Latest / Hey Docs! / Advocacy in Action: Supporting Orthodontists with AAO’s Adam Braundmeier

Transcript

Advocacy in Action: Supporting Orthodontists with AAO’s Adam Braundmeier · Hey Docs!

0:05
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Haydocks Podcast with your host Jill Allen.
0:09
Speaker 1: Today I am joined by Adam Bronmeier, General counsel for
0:13
Speaker 1: the American Association of Orthodonics. Adam works with orthodontists across
0:18
Speaker 1: the country on the legal, regulatory, and advocacy issues that
0:22
Speaker 1: directly impact how practices operate, from legalization and dental board
0:27
Speaker 1: activity to emerging topics like teledentistry and AI. The AAO
0:32
Speaker 1: plays a critical role in representing orthodonis. In this episode,
0:36
Speaker 1: we're breaking down where advocacy is making a difference, what
0:40
Speaker 1: resources are available to members, and how the AAO is
0:43
Speaker 1: prioritizing the issue that matters most to orthodonis. So let's
0:47
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0:51
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Speaker 1: forward slash Clarity to learn more. Adam, I am so
2:48
Speaker 1: excited to have you here on Haydocks. Thanks for being
2:50
Speaker 1: here today.
2:51
Speaker 2: Thanks for having me. I'm looking forward to it.
2:53
Speaker 1: Yes, yes. So the way I like to start off,
2:56
Speaker 1: Haydocks is to have our guests just share a little
2:59
Speaker 1: bit about out themselves and for you especially, I'd love
3:02
Speaker 1: for you to talk about your role at the AO
3:06
Speaker 1: and the type of work that you guys are doing
3:08
Speaker 1: to help support orthodonis.
3:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely. So just a little bit about my background.
3:13
Speaker 2: I joined the AO in twenty twenty three as an
3:15
Speaker 2: Associate General Council working under Trey Lawrence, so I know
3:18
Speaker 2: you've met and spoken with and when he rose to CEO,
3:22
Speaker 2: I applied for the general Council role and got it.
3:25
Speaker 2: But prior to joining the AO, I guess first, going
3:28
Speaker 2: way back, I was a very non compliant teenage orthodonic
3:32
Speaker 2: patient who was not a fan orthodonist at the time.
3:36
Speaker 2: That's funny. But then moving on, then I went to
3:39
Speaker 2: law school and I come from a family of healthcare practitioners,
3:42
Speaker 2: so I always wanted to work in the healthcare field.
3:45
Speaker 2: I spent the early part of my career doing litigation,
3:47
Speaker 2: representing physicians and dentists in malpractice defense, and like many
3:53
Speaker 2: of your listeners, if they're having to build insurance companies,
3:56
Speaker 2: I'm sure they can relate. In private practice, I got
3:58
Speaker 2: a little tired of having to build my time and
4:01
Speaker 2: deal with insurance companies and navigate that I just wanted
4:05
Speaker 2: to focus on the law instead of the business aspect.
4:08
Speaker 2: So when an opportunity arose to go in house and
4:11
Speaker 2: still work with healthcare providers, I jumped into it.
4:14
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, I love that, and I always love the
4:16
Speaker 1: journey that people take into our industry. It's really fun
4:20
Speaker 1: to see and congratulations on getting the role. I think
4:23
Speaker 1: that that's super exciting. And I know I refer a
4:26
Speaker 1: lot of my doctors when they have questions back to
4:29
Speaker 1: counsel and you guys just are such a wealth of information.
4:32
Speaker 1: So thank you for what you guys are doing, and
4:35
Speaker 1: you especially but the whole team what you guys are
4:37
Speaker 1: doing in that space for our docs.
4:39
Speaker 2: Absolutely, we have a great team here and I think
4:41
Speaker 2: we all enjoy working with the orth and honys. They're
4:43
Speaker 2: a very engaged group. And I should add I've retreated
4:46
Speaker 2: since joining the AO, and so my current Orthodonism needs
4:49
Speaker 2: know that I am very compliant now.
4:52
Speaker 1: I love that. I love that. That's good. I'm sure
4:55
Speaker 1: that they will appreciate that. So let's start off by
4:58
Speaker 1: just talking about what you and your team do, what
5:03
Speaker 1: advocacy looks like, and what that means when you guys
5:08
Speaker 1: are working with the agencies out there in the dental
5:11
Speaker 1: boards and all of that.
