she always knew she wanted to work in an orthodontic office because she enjoyed having her braces so much! She loved all of the assistants who worked on her, which planted the desire for her to give that same experience to others. She currently works as an orthodontic assistant and virtual treatment coordinator part-time, and she is a full-time mom of 2 kids and a very large Newfoundland. In her free time, she enjoys curling at Ocean State Curling Club in Rhode Island, spending time with her husband and kids, and reading whenever possible.
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
What follows is an AI-generated transcript. The transcript may contain errors and is not a substitute for watching the video.
(00:00:00) Intro: Welcome to practice talk, a deep dive into the world of healthcare practices, where we invite team members to share strategies to make your work life easier. Now your host, Lacey Ellis.
(00:00:16) Lacie Ellis: Welcome to practice talk brought to you by people in practice, where we specialize in digital marketing, website development, SEO, and so much more. I'm excited for today's topic. Are virtual exams worth it? With our guest, Jamie Kent. Jamie has been an orthodontic assistant since May of 2013 when she graduated with a certificate in dental assisting from CCRI.
Going into the program, she always knew she wanted to work in an orthodontic office because she enjoyed having her braces so much. She loved all of the assistants that worked on her and this planted the desire for her to give that same experience to others. And I think you do that well. She currently works as an orthodontic assistant and virtual treatment coordinator (00:01:00) part time, and she's a full time mom of two kids and a very large Newfoundland.
In her free time, she enjoys curling at the Ocean State Curling Club in Rhode Island, spending time with her husband and kids, and reading whenever she can. Welcome, Jamie. Hi, Lacey. Thanks so much for having me. Well, thank you for being here. It's very much appreciated. Um, so as a reminder to our listeners, don't worry about taking any notes today.
We will put together a printable that you will be able to download for free from our website filled with the details of today's discussion. Um, I'm especially excited to talk to you, Jamie, because. Okay. So, um, I'm going to go ahead and jump right into it because your office works and utilizes with our virtual exam platform and the dashboard that we have in place.
And I wanted to have a really honest conversation with you about how you utilize the technology and how it really works for you guys. So to start really high level, I'd love for you to share an overview of the workflow that you use for virtual exams. (00:02:00)
(00:02:00) Jamie Kent: Okay, so. If someone sends in their information, they're going to be sending in their date of birth, their name, and why they're reaching out to us.
And we have a couple of different options that they can choose. We have metal braces, clear braces, or Invisalign. And when someone puts in their information, we'll have that all in front of us. And my first thing to do is going to be reach out and introduce myself and tell them that I'm going to be helping them out throughout this whole process.
And on there. When they send in for a virtual consultation, they also send in photos of their teeth and there's going to be five different photos and Dr. Lee will take a look at those and he basically sends me a treatment plan towards that. So, that's usually the 1st step of him looking into it. There is also an option where someone can send in their insurance card information where at that point, I'll send that to my front desk coordinator and she kind of looks into that for (00:03:00) me.
So once we get to that part, then we're able to kind of go over what kind of treatment plan that they'll be needing and everything like that that goes along with that.
(00:03:12) Lacie Ellis: Awesome. Okay. So I think there's this myth out there that you really can't get to know. someone through a text or email. And I think there's an entire world of online dating that proves that that is not true.
Um, so I think we can build genuine trust and connection through the virtual exam. And so I love that your office really takes it to like the highest level that you can have a virtual exam and where you go through, you know, here's what your options are for treatment. You know, with the caveat that this will all be confirmed with an x ray at your first visit, right?
Because we can't see what's under those gums, um, through these photos, but you go through the treatment plan, you walk them through that journey, um, make sure that they're really comfortable with all of that first. So like what the treatment (00:04:00) recommendations are, answer all the treatment type questions first, I would assume.
And then, um, Really get into, okay, let's look into the financial options, your insurance options, what the fee for this treatment is, how long you're going to be in treatment, and then really work from there on getting them to yes, like getting them really comfortable with that treatment plan and with the finances.
Yes. Okay. Awesome. So many other platforms that I have worked with, um, they have the patient sign into a system to chat back and forth. So basically they upload their photos. And when the office sends them a message, they've got to sign into that platform to have this conversation. And what I'm really proud of with the, um, technology that we have built is that we can have.
text or email two way communications that are HIPAA compliant without the patient having to take that extra step that usually I think puts a barrier in place for them to kind of jump into the (00:05:00) conversation. It makes it just a little bit harder. So I want to know how this has been working for you, Jamie, and how many virtual exams do you chat with kind of on a monthly average?
(00:05:11) Jamie Kent: So overall it's been going really well. I feel like people Recognize that it's an easier process to just be able to text or email for the most part, probably 75 percent of the people that I talked to are just texting back and forth. And it's a really just natural conversation that we're having between most patients that do reach out.
