by Dr. Jacqueline S. Allen | Sep 20, 2017 | Blog, Business, Endodontics
From September 14th – 16th, 2017 the entire staff of Phoenix Endodontic Group took time off to attend the 17th Annual TDO Users Meeting at the Paradise Point Resort in San Diego, CA. Dr Jacqueline Allen was among the first clinicians to purchase TDO (The Digital Office) and has attended every Users Meeting since 2003. Phoenix Endodontic Group uses the annual TDO Meeting to attend lectures and presentations on team building, new research and scientific advancements in the field of Endodontics as well as updates and enhancements to the software.
Dr Gary B. Carr is the founder of TDO Software – he started the company about 20 years ago and over that time has changed the way dental clinicians practice Endodontics – use of the surgical microscope as a standard of care being the most obvious. In order to start TDO, Dr Carr assembled a group of endodontists that shared his commitment to excellence in the profession. At the 2017 TDO Users Meeting in San Diego, Dr Carr was able to reassemble the original team that did the research and development for what became TDO. Included in this group of exceptional endodontists was Dr. Joseph Dovgan (Joey D). Dr. Allen purchased Dr. Dovgan’s practice in Paradise Valley, AZ in 2008, and to this day we continue Dr. Dovgan’s commitment to excellence in the field of endodontics. The meeting welcome reception was a very emotional time for Dr. Carr as he paid tribute to his colleagues, his wife Jan and his long-time dental assistant, Joy Haskins.
In a lighthearted moment, Dr Carr recalled that 17 years ago he took all of his retirement savings ($200,000) and purchased an electron microscope in order to conduct his research. He said he told Jan after the fact, and instead of being mad about it she said “It’s ok you know what you are doing.” The rest, as they say, is history.
Dr. Allen is committed to continual training for staff on not only using TDO but also helping our team become stronger and more efficient. TDO’s motto is “Best in Class” – that is what the Phoenix Endodontic Group aspires to be every day.
by Dr. Jacqueline S. Allen | Sep 28, 2016 | Blog, Business
You would think that the business of treating teeth with Root Canals in Scottsdale, Phoenix and Paradise Valley is boring business – I am here to tell you it is not. However, the workplace as we all used to know it has changed dramatically. This has to do mostly with changes in technology and the tools we use today to communicate with each other (internal), and with our patients and referring dentist offices (external).
Indeed the world has changed and rules that used to guide worker behavior and habits may no longer apply. Compared to today’s workplace, it feels like I began my business career at a time when “dinosaurs roamed the earth.” Contacting your co-workers wasn’t always just sending an Instant Message. Back in the day you had to be a little more creative.
1) Smoke Signals: Back when bartering was the foremost form of commerce, telling everyone that you had some hides to trade was as easy as sending a plume of smoke into the sky.
2) Morse Code: Samuel Morse brought texting to the 1830’s using dots and dashes, making it possible to ask your staff to”–..-/ -.-…–..”* without leaving your chair!
3) Long-Distance Calls: During the 1960’s, international calls would cost about $3.00 per minute – the equivalent of $25.00 today.
* Get my Coffee
Even in the stodgy old profession of dentistry, social media has forever changed the way business is done and how people communicate. If you are in pain and you need a root canal in Scottsdale, chances are you just type “Root Canal Scottsdale” into Google. Once you have found the name Phoenix Endodontic Group first in the search, you then access our web page and Facebook page. I am pretty sure that is how it is done today.
Mobile devices allow dental office staff to be more efficient and to look at information on their office in real time. This creates a challenge – understanding where the line is between work and personal as it relates to use of your own mobile device at work.
Here are 3 tips regarding social media/texting for employees in today’s workplace:
1. Put Family and Friends on Hold: Taking a few moments for personal calls and texts is ok as long as you keep it brief. Tell family members your hours so they know when they’ll hear back from you.
2. Friend request the Company, NOT your boss: Befriending coworkers and your boss on social media is a bad idea – you don’t want to mix work and play. That said, sharing company content online is a nice way to promote your company.
3. Texting at work is OK: Nowadays you are expected to be easily accessible which means email, messaging and even texting are all appropriate forms of workplace communication within office hours.