5:13
Speaker 2: Yeah, So back up one step is I actually have
5:16
Speaker 2: a dual role here, So as the general counsel, that's
5:18
Speaker 2: largely an internal facing role where I manage all the
5:22
Speaker 2: legal risk and legal compliance of the association, managing contracts,
5:26
Speaker 2: managing the association as an employer, everything there to make
5:30
Speaker 2: sure it runs smoothly. And then I'm also part of
5:32
Speaker 2: the advocacy team, and that's where I work with a
5:34
Speaker 2: team of very talented individuals and the other in house
5:38
Speaker 2: attorneys here as well, to work with regulatory agencies, legislators,
5:42
Speaker 2: and our members largely to try and affect change where
5:45
Speaker 2: we can. There's not one size fits all approach to
5:49
Speaker 2: any particular issue, and as good as our team is here,
5:52
Speaker 2: we're not orthodontists, so we rely on our members to
5:55
Speaker 2: kind of bring up issues and tell us what matters
5:57
Speaker 2: to them, what's going on in their state. We do
6:00
Speaker 2: as much as we can to monitor, but there's fifty
6:02
Speaker 2: states and there's six people on our team. Wow, you know. So, yeah, yeah,
6:06
Speaker 2: we really do rely on our members. We have our
6:08
Speaker 2: what we call our National Advocacy Network, which is a
6:10
Speaker 2: member driven part of the advocacy team. It's all volunteer
6:14
Speaker 2: orthodontists that take our different roles to help us in
6:17
Speaker 2: the various states, and we rely heavily on them to
6:19
Speaker 2: tell us like, hey, I was at this Dental Board
6:21
Speaker 2: meeting and this was what was brought up. Or I
6:23
Speaker 2: got the Dental Board agenda and they're talking about specialty advertising.
6:27
Speaker 2: Or we have a lot of members that no legislators,
6:30
Speaker 2: and you know, we're roommates with somebody that's now in politics,
6:33
Speaker 2: and they get w into something and tell us, you know,
6:36
Speaker 2: this law has come up, and you know, I think
6:38
Speaker 2: it's a problem for us. So it's really member driven.
6:41
Speaker 2: They kind of guide us, and then we help lay
6:43
Speaker 2: the groundwork to keep them engaged and support them and
6:47
Speaker 2: advocating for themselves.
6:48
Speaker 1: Yeah that's great. So talk to me about how that
6:52
Speaker 1: moves into As we've got the volunteer orthodonists that are
6:56
Speaker 1: kind of working as that pillar for their state or whatnot,
7:00
Speaker 1: how does that then translate down into all of the
7:03
Speaker 1: other members of AAO. I'm assuming within each state. It
7:07
Speaker 1: kind of if we hear something is coming or we
7:10
Speaker 1: need to be aware of it, gets rolled out more
7:12
Speaker 1: specifically individual or can you kind of tell me how
7:15
Speaker 1: that works.
7:16
Speaker 2: Yeah, So, just to use an example, one thing we're
7:19
Speaker 2: currently actually working on is like the rules and regulations
7:22
Speaker 2: around specially advertising, which at the state level are largely
7:26
Speaker 2: governed by the dental boards. Ohio's a state where we're
7:30
Speaker 2: very active right now because unfortunately, there's groups that see
7:34
Speaker 2: being able to say that I'm an orthodontist or I
7:36
Speaker 2: specialize in this area industry. They see that as simply
7:39
Speaker 2: a marketing tool, whereas our members know that there's more
7:43
Speaker 2: to it than just marketing. It relays what their training
7:47
Speaker 2: was and distinguishes them from somebody with maybe lesser degree
7:50
Speaker 2: of training. So what happens, though, is we get winned
7:53
Speaker 2: through a member that lets us know, like hey, the
7:54
Speaker 2: dental boards opening up the rags. They'll tell us they're
7:57
Speaker 2: wanting to change the definition of what a specialist is.
8:01
Speaker 2: From there, we get to work engaging with our national
8:04
Speaker 2: Advocacy network we call it our NAN, and help push
8:07
Speaker 2: out the message. We'll craft the message, help them personalize
8:10
Speaker 2: it to share with their colleagues. We'll also put information
8:13
Speaker 2: out through AO resources, whether that be social media or
8:16
Speaker 2: through like the e bulletins that members can get every week,
8:19
Speaker 2: and we'll start having calls to action in there as well.
8:22
Speaker 2: It's like, hey, this is happening in your state. If
8:23
Speaker 2: you're in the state, click here to submit a letter
8:26
Speaker 2: to your local legislators or to attend the Dental Board meetings.
8:30
Speaker 2: And the Advacy team also will rally support and I've
8:33
Speaker 2: gone in person to several Dental Board meetings and we
8:36
Speaker 2: get members to come there and just help guide them
8:38
Speaker 2: on how to speak either you know, in favor of
8:40
Speaker 2: or opposed to certain proposed changes and help them tell
8:43
Speaker 2: their stories.
8:44
Speaker 1: Yeah. Oh I love that. And I didn't even realize
8:47
Speaker 1: that some of that is even happening behind the scenes.
8:50
Speaker 1: But how wonderful for all of our local orthodontist because
8:54
Speaker 1: I think it is really difficult. I mean, it's hard
8:57
Speaker 1: enough to run a business, let alone keep track of
9:00
Speaker 1: what is happening at even a higher level than your
9:02
Speaker 1: business and not get caught off guard.
9:05
Speaker 2: Yeah, and that's one of the things we kind of
9:07
Speaker 2: struggle with and why it's so important to get members involved.
9:09
Speaker 2: As people hear advocacy, and they think maybe it's all
9:12
Speaker 2: that glitz and glamour and it's laws are getting passed.