And I think they're more comfortable talking to me through that than coming into an office. And they see the white coat and they get nervous and then they forget all the questions that they may have. But when you're texting someone, you can kind of take a break and be like, okay, what other questions do I have to ask about my treatment?
So I think that's a huge part of being able to not even have to think about signing into an app. Cause I even (00:06:00) know if I'm trying to do something on my own and I have to like make an account on like Um, I don't know if I want to do
(00:06:06) Lacie Ellis: that. Well, it's like those MyCharts with your doctor's office, right? So they send you a message and then it's like, you have a message and then you have to remember your login and sign back in and do all of this like extraneous work when, you know, you just want to have a conversation.
And I read something once that people want to be communicated with in the way that they've communicated with you. So if they email you, typically they want to continue this through email. If they text you, they want to have a text conversation. Um, if they pick up the phone and call you, they want to talk to you, you know?
So I don't think it's a ridiculous feeling to understand that, you know, mom's busy and finally has a glass of wine at the end of the day, sitting on the couch and is like, Oh yeah, I wanted to see what's it going to cost to get my teeth back to how they were when I had my braces taken off. You know what I mean?
Like make it as easy as
possible.
(00:06:56) Jamie Kent: Yeah, a lot of people will reach out during that (00:07:00) time. It's like after 7 p. m. I have so many people like put in to get their teeth looked at and that's 100 percent the
(00:07:08) Lacie Ellis: situation and I know that, um, this is kind of stepping out of what we were talking about just a little bit, but I am.
Curious. So when somebody does chat with you and it's after hours or during the time that you're with your kiddos or something like that, I believe we have like an immediate message that goes to them. That's like, we're real people. We're going to get back to you. Just give us, you know, a little bit of time type of thing.
And then you, when you are back online, jump in and start the conversation. Is that, is that right? How I understand that's working for you.
(00:07:38) Jamie Kent: Yes, there's a part where they'll, I think it's after a certain hour that they'll get something and we'll be able to answer them when we can. I do try to, if I see it and I'm around and I'm not busy and my kids are sleeping, I'll try to answer them just because I do do it virtually from home.
So it gives me that freedom to be able to answer them. (00:08:00) Because I understand that some people don't get it to work till five or till seven. So it's nice to have that flexibility where they ask the question and they get an answer and not have to wait until the next morning.
(00:08:10) Lacie Ellis: Excellent. So just to, um, finish up this question, I just wanted to know, I think a lot of people are curious about how many virtual exams do you have submit?
I know that on a monthly basis, and I know this kind of fluctuates month to month, but like, do you have an average about how many you kind of have come in monthly?
(00:08:28) Jamie Kent: I feel like it would probably be around like 20 to 25 per month. Sometimes more, sometimes less. It really just depends on it. But like January we're super booming.
And I think we had like almost. 30 to 40 people reach out. Not that all of them wanted full information or wanted to come into the office, but the fact that they're reaching out and that they're seeing that this is an option is really great.
(00:08:53) Lacie Ellis: Awesome. Okay. So we like to get questions or comments from our listeners.
and our People in Practice clients about our (00:09:00) topic. So let's listen to our first question.
(00:09:02) Guest Question 1: The doctor I work for wants to implement virtual exams and just have us take care of them at our downtime. To be honest, I'm concerned that this will take more time than our doctor assumes. Can you share an experience on the time needed to dedicate to your virtual patients?
Okay, so
(00:09:20) Jamie Kent: the time needed to dedicate to the virtual patient, it really depends on the day and how many How many questions that this person is asking, but overall, you're texting back and forth. It takes two seconds to sign into the website and it takes two seconds to answer their question. Because if you are an orthodontic assistant who already knows all the questions to like what's going on during treatment, it makes it a lot easier to just answer them a quick question and be like, well, I need elastics during my treatment and just stuff like that.
So I think it's. A very quick back and forth. It doesn't (00:10:00) take as much time as you need.
(00:10:02) Lacie Ellis: Okay. So if you were in office, like let's just pretend like you weren't able to have the flexibility of doing it from home. And let's say you were in office and you guys were seeing patients every day and you were trying to do this during that time.
Do you think it would be feasible or do you think it would be really stressful? You know, in that scenario, I know yours is a little different, but if you were trying to do it on top of everything you were doing, do you think that would be?
(00:10:31) Jamie Kent: I think if I was in office during patient day, it would definitely be harder to talk with the patients throughout that.
But I think if they want to do virtual exams and regular new patient exams, I think the treatment coordinator would be able to do that as well. Handle answering the patients because they're talking with other patients that have already come in and try to get them to follow up or if they're interested in starting treatment.
So if (00:11:00) it's a slower day, because I know some practices do have admin days, like those days, they could help out with it. But I think for an assistant to be doing it while seeing multiple patients back to back, it could definitely make it hard in the orthodontic office.
