Your NESO Council Representatives are:
Alan Patrignani, Council on Communications
Gary Opin, Council on Information Technology
Patricia Timmeny, Council on Membership, Ethics & Judicial Concerns
Dennis Hiller, Council on Government Affairs
John Callahan, Council on Insurance
Christopher Lundberg, Council on New and Younger Members
Leslie Will, Council on Orthodontic Education
Terry Sobler, Council on Orthodontic Practice
Paul McKenna, Council on Orthodontic Health Care
Lokesh Suri, Interim, Council on Scientific Affairs
Please click on the appropriate Council for its most recent report.
Council on Communications (COC)
Your Advertising Has Been a Success
In October 2006, the AAO unveiled its national consumer awareness campaign, “More Than a Smile.” The purpose is to increase awareness of the key message among our target audience – which is that orthodontists receive two to three years of specialized education beyond dental school to learn the proper way to align and straighten teeth. During the first year of the program and the onset of year two of the program, we have been able to quantify true success in advertising.
The essence of our program is to use both a public relations firm (Weber Schandwick) and an advertising company (Schupp) to deliver our message. Although the program is designed to raise public awareness about the unique qualifications of an orthodontist, it becomes doubly valuable because of the synergy it provides in promoting our two previously established annual public service campaigns. Our National Orthodontic Health Month observance in October and our National Facial Protection Month program in April both have become more successful as our relationships with the media have strengthened with the efforts of the public awareness program.
Hopefully each of us has had an opportunity to evaluate the merits of the program by reading update articles both in the NESO Newsletter and in the AAO Bulletin. All of our members have also received their own CD copy of our television advertisement. While the media campaign includes some television, it also includes magazines and the Internet. By far, we have realized our most effective exposure on the Internet.
Some of online sites that we have utilized thus far are names that you will undoubtedly recognize:
- ClubMom.com
- Banner ads
- FamilyCircle.com
- Google, sponsored link
- MayoClinic.com
- Yahoo, sponsored link
Some of the magazines that our print ad appears in include some recognizable titles as well:
- Parents
- Scholastic Parent & Child
- Today’s Parent (Canada)
- Working Mother
And our television advertising time has included the following:
- ABC Family
- Nick at Night
- Nickelodeon
All of this, including two test markets in which our spending was increased to explore the projected success of upspending, has reached almost 200 million moms between October 2006 and December 2006 alone. Our results for the same time period in 2007 appear to be equally impressive. These results were measured by tracking the increased number of visits to braces.org and calls to 1.800.STRAIGHT. Visitors to our website were asked if they were interested in receiving more information, in which case they were mailed a letter with the names of the ten orthodontists nearest to them based on ZIP codes. You can see how many times your name was distributed to online inquiries by logging onto the members’ site of braces.org and clicking on the statement that will bring up that number. We believe you will be pleasantly surprised!
The more than 200 million impressions that we have developed with our campaign is just the start of making a long-term impact in the marketplace.We have enjoyed more success than we have ever had in prior campaigns thus far, but we should probably consider this progress as just a start. As an Association, our House of Delegates agreed that there is a dire need to improve the public’s awareness of the truly unique qualifications of an orthodontist. Based on the current impact of some of the external pressures on our specialty, it would seem that the timing of our message comes at a critical time for our profession.
The development of new practices in the current environment will depend upon advertising support. For established practices, continued success will depend upon delivering a consistent message to health care decision makers in each household. For practices which are planning a transition, the continued vitality of each practice will demand advertising and it will be a critical part of the legacy of each orthodontist in passing on the specialty.
It would, therefore, seem that regardless of our individual stage of practice, we all will benefit from the continuation of this program. We are in need of the creation and evolution of an accurate public awareness which defines who an orthodontist is and the value of the true expertise of an educationally qualified professional. Each of us has committed our professional lives to the care of our patients and now we need to deliver that message to the public for the collective good of the public. By design we are uniquely qualified. By necessity we must be proactive in delivering our message to the public. By creating a collective Association resolve, we can be successful. Support the continuation of the Public Awareness Program by contacting your AAO delegates and let them know you want the AAO to continue to advertise on your behalf.
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Council on Governmental Affairs (COGA)
A representative from Patton Boggs, LLP, presented a political update during the AAO’s 2008 Technology Conference Government Relations Reception. Additionally, an AAOPAC booth was present at the February 8-10 conference in Las Vegas
A speaker was approved for the 2008 Government Relations Reception during the AAO Annual Session in Denver.
COGA met on Monday, January 28. Updates from that meeting will be reported separately.