9:15
Speaker 2: But sometimes the big wins aren't the legislation that we
9:18
Speaker 2: get passed or the regulations we get passed, but it's
9:20
Speaker 2: stopping a bad proposal from getting it acted or getting
9:25
Speaker 2: it changed to less than the effect. Because just like
9:27
Speaker 2: me and the rest of our team who are not Orthodonos,
9:30
Speaker 2: most of the politicians out there are not Orthodonis either,
9:33
Speaker 2: and that's not to discredit them, but they just don't
9:35
Speaker 2: know if they deal with a lot of issues. So
9:37
Speaker 2: it's trying to get Orthodonos a seat at that table
9:39
Speaker 2: before they have to deal with the problem, you know,
9:42
Speaker 2: be more proactive and reactive.
9:45
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, absolutely, So I want to ask you. Obviously
9:49
Speaker 1: we've got the specialty advertising component, but I hear a
9:53
Speaker 1: lot about teledentistry and direct to consumer models and some
9:59
Speaker 1: of the different things out there. I'm wondering if you
10:01
Speaker 1: can talk to us about what your approach is, what
10:06
Speaker 1: do we need to be thinking about when we're hearing this,
10:09
Speaker 1: because I think there's a lot where when we think
10:12
Speaker 1: about where our industry is moving and AI and how
10:16
Speaker 1: involved do we need to be can we be where
10:20
Speaker 1: is that line? Especially you know, I'm thinking with the
10:22
Speaker 1: teledentistry component of it, I'm wondering if you can speak
10:26
Speaker 1: to that and some of the other key issues that
10:29
Speaker 1: are shaping our profession right now.
10:32
Speaker 2: Yeah, certainly, And the direct consumer issue is a good
10:35
Speaker 2: one to point to. And I will say sometimes we
10:38
Speaker 2: interchangeably say direct consumer or teledentistry, and I may slip
10:42
Speaker 2: into that here there is a difference. But for our
10:45
Speaker 2: purposes to day, that's talking about direct consumer largely. But
10:48
Speaker 2: first and foremost, like our approach to all these issues
10:51
Speaker 2: is actually we're pretty consistent across the board. The most
10:54
Speaker 2: important thing that we look at is how does it
10:56
Speaker 2: affect patient health and safety? How does it affect the
10:59
Speaker 2: doctor page relationship, and then we take it from there
11:02
Speaker 2: and determine how big of an issue it is. Now,
11:05
Speaker 2: obviously the direct consumer issue is a very big one
11:08
Speaker 2: for patient health and safety. There's the I'm going to
11:11
Speaker 2: forget the entire acronym, but the short term name for
11:13
Speaker 2: it is MAD. It's a database that the FDA keeps.
11:16
Speaker 2: That is, patients can report it, doctors can report it,
11:19
Speaker 2: manufacturers that they're feeling kind enough will also report issues
11:22
Speaker 2: with their devices and they can relay out there all
11:24
Speaker 2: kinds of issues that patients have had from essentially self treating.
11:29
Speaker 2: But it's important to also that we're not anti innovation,
11:33
Speaker 2: We're not anti technology. Remote monitoring and other digital tools
11:37
Speaker 2: have their place. For sure, it can be very useful.
11:40
Speaker 2: A lot of our members currently are using those things.
11:43
Speaker 2: What's important, though, is that orthodonics and orthodonic care remains
11:48
Speaker 2: part of healthcare that it's not marketed to like a
11:51
Speaker 2: consumer product. Diagnosis matters, radiographs matter, records matter, treatment planning matters.
11:58
Speaker 2: All of that matters is important to the outcome. Orthodonics
12:01
Speaker 2: is not as simple as taking pictures of your teeth
12:04
Speaker 2: or taking a dental impression that was mailed to your
12:07
Speaker 2: house and receiving a box of plastic aligners of the mail.
12:10
Speaker 1: Right, right, And so, how are you guys trying to
12:13
Speaker 1: help the orthodonists stay safe and some of these either
12:17
Speaker 1: be kept mindful of changes that are coming or things
12:20
Speaker 1: that are out there. How are you trying to help
12:23
Speaker 1: them in that regard? So they are doing the right thing,
12:26
Speaker 1: but also we aren't having some of the past issues
12:29
Speaker 1: show up that we've seen.
12:31
Speaker 2: I would say, unfortunately, and that that's a common misconception
12:35
Speaker 2: is those issues are not in the past, and in fact,
12:38
Speaker 2: I think they're probably growing technologies developing, accelerating at an
12:43
Speaker 2: incredible rate right now. I mean we're seeing it with
12:45
Speaker 2: AI everywhere, which is a tool that many orthodonists can use,
12:48
Speaker 2: but so can other individuals to try and essentially try
12:52
Speaker 2: their hand at orthodonics. Yeah, so stay in tune with
12:56
Speaker 2: what we're doing, you know, get your advocacy emails, stay
12:59
Speaker 2: in touch with the advocacy team. That's the best you
13:01
Speaker 2: can do to stay abreast of what's going on. But
13:03
Speaker 2: how we're trying to help. The clearest example is we
13:06
Speaker 2: have our what we call our model telet industry laws
13:10
Speaker 2: that we take this set of language that we think
13:12
Speaker 2: would be ideal and then go to various state legislators
13:15
Speaker 2: and try and get it past in the state. And
13:17
Speaker 2: the core of that is what it boils down to,
13:20
Speaker 2: is that what we think is every patient should have
13:23
Speaker 2: an in person exam with radiographs before beginning orthodonic treatment.