(00:11:14) Lacie Ellis: I agree. I think You know, it sounds like this person's doctor is like, Hey, you know, in between checking out a patient, maybe the front desk is going to handle it.
Or, you know, if you have a patient no show, then you've got a little bit of time to do it. And I just think the attention that these people are looking for is that quick back and forth. And I don't know that you're going to be able to do it really effectively in office, unless this is your dedicated position.
Or unless you know, like every couple of hours you have 15, 20 minutes to sit down and respond to all of those that need to. So I don't think it's impossible, but I think the expectation of like, hey, we can throw in virtual exams and just handle them throughout the day really easily. I just want to be really careful that (00:12:00) we're not setting an expectation that that's like truly possible.
Because yes, but it's going to take some planning. To make that happen, you know, I, so I just, I think that's part of just being like super honest about how this all works is that there is this immediate back and forth that builds that connection. And if you are tied up with patients for 3 or 4 hours. And they don't hear from you.
They might be like, well, this is a non responsive office. So I would just, I just want to have that out there that if your office is considering implementing this virtual exam platform, that I think it's amazing. And I do believe it's very effective, but I think we've got to be careful about not putting it on our team as like in your spare time, because I just think.
We're busy already in the office when we're seeing patients and we should be focusing on those patients in front of us. So yes. And
(00:12:52) Jamie Kent: all of these patients are new patients. It's like them walking in the door. You want them to see the best side of your practice. So if you're (00:13:00) waiting to answer them, and it's during your 8 to 5 schedule, that's when people think you're going to answer them because that's when the doctors are.
In the office. So you want to make sure that you're replying to them within a decent amount of time so that they get a good look for your office and want
(00:13:16) Lacie Ellis: to come in and say yes. Perfect. I totally agree. Okay. So let's hear our next question.
(00:13:23) Guest Question 2: We tried virtual exams during coven and found that a lot of people were not as serious as we had hoped to actually get started.
Do you find this happening for you as well?
(00:13:33) Jamie Kent: I definitely find this happening on our website. We have two different options that all go into this website and there is a virtual consultation part and then there's an in person consultation. So if someone doesn't send in photos, they go to the in person consultation one.
Basically they want us to take pictures of their teeth and For those people, I do reach out and I say, hey, in order for us (00:14:00) to give you a virtual consultation, you need to send in these photos to the link. And there is an automatic text message that sends to them saying, hey, click this link and you can send photos to us.
20 percent of those people will send photos. The other 80%. Is not interested and they just thought, Hey, maybe if I send my name, I'll get to find out what the financials are or anything like that. And obviously it doesn't work that way, but they don't know that. So for the people that send in photos right away, those are the ones that are really interested and they really are looking to get a quote to see how long they would be in treatment for.
And typically another thing that I see if they send in their insurance card, To find out what their benefit is, they are 100 percent interested. So there's just little things that you see along the (00:15:00) way, but there's definitely a back and forth between people who are actually interested and not interested.
(00:15:08) Lacie Ellis: Yeah, I agree. So working as a virtual TC myself for a bit, I found, um, that this really helps keep people out of our exam room that are really just interested. kicking tires. So this helps free up exam time for in office exams for the people who are really serious. And this helps us warm up these people who are kicking tires to possibly jump into that yes category.
So I just think there's a lot of benefits. Yes. I think we're keeping people out of the exam that don't really want to commit, but this gives us a chance to maybe I can warm them up with some of the details about treatment and what kind of treatment would they be looking at? How long are they going to be in treatment?
You know, Answer all of these questions and then, you know, get them closer to yes. And I do firmly believe that those that don't start and kind of ghost you, which happens (00:16:00) with virtual exams, sometimes all of a sudden you were having this great conversation and they disappear. But I think, um, When they decide that they're ready to jump into treatment, they're not going to forget how you made them feel in that virtual exam and that you took the time to talk to them and answer their questions.
So while they might not jump in tomorrow and scheduled to be on your, um, as a patient, I think this gives us a chance to prove that like we care about our patients. We listen to our patients and when they're ready, that they're going to remember you. So I don't know if that's what you found, but that's kind of been my journey through, uh, through the virtuals.
100%.
(00:16:37) Jamie Kent: Just like any type of followup throughout it and making it personal helps them out so much because I have people that are like, Hey, I'm away for the winter, but when I get back, like, I really want to start with you because like, I just like your feeling. I'm like, okay, this works out.
(00:16:54) Lacie Ellis: So, I mean, I think that leans into the fact that you really need somebody who has a great (00:17:00) personality like you do leading this.
Because if you've got somebody that's a little bit, we all have that family member who's really short. In a text message, right? And you're like, why, why are they mad at me? But they're not, this is just how they communicate. You really need that person. Who's got that warmth and that genuine interest and curiosity that comes out in these messages.
