Bullpen Seating at Orthodontist

[evilnel]

Consults and stuff are done in private rooms, but all the actual orthodontic work is an open area. There are dividers between the seats, though, so there is some privacy, but you can still hear others' conversations. It doesn't really bother me. I'm not too concerned about the confidentiality of my teeth.

[tsmurfenator]

Thanks for all of the replies, and potential reasons for this type of set up.

My fave advice is DrJasonKTam: "If you do want more private treatment, and there is no private room, I would suggest you speak to the office manager about when the office is less busy. You may be able to find some off-peak hours where there is an empty chair beside you. Hope this helps "

This is actually what I have been doing but by accident.
I always schedule the last appointment of the day (not because I was intending, but because I sleep late), and since I always have so many special requests and questions, I have been the last one there.

I am considering offering my ortho to pay some premium to get "executive service" or something like that, which would put me in her private office for every appointment, and attended by her personally rather than assistant. Of course, like everybody else, the consults are in her posh private office, but then they send you to the open bay for anything else. My friend who also has the same clinic said you could request private service any time (w/o paying extra or anything) though I'd feel a little guilty about doing that because obviously it would mess everything up if everybody did that.

[mom act]

As a heathcare architect that does planning for hospitals and clinics, I can tell you this came from a clinical model that typically has one doc with multiple patients needing treatment at different stages. Orthodontics is quite different from your day to day dentist work. Typically we provide one or two exam/consult rooms for initial consult/treatment. So you get your records, and braces placed there in a more private setting. But if the docs are really busy brackets can be done in the bays. The bays can be configured in a linear or random pattern. But here is the main dirver behind this model. The ortho should be able to flow easily from chair to chair. Have visibilty of his staff/tech doing the majority of work but still being supervised and engage when needed. This is to provide the ortho with the most efficent use of his time. It works quite well and most people don't mind since to pop your wires in & out, and check progress is 15 min at the most. Why build xtra walls that require more square footage and make it more difficult for staff and ortho. Some "boutique" places are going to more private settings but they aren't dedicated orthos more of comprehensive dental offices. My dentist is one of those and I do like it but if I would need braces would most likely go to my daugters ortho.

[DrJasonKTam]

I am considering offering my ortho to pay some premium to get "executive service" or something like that, which would put me in her private office for every appointment, and attended by her personally rather than assistant. Of course, like everybody else, the consults are in her posh private office, but then they send you to the open bay for anything else. My friend who also has the same clinic said you could request private service any time (w/o paying extra or anything) though I'd feel a little guilty about doing that because obviously it would mess everything up if everybody did that.

Good luck with this as it can go either way.

We have new patients ask if the doctor "does the work". The role of an orthodontist is not necessarily being the one who is placing wires or brackets. It is their job to diagnose, treatment plan, make treatment decisions, and monitor progress.

A new orthodontist who is not as busy may be able to sit there and work on your teeth. Many busy orthodontists have a specific template schedule where all of the doctor time is accounted for during the day. You can do some rough math of how much each visit costs, the number of patients in the office at one time, and figure out what the cost of the doctor is to forgo seeing those potential other patients.

[tsmurfenator]

Yah, I already calculated it out. I'm paying $50/appointment, so since she has 4 chairs, I figure I must offer $200/appointment. Or maybe $250 …. If you include the consult office. That's kind of steep, so maybe I'll just switch to one of the little street corner clinics where the dentist sweeps her own floors and answers her own phone calls.

I must say, I feel a little bit deceived how she wined and dined me during the consult, and then when I went back for the adjustment she didn't spend more than 10 minutes me with me. Tons of people were there getting consults, all excited and smiling and happy … the existing patients, not so much. But, whatever, just another person out to get me.

[yj207]

Yah, I already calculated it out. I'm paying $50/appointment, so since she has 4 chairs, I figure I must offer $200/appointment. Or maybe $250 …. If you include the consult office. That's kind of steep, so maybe I'll just switch to one of the little street corner clinics where the dentist sweeps her own floors and answers her own phone calls.

I must say, I feel a little bit deceived how she wined and dined me during the consult, and then when I went back for the adjustment she didn't spend more than 10 minutes me with me. Tons of people were there getting consults, all excited and smiling and happy … the existing patients, not so much. But, whatever, just another person out to get me.

I'm confused what you are saying... are you saying your ortho is deceiving you in some way?

[Snowglobe32]

When I first went into my ortho's office, I found the open bay set up disturbing. I asked why it was set up like that and they said I can have a private room if I wanted. So far, I have not taken them up on that for a specific reason.

Usually my appointments are first thing in the morning, so I am usually the first one in the chairs but then others come in (of course), which doesn't bother me.

What bothers me is when they schedule me for a 7:30 appointment, I come in on time, the girls do their thing, then I sit there waiting for the Dr. to arrive. The last time I went, I have had to wait for 45 minutes just so he could see how things were, when nothing was done at that appointment.