13:28
Speaker 2: And really we kind of stop there. That doesn't mean
13:30
Speaker 2: that we don't think in person follow up exams are important,
13:33
Speaker 2: but there has to be some level of floor and
13:36
Speaker 2: the best way to protect patients is to make sure
13:39
Speaker 2: a license providers, as I know some of the at
13:42
Speaker 2: least the dental students will says got their fingers wet. Yeah,
13:46
Speaker 2: checking out the patients before engaging in this treatment. Because
13:49
Speaker 2: there's so many things that you know, the orthodontists know
13:51
Speaker 2: that I can rattle off but don't really have a
13:54
Speaker 2: true understanding of that can harm a patient without actually
13:58
Speaker 2: seeing it or without having the X rays. Like if
14:01
Speaker 2: you go to that mod database, there's several cases of
14:03
Speaker 2: unerrupted teeth having spaces closed over them because there were
14:06
Speaker 2: no radiographs.
14:08
Speaker 1: Yeah.
14:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, So we propose that language and we could go
14:11
Speaker 2: into more detail if you want to. Again, not trying
14:13
Speaker 2: to stifle innovation. We have carve outs for emergency exceptions,
14:16
Speaker 2: you know, public health to ensure access to care for
14:20
Speaker 2: public health situations when needed. But access to care is
14:24
Speaker 2: not the same as access to quality care.
14:26
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, that's great. Let's talk a little bit about
14:30
Speaker 1: student loans. Do you want to dive into that one
14:32
Speaker 1: a little bit. I know for a lot of my
14:33
Speaker 1: startup doctors that's like.
14:35
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, that's a big one. It's a hot topic
14:40
Speaker 2: right now. Especially you know, on July fourth last year,
14:43
Speaker 2: the One Big Beautiful Bill Act was signed into law,
14:45
Speaker 2: which is now going into effect this year, and it
14:49
Speaker 2: is a rapidly evolving landscape. We're still to some degree
14:53
Speaker 2: trying to kind of get our fingers around it and
14:55
Speaker 2: understand how it's going to affect our members. We have
14:57
Speaker 2: a broad sense of how it will, but I think
14:59
Speaker 2: it was just a week ago the Department of Education
15:02
Speaker 2: finally released their rules for how it's going to implement
15:05
Speaker 2: the law starting in July, so we're still digging through
15:08
Speaker 2: some of that. Part of the issue is, though, is
15:11
Speaker 2: just getting the public and policymakers to understand what the
15:14
Speaker 2: issue is. I think everybody out there and we've seen
15:18
Speaker 2: the studies, people have their own experiences. We know the
15:20
Speaker 2: cost of education is going up. Undergraduate education is not cheap,
15:25
Speaker 2: dental school is not cheap, and then residency programs are now.
15:29
Speaker 1: Cheap, I know.
15:30
Speaker 2: And part of the problem is it seems like people
15:34
Speaker 2: see successful orthodonis and dentists out there, and they also
15:36
Speaker 2: take the approach of well, you know, nobody made them
15:39
Speaker 2: go to dental school, nobody made them go to residency,
15:42
Speaker 2: and they made that choice. But the problem is I
15:45
Speaker 2: don't think that's taking the full picture and all the
15:47
Speaker 2: consequences into account. I mean, we want to support our
15:50
Speaker 2: members and help come up with ways to help ease
15:53
Speaker 2: that debt burden, because that debt burden has been growing
15:55
Speaker 2: and is an issue that affects their practice. But if
15:58
Speaker 2: they can't even get the loans to begin with to
16:00
Speaker 2: go to school, I mean, there are whole swaths of
16:03
Speaker 2: people that might forego dentistry and specialty training, and obviously
16:08
Speaker 2: that will lower access to care. And then if there's
16:10
Speaker 2: less access to care, there's also going to be increased
16:13
Speaker 2: costs for patients, both through quality of care and actual prices.
16:17
Speaker 2: But also the other thing that we try and relate
16:19
Speaker 2: to people is that the traditional model for dental offices
16:23
Speaker 2: and orthodonic offices is their small businesses. You know, they'll
16:27
Speaker 2: open up a business in a state and maybe they
16:29
Speaker 2: have a satellite location. But the main thing is is
16:32
Speaker 2: that they're hiring usually pretty decently paying jobs for staff members.
16:36
Speaker 2: They're having orthodonic assistants, front office staff, billing staff, you
16:39
Speaker 2: name it. And those are all jobs that would be
16:42
Speaker 2: brought into a community that are going to go away
16:44
Speaker 2: if orthodontists can no longer afford to either go into
16:47
Speaker 2: the specialty or can't afford to bet on themselves. Yeah,
16:50
Speaker 2: to take the risk of opening that business.