At Phoenix Endodontic Group, our staff understands that communication in our personal relationships and work relationships are constantly evolving and it’s important to be able to adapt in order to have a good work/life balance.
by Dr. Jacqueline S. Allen | May 27, 2016 | Blog, Business, Dentistry, Endodontics, Endodontist, Mission of Mercy
Team members of Phoenix Endodontic Group participated in the 2016 HopeFest event which took place April 15th-16th at CHASE Field in Phoenix. This annual event provides a wide range of sevices to the homeless and economically challenged members of our community. The Central Arizona Dental Society Foundation was asked to help deliver the dental services at HopeFest over a two day period.
“This was such a great and it took many wonderful volunteers to make it a success,” said Dr. Jacqueline S. Allen, CADSF Board President. “We were thankful to have dental teams come together to help get folks smiling again.” Allen continued, “Several team members from offices across the Valley volunteered over the two day period.” The following team members from Phoenix Endodontic Group participated: Dr. Jacqueline Allen (Clinic Floor Director), Dallas Hedges (Endodontic Lead), Roxann Naithani (Patient Registration Lead) Hanh Duong (Patient Exit), Savannah Allen (X-Ray) and Kevin Conroy (Event Director).
Dr. Allen also wished to thank members of the Phoenix Endodontic Group’s extended “family” for their amazing efforts: Kristen Kingsley (Event Coordinator), Sarah Tate (Event Coordinator), Linda Shirey (Volunteer Lounge) and Dr. Carol Ford (Dental Routing).
Highlights from the 2-day dental clinic include: $397,000 in free dental care delivered to 369 patients. CADSF was also able to provide dentures, root canals and crowns – these services were all provided for the first time ever at HopeFest.
Thanks to the Central Arizona Dental Society Foundation and all of the volunteers for making 2016 HopeFest a big success.
by Dr. Jacqueline S. Allen | Apr 18, 2016 | Blog, Business, Endodontics, Endodontist, Phoenix Endodontic Group
The entire team at Phoenix Endodontic Group has a keen awareness that we are here to provide gentle and individualized care to all patients entrusted to us by our referring doctors or that have sought us out on their own. There are many endodontic specialists in the Valley, and we realize that we must always “be at our best” relative to patient care.
Understanding what patients are seeking when they come to our office helps us be able to define what sets us apart from other endodontic specialists.
- Patients want to be treated with the state of the art equipment – Phoenix Endodontic Group consistently makes investments in technology and training to be able to deliver the best in modern endodontic therapy to our patients.
- Patients want their endodontist to listen to their concerns and fully answer their questions relative to treatment options – Phoenix Endodontic Group is the only endodontic practice in the Phoenix/Paradise Valley area with all-female practitioners. Dr. Jacqueline Allen and I have many years of experience and training treating patients with endodontic pain. We take our time with consultations and develop a treatment plan with the patients best interests in mind.
- Patients need access to care when they are experiencing pain and discomfort. No one can predict when the need for a root canal will arise. Phoenix Endodontic Group has two conveniently located offices that are open Monday – Friday from 7:00am – 5:00pm on most days.
At Phoenix Endodontic Group we live by a simple rule – Treat our patients the way we wish to be treated when we receive care. Living by this rule has help to make us one of the top endodontic specialty offices in the Phoenix/Paradise Valley area.
by Dr. Jacqueline S. Allen | Jul 21, 2014 | Blog, Business, Dentistry, Endodontics
Over the years, marketing strategies for a dental office have changed. There are some many different variables which affect the type of marketing, how much you spend, how you target patients, etc. The focus of this article will be on marketing for dental specialists (Perio, Endo, Oral Surgery, Pedo & Ortho). Because we are now in the throes of another hot summer in Central Arizona, we will focus on what marketing efforts to focus on in the summer months.
Phoenix Endodontic Group like many other dental specialists receive a significant portion of their patients from direct referrals from other dental offices and therefore the strategy all year round is to recognize which offices are sending you patients and which offices have the potential to do so. Staff should be aware and trained that every interaction with a referring office is an “opportunity” or “touch point.”
Some touch points are small, i.e a simple phone call to set up an appointment for the patient to go back to see the general dentist once treatment is completed. Some touch points are planned out as a Thank You to the office and a delivery of fresh baked goods for the staff to know how much their referrals mean to the specialist. These are marketing activities that should take place all year long, to keep all referring offices on the “radar screen” of the dental specialist.
In general terms, the flow of patients slows down in the Arizona summer. The snowbirds fly back to Minnesota, Iowa and the like and dentists with young families schedule summer activities with their families. Phoenix Endodontic Group has always found the 3rd quarter (summer) to be slower than the rest of the year. A good time to catch your breath, relax and slow down, right? Wrong! This should be the time of year when you go at the marketing as hard as you can.