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Council on Information and Technology (COIT)
The 2008 AAO Technology Conference, “Raising the Bar” was held February 8-10 at the spectacular J.W. Marriott Resort in Las Vegas. A new feature, “Practice Pearls,” allowed audience members to give short presentations from their own experiences on managing technology more efficiently. The 56 technical exhibits with major companies allowed hands-on interaction.
The AAO provides all AAO members and AAO Staff Club members who so desire a free email account. Originally entitled the AAO Fre.Email program, it is now AAO Mail. Sign up at the AAO member Web site under Membership/AAO Mail Account.
COSA, in consultation with COIT, used video-conferencing on a trial basis for their January 2008 council meeting. A report on the positive and negative aspects of the video-conference was submitted to the AAO Board in February.
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Council on Insurance (COI)
The Council on Insurance met in St. Louis on January 19, 2008. Results from that meeting will be reported at a later date.
Please read Liz Franklin’s article on handling delinquent fees on page 7. Members can get information on all the AAO Endorsed Insurance Products at the AAO Members Benefit Web site, www.aaomembers.org or go directly to www.aao-insurance.com.
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Council on Membership, Ethics and Judicial Concerns (COMEJC)
The AAO BOT has approved COMEJC’s recommendation to support the American College of Dentists (ACD) ethics project with annual donations of $10,000 over a 10-year period. A yearly status report will requested from ACD to include an accounting of the funds allocated. The AAO will continue to communicate to ACD the efforts already being utilized by AAO to support ethics.
At COMEJC’s request, Jim Bowlin, AAO General Counsel, authored an article for the legal section of the December AAO Bulletin, titled, “AAO’s Ethics Rules Cover Scope Advertising of Board Certification.”
COMEJC supported the addition of medical verification to accompany the dues waiver application.
COMEJC met on January 12 in St. Louis. Results of that meeting were not available at press time and will be reported separately.
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Council on New and Younger Members (CONYM)
The newest of the AAO councils, CONYM is completing its third year of operation as a recognized AAO council. Its purpose is service to orthodontists in practice for eight or fewer years and individuals in orthodontic residency programs.
Ongoing Council Initiatives include:
- New and Younger Members Online Newsletter (NYMO) -A quarterly electronic newsletter typically focusing on practice management issues.
- List Serves for Residents and New and Younger Members -The List Serves and/or discussion boards for use by residents and new/younger members.
- Disseminating AAO Membership Information to Ortho Residents
- New Orthodontist/Resident Conference –Presented during the AAO Annual Session in Seattle, this CONYM conference featured speaker John McGill, President of Blair McGill and Company, and was both well-attended and well-received.
- Family-Friendly Events for Future Annual Sessions - CONYM is reintroducing AAO-sponsored childcare and family-oriented programs at the AAO Annual Session.
A Summary of CONYM actions in 2007:
- Sent a representative to GORP with a PowerPoint presentation to residents
- Sent a representative to the ADA New Dentist Conference
- Established child care services as part of the Annual Session in Colorado
Distributed the "I Keep Safe" brochure to AAO members in the December The Bulletin. Additional copies of the brochure will be available to download at no cost from the member Web site. BOT endorsed this Child Internet Safety Program which promotes informing children and their parents about the perils of Internet communications and ways to protect them.
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Council on Orthodontic Education (COE)
Orthodontic educational programs recently received the first annual Orthodontic Faculty Trends study from COE. The resulting compilation report will be sent to each participating program when completed, minus any identifying information. Only programs completing the study will receive the study results. The purpose of this initiative is to track and understand the changes and trends in orthodontic education to better address the current crisis of faculty shortages. If your program has not yet submitted its data, contact Kim Leadford (kleadford@aaortho.org) for a survey form.
In January, a second COE-initiated survey, the Pre-Doctoral Ortho Instruction Survey, went to all orthodontic educational programs. The study focuses on four informational categories which include: didactic education, pre-clinical curriculum, clinical curriculum, and faculty for the undergraduate program. Longitudinal comparisons will be made of the comparative data collected in this survey and a previously conducted survey of the same name. Again, if your program has not yet submitted its survey, contact Kim Leadford (kleadford@aaortho.org) for the form.
The AAO BOT has approved COE’s recommendation that AAO support the current CODA Pre-doctoral Accreditation Standards.