16:53
Speaker 1: Yeah, I love that you guys are working through that,
16:56
Speaker 1: because again, working with so many startup doctors and gosh,
17:00
Speaker 1: I've been doing this for twenty years now, and to
17:02
Speaker 1: look at where the docs twenty years ago coming out
17:06
Speaker 1: of school, where their debt load was, to where it
17:08
Speaker 1: is now is just incredible. And then we just look
17:11
Speaker 1: at even just the cost of what it takes to
17:13
Speaker 1: open up a startup practice if we are unable to
17:16
Speaker 1: find a practice to purchase, and gosh, talk about just
17:19
Speaker 1: starting so completely upside down. I mean, every doc that's
17:24
Speaker 1: out there, for sure, you're betting on yourself, but you're
17:26
Speaker 1: also just looking at such a longer runway to that
17:31
Speaker 1: path to profitability because it's so rare that I see
17:34
Speaker 1: somebody that comes out of school without debt, you know.
17:37
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I'm guessing what most of the public seeds too,
17:41
Speaker 2: is they see the office that has been successful, that
17:43
Speaker 2: has survived. You don't see the office that failed. But
17:47
Speaker 2: the doctor's still out there and wanting to provide services.
17:50
Speaker 2: And we need to, you know, help give them that opportunity.
17:53
Speaker 2: It's an economic engine for every local community that they
17:56
Speaker 2: can have.
17:57
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I love it. I love that you guys
17:59
Speaker 1: are focusing on and putting attention there. And now a
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Speaker 1: forward slash Jill Allen. So let's kind of shift gears
18:56
Speaker 1: a little bit and beyond the advocacy component of what
19:00
Speaker 1: you and your team are doing, let's also just talk
19:03
Speaker 1: about some of the other resources. Because I feel like
19:06
Speaker 1: a lot of times my docs, yes they're members of
19:09
Speaker 1: the AEO, but they don't really understand that there are
19:13
Speaker 1: all of these tools that are available out there. And
19:17
Speaker 1: I'm wondering if we can talk a little bit about
19:20
Speaker 1: whether it's marketing support or legal guidance. I use you
19:23
Speaker 1: guys a lot in that area clinical guidance resources. Let's
19:28
Speaker 1: talk about some of those tools out there that docs
19:30
Speaker 1: just may not even know is available to them.
19:33
Speaker 2: Yeah, as I'll start with directly what I have a
19:36
Speaker 2: role with, and that's our Legal Resource Center, which you
19:39
Speaker 2: know you've referred people to. Now, the disclaimer and caveat
19:42
Speaker 2: is is we can't give quote unquote legal advice because
19:45
Speaker 2: I can't represent a member, just like they can't necessarily
19:48
Speaker 2: treat a patient in any state. But we can give
19:51
Speaker 2: them general and practical guidance and help them prepare to
19:55
Speaker 2: ask the right questions if they need die or an attorney,
19:58
Speaker 2: or sometimes give them resource so that they don't have
20:00
Speaker 2: to have that expense in the first place. They might
20:02
Speaker 2: have thought they needed an attorney, but also they really
20:04
Speaker 2: needed it was just a little bit of guidance. So
20:07
Speaker 2: the Legal Resource Center has all kinds of articles and
20:10
Speaker 2: forms you can find online. Our Informed Consent form, supplemental
20:13
Speaker 2: consent forms, but also like patient dismissal letters, all kinds
20:18
Speaker 2: of releases and waivers, sample contracts even just to help
20:22
Speaker 2: familiarize themselves with what some of these types of contracts
20:25
Speaker 2: will look like. But then also we have I guess
20:28
Speaker 2: you call it our catch all. You can email the
20:30
Speaker 2: Legal Resource Center, which is an inbox we monitor and
20:33
Speaker 2: it's me or one of the attorneys at the AO.
20:35
Speaker 2: We'll answer and get back to you as best as
20:37
Speaker 2: we can to answer those questions. It's a free resource
20:39
Speaker 2: for all members out there to love that talk to
20:42
Speaker 2: an attorney before you pay an attorney.
20:43
Speaker 1: Yeah, what a great resource. And again I've had a
20:46
Speaker 1: lot of docs where I'm like, I just think you
20:48
Speaker 1: need some counsel on this to your point before we
20:52
Speaker 1: really engage somebody that you're going to be paying. And
20:55
Speaker 1: I will tell you that your team has been great.
20:58
Speaker 1: You guys have been wonderful and just directing doctors. And
21:02
Speaker 1: I hope for any of my listeners that are listening,
21:04
Speaker 1: hopefully you don't find yourself in a situation where maybe
21:07
Speaker 1: you need some you know, an extra set of eyes
21:09
Speaker 1: or ears on something. But this is part of what
21:11
Speaker 1: you're paying for to be a member, and I think
21:14
Speaker 1: that it's such a huge resource that I hope everybody
21:18
Speaker 1: leans into if and when they find themselves in a
21:20
Speaker 1: position where they need a little extra help.
21:23
Speaker 2: Absolutely, it's free, and you know we will tell you
21:26
Speaker 2: right away too if like, hey, this is beyond what
21:28
Speaker 2: we can do for you, you need to talk to somebody.
21:30
Speaker 2: And I mean, unfortunately, we've had occasions where I I'd
21:33
Speaker 2: say you need to get off phone with me and
21:34
Speaker 2: call someone right now. But I would encourage your listeners,
21:37
Speaker 2: you know, reach out earlier rather than later, because hopefully
21:39
Speaker 2: we can head off those situations.