I would like to think that if he sees all of his patients sitting there, things might move quicker. If I was in a private room, would I be forgotten? The assistants always know who came and in what order so they keep things moving. But it can be irritating sometimes. So I listen to what other people are getting done or I like to look at their before photos, because it is the only think you can see on the computer. At my last appointment, everyone there either were in for a retainer check or they were getting debanded.

I also like that I can hear the ortho washing his hands and putting on new gloves before he moves on to a new patient.

As for paying extra for "private" service, aren't you already paying enough for the braces?

[DrJasonKTam]

tsmurfenator- If I remember correctly you are crossing the border for your treatment right? In North America, the average visit statistically is a few hundred dollars.

Snowglobe32- In our office, we stay on time with a patient flow program. Patients sign in at a screen so that we know exactly when they have arrived, whether they were early or late, track their location in the office, and see how long they have in the chair.

Each station and room has a chair so that the hygienist or assistant can call me, showing the order in which I should visit each chair. It is central to us keeping on time, and seeing patients in the correct order. I've been irked myself in other offices arriving on time, only to see people arriving after me being seen before me. I made a conscious decision when starting practice to see customer service from a patient as well as doctor perspective...

Showing up on time for your visits shows that you respect the time of your office. The office keeping you on time shows that they respect your time... open bay or not :).

[I love my teeth]

thank you Dr. Tam!! That is exactly the way my OD office runs--it's very smooth--I never feel slighted by the OD, and the few times I had extra questions and needed 10min more of his time for discussion, he has always given it to me without making me feel like it was an inconvienience! If I have a routine adjustment, and assistant does everything, calls his over for a check, he checks, then she finishes. I have no problem with the open bay thing--my teeth aren't a private body part...I really don't care that there are kids in there.....they don't seem to care that I am in there! Everybody just seems to go about their business without regard for whoever else is in there. I have been pleased that my OD spends time with me when I need it, and sees me each and every appt--even if it's just for 5 min.

[peach]

My ortho has separate rooms for each patient. They're kind of like cubicles in the sense that there aren't any doors and the walls dividing the rooms don't touch the ceiling (they're still too high for people to look over the wall and see you). Each room is equipped w/ everything they need.

[Steph in Sac]

tsmurfenator: I must say, I feel a little bit deceived how she wined and dined me during the consult, and then when I went back for the adjustment she didn't spend more than 10 minutes me with me. Tons of people were there getting consults, all excited and smiling and happy … the existing patients, not so much. But, whatever, just another person out to get me.


Gosh, how much attention do you need? Personally, I wouldn't pay extra for a separate room and extra attention. They take ligs off, take wire out, put wire in, put ligs on. Pretty straightforward...

[drpotter]

My ortho is an open setting too. It was a bit jarring at first since the consult and everything is in a private setting then suddenly you're in a room full of giggling teenagers. I adjusted though, I've just felt a bit out of place but it seems like it would be more efficient for them and it's not like I'm going to be there super long each appointment or talking about super personal things.

[rolo]

I can see the point that it is easier for the ortho to have this open policy, however in the UK at least, this would be unacceptable in other areas of medicines, on the grounds of patient confidentiality. A GP surgery I work with was not allowed to do an open plan flu vac clinic as they were not allowed to ask health / pregnancy status questions where other patients could over hear. How does open orthodontics manage to ask these questions and maintain patient confidentiality....how would they manage this if you suspected a patient had become pregnant mid-treatment for example? Would orthos be worried patients may not disclose change in HIV / Hepatitis status in an open enviroment? Maybe they have separate consultation areas for such purposes?

[TigerLily]

I'm in the UK also and go into a private room.

When I was in my teens and had orthodontic treatment I went to both a hospital in London and a local NHS clinic where it was this open space with several chairs in it. I looked up the clinic recently and they now do private orthodontic work for adults but I don't know whether their set up is different, perhaps not.

My orthodontist for my treatment twenty years later practices at my dentists which only has two rooms! She just has one of the rooms a few days a week so I'm in that room on my own with her and her assistant. Except for these two rooms, there is another room where the xray machine is located, a waiting room and the reception desk. It's quite a high-tech practice but a small one. It's expensive but it's an expensive part of town.

There may be a difference between the US (and perhaps Mexico) and the UK in that dental assistants can do more than they can here (?), although I think that's changing with some new legislation. But I can't see the set up at my dentists/orthodontists changing any time soon. Plus my ortho is a control freak Also despite the current legislation, I remember more of an active role being paid by the assistants in my teen treatment than now, where the assistant really only hands instruments etc.

[Jewles]

I am in Australia and have only ever seen orthodontists treat patients in private rooms, even in the teaching hospitals and public clinics.
My ortho has a reasonably small office, there are two orthos who each have their own office and there is another room where an assistant does the moulds and x-rays. Everytime I have seen my orthodontist he has done all the work and his assistant just hands him the tools he needs. I much prefer this personal attention!