Working with the AAO Task Force for the Recruitment and Retention of Faculty, COE has completed an Academic Career Presentation. This PowerPoint presentation, which promotes careers in orthodontic education, will be presented upon request to audiences at orthodontic graduate programs, professional conferences including the AAO Annual Session, AAO constituent and component meetings, the Graduate Orthodontic Residents Program (GORP), and the American Student Dental Association (ASDA) meetings. COE would like to thank Dr. Greg Huang, Dr. Katherine Vig, Dr. Leonard Sadowki and Dr. Cheryl DeWood for agreeing to be interviewed for this presentation, and Dr. James Vaden for writing and putting the whole CD together.
The AAO Orthodontic Career Opportunities site – an online faculty opening clearinghouse - will soon be launched. Watch for announcements via email and on the NESO Web site.
COE will meet on Sunday, March 30, 2008, Dallas, Texas, in conjunction with the American Dental Educators Association (ADEA.)
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Council on Orthodontic Health Care (COHC)
Three AAO representatives attended the Subcommittee on Code Revision (CRC) meeting hosted by the American Dental Association (ADA) in Chicago on August 9-12, 2007. Attending the meeting from the AAO Board of Trustees was Dr. John Buzzatto and from COHC were Dr. John Harrison, Chairman of the COHC Insurance Committee and Dr. Steve Robirds. Dr. Buzzatto, Chairman and Dr. Harrison also serve on the AAO Code Committee. AAO efforts to revise CDT codes for fixed and removable appliance therapy that were submitted were declined for inclusion in CDT-2009.
The AAO’s endorsement of the Virginia Brown Community Orthodontic Partnership known as the Smiles Change Lives (SCL) Program continues. Smiles Change Lives has requested additional financial support from the AAO. COHC has requested comprehensive financial statements and will review them to make suggestions regarding changes in their business practices that address the sustainability of SCL’s expansion programs.
COHC continues to sponsor the Dental Benefits Member Advisory Hotline. Callers are assisted with third party reimbursement issues, limited practice management issues and CDT coding questions. The Council has identified that the majority of Hotline calls relate to coding issues. A business plan to disseminate coding educational opportunities to orthodontic staff was approved. The Council is working in conjunction with COOP to provide a code related Webinar to AAO members and their staff for March 27, 2008 and April 1, 2008.
To address issues with third party payers that cannot be easily resolved, the Council has implemented the AAO complaint form that will be used jointly with the ADA form for submission to the ADA Council on Dental Benefit Programs (CDBP). The CDBP logs all the complaints and holds periodic discussions with payers to try and bring about resolution. COHC believes that the two forms, used in tandem, from two provider advocates will give more credibility to the complaint, and places greater responsibility on the payer to resolve the issue.
COHC is working to identify ways to better measure and quantify the pro bono work being done by AAO members. The council expects to bring a proposed AAO sanctioned definition of “pro bono care” to the Board for their approval in 2008. COHC believes that much pro bono care is going unreported and an association sponsored definition will help provide statistically valid results that may be reported to the government and to the media.
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Council on Orthodontic Practice (COOP)
The Academy of Orthodontic Assisting (AOA) online staff program has doubled its graduates since being endorsed by AAO in September 2006. It has recently become the licensed staff training program in New Zealand. AOA will be conducting clinical efficiency retreats in several U.S. locations in 2007-2008.
The Practice Alternatives Program reports that 56 of the 68 ortho programs held a practice alternatives presentation in the 2006-07 academic year. COOP will review the current practice alternatives DVD for updates prior to their next meeting.
The Practice Opportunities Job Bank has over 140 providers with 13 new opportunity postings. COOP has recommended that the phrase ‘job bank’ be replaced with ‘Practice Opportunities Online’.
The Office Design website is currently receiving 250-500 hits a month. COOP will review and update the site as appropriate, including adding a segment on energy efficiency, solar and wind power, geothermal heating, going green, etc
The recently developed Handling Orthodontic Emergencies information sheet was mailed to members of the National Association of School Nurses and included in the January AAO Bulletin. It is one of the most frequently downloaded pages from the AAO public site.
Dr. DeWayne McCamish and Dr. David Hibl have worked with COIT to investigate practice management software. Two surveys were developed: one to members and one to software companies. A summary of the survey findings was included on the January Bulletin and a link has been added to the AAO member website to feature the complete results.
COOP met in Las Vegas, Nevada, February 6-7, 2008. Results from that meeting will be reported at a later date.
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Council on Scientific Affairs (COSA)
The Council on Scientific Affairs (COSA), in consultation with COIT, was authorized to use video-conferencing on a trial basis for their January 2008 Council meeting if the majority of the Council approves its use.The Council will provide a report on the positive and negative aspects of the video-conference to the February 2008 Board meeting.
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