21:42
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure. I just want to
21:44
Speaker 1: go back to the resources too that you guys have.
21:47
Speaker 1: That's something that has definitely evolved over the years. You know,
21:51
Speaker 1: when you think about what our old school consent used
21:54
Speaker 1: to look like when we are primarily just doing auxiliary
21:57
Speaker 1: brackets and whatnot. To now we've got can sense that
22:01
Speaker 1: you know, the gamut from you know, all the different things,
22:05
Speaker 1: and I think, again, what a wonderful resource just to
22:08
Speaker 1: be able to either download or you could still do
22:11
Speaker 1: printed material that's sent out as well. I'd love it
22:14
Speaker 1: if there's anything new in there that you think is
22:17
Speaker 1: worth talking about, because again, as things change, I think
22:20
Speaker 1: sometimes we forget or maybe don't even realize that there
22:23
Speaker 1: may be a new consent form that we should be
22:26
Speaker 1: thinking about or talking about.
22:28
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, So we're always looking to develop resources, and
22:32
Speaker 2: just like advocacies, sometimes we don't know we need a
22:34
Speaker 2: resource until a member asks for it. As far as
22:37
Speaker 2: new I think we'll hopefully be rolling out sounds simple,
22:40
Speaker 2: but it's a form that would allow offices to handle
22:43
Speaker 2: it more efficiently and have a record of of consenting
22:46
Speaker 2: to a non parent bringing the patient in and making
22:49
Speaker 2: those treatment decisions for whatever limited number of days, for
22:52
Speaker 2: a particular visit, whatever it may be. It's something that
22:55
Speaker 2: truthfully most practices probably don't think twice about, but it's
22:59
Speaker 2: a form that it becomes an issue. It's there that
23:01
Speaker 2: you can provide your patients and have them sign out.
23:05
Speaker 2: We're always trying to keep our hippiforms up to date.
23:08
Speaker 2: Stay tuned on that. There's some proposed rules coming that
23:10
Speaker 2: we're kind of pushing against. But if you know, if
23:13
Speaker 2: those rules pass as to go with cybersecurity requirements, obviously
23:17
Speaker 2: we'll get guidance out there and then part of what
23:20
Speaker 2: kind of sneaks into some of the legal resource in
23:22
Speaker 2: our stuff is also like insurance coding and billing. So
23:25
Speaker 2: I think we're in an annual session actually, So we
23:28
Speaker 2: did have an e bolt An article come out that
23:30
Speaker 2: mentioned what some new code changes are coming forward in
23:33
Speaker 2: the next year, so they'll be on the CDT twenty seven,
23:36
Speaker 2: which I also work on as a staff liaison for
23:38
Speaker 2: our accounts on Orthodonic Benefits, which handles all the coding
23:42
Speaker 2: and insurance resources for the AO, and we're kind of
23:45
Speaker 2: excited about some of the code changes coming up.
23:47
Speaker 1: So well, I can't wait to hear this is. I mean,
23:50
Speaker 1: I feel like, what an antiquated system we've got going
23:53
Speaker 1: on right there. So gosh, if there's any new changes
23:56
Speaker 1: or guidelines that are going to benefit us, as you
23:59
Speaker 1: know in the office, is I can't wait to hear.
24:02
Speaker 2: I hope. So I don't have the exact quotes in
24:04
Speaker 2: front of me, but it has to do with which
24:06
Speaker 2: we've changed a little bit of what the descriptor is
24:08
Speaker 2: for what is comprehensive orthodonic care, and then in combo
24:11
Speaker 2: the harmful habit codes devices for harmful habits are going
24:14
Speaker 2: just to adjunctive treatment codes. So that it's clear that
24:17
Speaker 2: you can bill for devices that aren't automatically considered part
24:22
Speaker 2: of comprehensive care.
24:23
Speaker 1: Oh wonderful. Oh that's great. Well, I can't wait to
24:26
Speaker 1: be determined right or more to come, whichever way it is.
24:29
Speaker 1: But that's super exciting. And as those things come out,
24:32
Speaker 1: I think I just don't even know this. How do
24:35
Speaker 1: doctors find out about as these changes are coming? Is
24:38
Speaker 1: that in the newsletter? Is that? And what's the best
24:42
Speaker 1: way that doctors can stay informed on some of these
24:46
Speaker 1: because I'm sure there's a lot of docks like, oh,
24:47
Speaker 1: my interest is piqued, I don't want to miss this.
24:51
Speaker 2: So yeah, the newsletter we call it our e bolts,
24:53
Speaker 2: and that's probably the most consistent way. But I get it.
24:55
Speaker 2: Everybody gets tons of emails every day. Ours out on Friday,
25:00
Speaker 2: you know, I do sign up for it, try and
25:02
Speaker 2: look at it, but otherwise, just stay involved. Log into
25:05
Speaker 2: the website periodically, or call the Legal Resource Center, call
25:09
Speaker 2: the Member Services team and just ask. We've got a
25:11
Speaker 2: staff here that's always happy to talk to members and
25:13
Speaker 2: help point them in the right direction. We're growing our
25:16
Speaker 2: social media footprint. We're trying to find more and more
25:19
Speaker 2: effective ways to get information to our members.