Otherwise I think you're, you have to have the right person in place in any position. Virtual is no exception.
(00:17:27) Jamie Kent: Yes, you need to make sure that the things that you're saying to them. You just have to add some bubble to it and just make them think that the treatment sounds so amazing, even though it is amazing, but you have to talk it up and you have to make it seem like none of the things are a big deal.
If you have to wear elastics, you'll be great with it and anything like that. And even though it's through text message and not face to face, they still need
(00:17:54) Lacie Ellis: that. Exactly. Yep. All that reassurance, all of the things you would say in an exam room, you're (00:18:00) saying to them through text. So, um, next question is that I know that some offices use the virtual exam as part of their sales or nurturing process, um, to engage with potential patients and simply say, yes, we can absolutely help with that issue.
And the next step is an exam. So basically they're using the virtual exam to be like, Send in your photos. Yes, that's Dr. Lee's favorite tooth to fix, and we can do that. And so they're really on this end of the spectrum. And then there are offices like yours that really take the virtual exam to the next level, which is like treatment plan, treatment modality, treatment time.
financials, down payment, monthly payments, all of that. So with your specific instance, I think people would be really curious about what does the next visit or what is their first in person visit really look like once they've gone through the virtual exam? What are you scheduling for and (00:19:00) what are you doing at their first real in person appointment after a virtual exam?
(00:19:05) Jamie Kent: Okay. So after a virtual exam, For 90 percent of the patients that are willing to move forward, if they are going to be starting with Invisalign, we book them for a half hour. They come in and it's. Just like a new patient exam where we're going to take their pan and their stuff and we're going to take their photos and then we'll take a scan for the Invisalign at that point.
So, at that visit, they will pay their down payment and they're ready to get started. They sign their consent form and everything like that. So, it's just the records and the scan and then Dr. Lee just comes over and reviews again in person what the treatment will be. So, instead of having That exam where it's whatever you book it for some offices have it for an hour.
Some have it for a half hour. We have it for 30 minutes. (00:20:00) So, instead of having the 30 minute time where they may come in, we just have the 30 minutes and then the next visit, they start there in this line.
(00:20:09) Lacie Ellis: Excellent. So essentially, um, next visit is kind of like an exam light, but like reiterate the treatment plan.
They sign their paperwork, make their down payment, and then you do the first step towards treatment, whether that's separators, I assume if they're going to do regular braces, traditional braces, or take their scan for Invisalign.
(00:20:29) Jamie Kent: Yeah. So if they are getting braces, They would get them that day. So we would book them for an hour.
So we would do the photos, the x rays, and then they would book to get their braces
(00:20:41) Lacie Ellis: that day. Excellent. Okay. That's exciting because I really think these, I hear from so many offices, like we just don't have any more space to put exams, but like we're growing and people want to come in, but we're booking four weeks out.
And I can tell you if you're booking more than two weeks (00:21:00) out for that exam, from my experience and my research. People will go somewhere else that can see them within about two weeks. So if you're booking further out than that, this is a great way to help lighten your schedule a little bit because you're still getting them in.
You're still seeing them and then you're going to, you know, get them in and get them started. So, and in your guys's case, um, You know, with a startup practice, you have limited days that you're able to see patients. And so this really helps, um, in your situation specifically to be able to see patients all the time and get them in on the days that doctor is there.
So in your unique situation, this is like the perfect solution for fixing a problem.
(00:21:45) Jamie Kent: It definitely is. It helps so much to be able to skip that first one and get them in because we do have that limited time. So it's amazing that we have this and it has helped out so much. (00:22:00)
(00:22:00) Lacie Ellis: Good. That makes my heart really happy to hear.
Um, well that is it. So I really hope that you enjoyed our conversation today as much as I did. Thank you so much for your time and for sharing your valuable insights, Jamie. I just think having these conversations where we really talked about To people that are using specific technologies and how it's working for them.
It's just really helpful, I think, to people who are curious about it or, you know, just wanting to know, like, how does that even work? And maybe for patients who want to understand how this works. So thank you so, so much. I really appreciate your time. Thank you so much for having me. Yes. Um, so our goal is to give you truly tangible items that you can use in your day to day life at the office and elevate the voices of people that actually work in an office and sit in the same chair that you sit in every day.
We'd love to hear from you with topic or guest recommendations, as well as questions or comments about the things that you are dealing with in In your practice. So send your (00:23:00) anonymous questions or topics or concerns or stories to practice talk. com please subscribe and share this episode with your friends and family that might find these conversations helpful and or interesting.
And don't forget to listen to our original podcast called the golden age of orthodontics hosted by the founders of people in practice. Dr. Leon Klempner and Amy Epstein until next time, thank you for joining us on practice. This talk, where your voice has value.
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Head over to practice talk. com to ask us questions or tell us your stories until next time.
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