When we sign on to digital orthodontics, CAD work comes along with the transformation. There is an opportunity to gain efficiencies and productivity on the clinical side of the practice. However, it can arrive at the cost of time spent doing the digital planning. As orthodontists integrate more digital work in their offices, there can be pain points. Those pain points come when digital workflow gain frequency or volume. We magnify the struggle when an orthodontic practice increases both together.
Frequency
The frequency of digital work is often called “Share of Chair.” This term relates to offices that dive into digital work such as clear aligner therapy with a substantial percentage of patients in their practices. Making the shift from a 10% clear aligner practice to a 50% utilization rate will affect how the doctor and the team manage digital workflow. As the digital transformation occurs, the greater frequency exposes an orthodontic team to any issues in digital workflow more often.
Many practices increase their utilization rate and focus more on office systems to improve efficiency and effectiveness. Because the higher frequency is related to a higher commitment to digitization, we focus more on the opportunities. Offices with a higher “Share of Chair” often focus on greater effectiveness and clinical aspects of a digital tool so that it can gain traction. A practice increasing their clear aligner treatment frequency will start to concentrate on clinical results, improve how the appliance works, and expand the difficulty of treated cases. Frequency often drives a focus on strengthening outcomes.
Volume
The volume of digital work boils down to the number of cases an office will start at a time. Offices with greater frequency could increase the number of digital treatment plans they do as they expand utilization. Some offices are large practices or grow in the volume of cases they do but don’t necessarily do it more frequently. As volume increases, orthodontists focus more on the process. Although they also want efficiency and effectiveness, greater volume tends to concentrate on efficiency. After all, the greater number of cases means an immense amount of time allocated to digital work.
As volume increases, we concentrate more on completing digital plans efficiently. The digital workflow will shift into systems that streamline case submission, case review, and addressing strains in logistics. Offices submitting a sizable number of cases will solve pain points by delegating more of the process. The greater volume also makes the time spent designing Tx plans on CAD software an issue. Setting up Rx systems, automation and routinization will help to avoid being overwhelmed with greater volume.