25:21
Speaker 1: But we're still growing that so yeah, yeah, well that's wonderful.
25:26
Speaker 1: And I think, like with anything, I know, you guys
25:28
Speaker 1: have done a really good job at switching the way
25:30
Speaker 1: you disseminate information and keeping up, you know, with an
25:34
Speaker 1: up to date website, you know, just all of those things.
25:36
Speaker 1: I mean, I think as a as a larger organization,
25:39
Speaker 1: it's always hard to make sure you're keeping all of
25:42
Speaker 1: these pieces in place. So I really appreciate too that
25:45
Speaker 1: you are doing that. And something as simple as any bulletin,
25:48
Speaker 1: you know, we just need to make sure it doesn't
25:49
Speaker 1: hit our spam folders, right, Docs, Yeah, open it so
25:51
Speaker 1: it comes into your inbox. But I mean, even something
25:54
Speaker 1: as simple as that, just to stay on the forefront
25:57
Speaker 1: of what is happening. This is what I always talked
25:59
Speaker 1: to my docs about. This is, in my opinion, kind
26:02
Speaker 1: of the un sexy side of doing business. We got
26:05
Speaker 1: into it because they want to be you know, in
26:07
Speaker 1: the mouth and great clinicians. But it is our duty
26:10
Speaker 1: as business owners and practitioners within the industry to also
26:14
Speaker 1: stay abreast of what's happening and make sure that we're
26:18
Speaker 1: being informed and doing our part too, to make sure
26:20
Speaker 1: that our industry stays safe and secure. As you said,
26:25
Speaker 1: you know, initiatives could be coming about that maybe could
26:28
Speaker 1: be harmful to us by people who may not understand
26:30
Speaker 1: our industry.
26:32
Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely. I mean, being engaged is the best you
26:35
Speaker 2: can do. You got to let the advoacy team know
26:37
Speaker 2: if you need a resource, let the legal resource team know.
26:40
Speaker 2: We can't help you unless you tell us what you need. Yeah,
26:43
Speaker 2: we do our best, but like I said, my experience
26:45
Speaker 2: is largely from being noncompliant.
26:47
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, so let's say you know, and I think
26:50
Speaker 1: I know the answer because you kind of just alluded
26:52
Speaker 1: to this, But how do you guys determine where you're
26:57
Speaker 1: going to focus your efforts and how do members play
27:01
Speaker 1: a role in identifying those priorities?
27:04
Speaker 2: Yeah? So, like I said, let the advocacy team know.
27:07
Speaker 2: And often how they members find out is they'll hear,
27:10
Speaker 2: you know, here's something the dental Board's doing, or they'll
27:13
Speaker 2: just become aware of in their state a new law
27:15
Speaker 2: or regulation, or see somebody advertising in a way that's
27:18
Speaker 2: worrisome and they just need to let us know. They
27:21
Speaker 2: don't need to know the ins and outs of a
27:23
Speaker 2: regulation or how the process works. If they see something
27:26
Speaker 2: that they think just needs us to take a look
27:28
Speaker 2: at and encourage them to contact us and we can
27:31
Speaker 2: take it from there and organize and coordinate as needed.
27:35
Speaker 2: We can't be involved in every issue either, those so
27:38
Speaker 2: we kind of look at trends as a whole. You know,
27:41
Speaker 2: again at the forefront, what is most affecting patient health
27:44
Speaker 2: and safety. But that's again I'll flip it back to
27:46
Speaker 2: the members. You know, they're the ones seeing the patients.
27:49
Speaker 2: If you see a trend out there on a certain
27:51
Speaker 2: modality and you're getting a lot of patients coming in
27:54
Speaker 2: that have been harmed by it, we need to know that.
27:56
Speaker 2: Don't assume that somebody else has already report or it
28:00
Speaker 2: because they may not have, and letting us know is
28:03
Speaker 2: not complaining. It's being diligent and caring for your patients
28:06
Speaker 2: and your profession.
28:07
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, I think that that's really great advice. So
28:11
Speaker 1: as we wrap it up here, if you were to
28:13
Speaker 1: look ahead at our future, what are some areas you
28:17
Speaker 1: think docs should be paying attention to, especially as our
28:21
Speaker 1: industry continues to evolve.
28:23
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it's I think it's all going to
28:25
Speaker 2: have to do with technology, right, Like I said earlier,
28:27
Speaker 2: that's just rapidly changing on how we operate and live
28:31
Speaker 2: so many ways throughout all of our daily lives. But
28:34
Speaker 2: I would keep an eye on that and systems that
28:36
Speaker 2: come out that are in any way affecting the doctor
28:39
Speaker 2: patient relationship. If it changes who controls patient care, I
28:43
Speaker 2: think that's an issue to watch for and that can
28:46
Speaker 2: be Obviously the direct consumer is pretty on point for that,
28:49
Speaker 2: but new AI tools that are coming out. We've got
28:52
Speaker 2: the AI white paper that AO release, and if your
28:55
Speaker 2: listeners read that, like a key principle of that is
28:58
Speaker 2: having what we call a human in command. We want
29:00
Speaker 2: to make sure that orthodonics remains healthcare. Again, it's not
29:04
Speaker 2: a commodity. It's not just a one time purchase, because
29:07
Speaker 2: it is it's a biological process. It's serious as major effects.