If the third quarter is slower than others in a specialty dental office that means you will have staff with less tasks to do than normal. We say put them to work reaching out to your referral base. Everyone has different interpersonal skills. Send staff to meet and greet staff at your referral offices, that is a good way to spend any down time. Staff can also help produce marketing pieces and information to email to referring offices with something as simple as your summer hours or other important information.
We advocate using the summer to solidify your current relationships with offices that you might be taking for granted but are being wooed constantly by other specialty offices. Don’t let your office be a victim of “out of sight, out of mind.” A personal visit from your office to your top 20 referring offices during the summer months is a must.
by Dr. Jacqueline S. Allen | Apr 14, 2014 | Blog, Business, Dentistry, Endodontics
The premier dental practice instated thin clients to create a secure VDI environment protecting patient files at an affordable cost for their small healthcare service. In the healthcare industry protecting patient data is the key and setting up a secure VDI environment with thin clients was the best, yet affordable solution.
Customer Overview
The Phoenix Endodontics Group is a premier endodontic specialty dental practice started in 2001. It is a relatively small practice consisting of three endodontists and is located in Phoenix and the Paradise Valley areas in Arizona. The practice has approximately 15 employees.
Challenge:
The Phoenix Endodontic Group had a mixed environment of Dell thin clients and traditional desktops. The devices connected to Citrix VDI environment with Windows 7 operating capabilities. The practice found that their current Dell thin clients were not properly redirecting USB image sensors to the patients’ dental electronic medical records and needed a solution.
Additionally, the Phoenix Endodontic Group found inconsistencies and technical problems similar to the issues they were facing with their Dell thin client devices with their traditional desktop units located in their front desk and administrative areas. These errors often occurred with USB based devices, scanners, and cameras.
Solution:
Facing the challenges above, the Phoenix Endodontic Group contacted a Devon IT integration partner in the Phoenix area, Phoenix PC Networking, who specializes in IT solutions for small and medium size companies.
Through Phoenix PC Networking, they purchased 10 Acer Veriton N2010G units running with DeTOS a Linux based thin client OS. They also re-imaged four of their Dell PC’s using Devon IT’s VDI Blaster software. The purchase of the 10 thin clients was used to solve the USB redirect challenge, and to allow the practice’s USB image sensors to communicate wirelessly with electronic patient medical records. This communication enabled the staff to pull patient images, send snapshots of images in real time, and maintain the records.
The purchase of Devon IT’s VDI Blaster software was then used to re-image four Dell PC’s located in the front desk area and in other administrative locations. This would allow for more efficient and reliable use of the daily USB devices used by the staff, increase over all security when dealing with confidential patient records, and create a user friendly environment for all current and future incoming staff.
Results and Benefits
Initial Results.
The 10 new Acer Veriton thin clients and re-imaged Dell PCs with VDI Blaster proved to be a perfect and cost effective solution for this small-sized medical-service provider. The Acer Veriton N 2010G with DeTOS eliminated the issue of USB redirect of patient information to their respective electronic medical records. The practitioners and other dental staff were able to successfully and wirelessly transmit patient information securely from medical devices to the patients’ electronic medical records.
Additionally, the Phoenix Endodontic Group found that the original inconsistencies and technical problems with the four Dell desktop units were also eliminated thanks to re-imaging with Devon IT’s VDI Blaster. The front desk and other administrative staff were able to use all USB devices with ease and securely handle sensitive patient documents with no additional training required.
The staff at Phoenix Endodontics benefited greatly from the simple VDI environment of the Acer thin clients that mirrors traditional PCs, which resulted in 0 time-lost due to staff training on the new devices.
Conclusion
The Phoenix Endodontic Group offered a perfect opportunity to highlight the benefits of alternative desktop computing for a small medical service provider in the healthcare industry.
“The healthcare industry can be a tedious place for technology with all of the privacy regulations and continued demand for increase security of patient documents,” said James T. Snodgrass, Phoenix PC Networking’s assigned integrator for the Phoenix Endodontic Group transition. “The Acer Veriton N2010G units and VDI Blaster repurposed PC’s gave our client the required technology updates that were sought when Phoenix Endodontics contacted us, and it also provided them with the increased security that is demanded in this industry.”