29:11
Speaker 2: So making sure that that clinical discretion remains. The orthodonists
29:15
Speaker 2: didn't go to undergraduate dental school and then residency with
29:18
Speaker 2: at least thirty five hundred hours of training in that
29:20
Speaker 2: alone to give up that clinical discretion.
29:23
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, oh, I think that that's great. So if
29:26
Speaker 1: somebody wants to find out more about the AAO, maybe
29:30
Speaker 1: it needs to reach out to you, Adam or the team,
29:33
Speaker 1: or just get access to all these amazing resources that
29:36
Speaker 1: you've talked about. What's going to be the best way
29:39
Speaker 1: that they can do that.
29:40
Speaker 2: Yeah, for the legal resources, just go log in through
29:43
Speaker 2: the member portal, go to the drop down bar that
29:46
Speaker 2: has all the legal resources, and they can click the
29:48
Speaker 2: button that says submit a question, and like I said,
29:50
Speaker 2: that comes to an inbox that me and the other
29:52
Speaker 2: attorneys will read and will filter it appropriately. If it's
29:55
Speaker 2: truly more advocacy related, they can go to send an
29:59
Speaker 2: email to advocacy at aaortho dot org, and our advocacy
30:02
Speaker 2: team also shares that inbox and or we're constantly monitoring
30:05
Speaker 2: communicating with members.
30:07
Speaker 1: That's great, And now a word from the sponsors who
30:11
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Speaker 1: some extra goodies. Elevate your practice with Smile sweet because
31:01
Speaker 1: every Smile deserves a suite of excellence. Well again, thank
31:06
Speaker 1: you for everything that you guys do as a whole
31:09
Speaker 1: for the industry. And I will say one more time,
31:12
Speaker 1: you guys have just been life savers for some of
31:14
Speaker 1: my docs when we've just had those questions that are
31:16
Speaker 1: like maybe we just need to get an extra set
31:19
Speaker 1: of eyes and ears. So thank you for that.
31:21
Speaker 2: Of course, happy to do it.
31:23
Speaker 1: Yeah. So the way I like to finish up here
31:25
Speaker 1: with hay Docs. If you're ready, I'm sure you know
31:27
Speaker 1: this is I like to do a little speed round.
31:29
Speaker 1: Are you ready for this speed round challenge?
31:32
Speaker 2: As ready as I'll be?
31:35
Speaker 1: All right, here we go. What is one business trend
31:39
Speaker 1: you think more people should be paying attention to.
31:42
Speaker 2: Say, practice consolidation. And that's not to say that consolidation
31:46
Speaker 2: OSODSO is good or bad, but it's different than what
31:49
Speaker 2: most people think of in the traditional model, So they
31:51
Speaker 2: just need to be fully informed on whether or not
31:53
Speaker 2: that makes sense for them and not jump into something
31:56
Speaker 2: just because it's the first offer that comes along.
31:58
Speaker 1: Oh that's a good one, all right. How about this one?
32:01
Speaker 1: What is the most unexpected lesson you have learned so
32:05
Speaker 1: far in your career?
32:07
Speaker 2: That as an attorney, legal accuracy is really only part
32:10
Speaker 2: of the job. You know, it can be as accurate
32:13
Speaker 2: as you want, but if if it's not related in
32:15
Speaker 2: a way that matters, or that people are going to
32:17
Speaker 2: read your memo you're writing, your opinion becomes an expensive paperweight.
32:21
Speaker 1: Yeah, oh that's great. That's great all right. And the
32:23
Speaker 1: last one here, if you could give your younger self
32:26
Speaker 1: one piece of advice, what would that be?
32:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, and hopefully everybody could take this to Harper. That's
32:32
Speaker 2: be clear earlier. Don't avoid conflict just because it's uncomfortable.
32:37
Speaker 2: Problems don't get solved just because you're being polite and
32:40
Speaker 2: trying to, you know, beat around the bush on a
32:42
Speaker 2: particular issue.
32:43
Speaker 1: Yeah. Oh that's great. Well, Adam, this has been such
32:47
Speaker 1: a pleasure having you on Haydocks. Thank you so much,
32:50
Speaker 1: and again congratulations for stepping up and being in the
32:54
Speaker 1: space that you are and I look forward to having
32:57
Speaker 1: you on hay Docks again.
32:58
Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you anytime, great, all.
33:00
Speaker 1: Right, until next time bye. Are you ready to start
33:05
Speaker 1: a practice of your own? Need a new fresh set
33:08
Speaker 1: of eyes or some advice on your existing practice? If so,
33:12
Speaker 1: reach out to me Jill Allen at www dot practice
33:16
Speaker 1: results dot com. If you like what we're doing here
33:19
Speaker 1: on Haydocks and want to hear more of this awesome content,
33:22
Speaker 1: be sure and give us a five star rating on
33:25
Speaker 1: your preferred listening platform and subscribe to our show so
33:29
Speaker 1: you never miss an episode. Remember, new episodes drop every Thursday.
33:34
Speaker 1: See you next week.