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You Should Know: Gaidge Practice Metrics by Benjamin Lund, Editor, Orthotown Magazine

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You Should Know:
Gaidge Practice Metrics
by Benjamin Lund, Editor, Orthotown Magazine

Orthotown talks to Marla Merritt, director of sales and marketing, about Gaidge, a new product offered by OrthoBanc.

Tell our readers about Gaidge and what it provides to orthodontists.
Merritt: Gaidge is an essential practice performance analysis tool for doctors who understand you can only improve your position by first knowing where you stand. Gaidge provides the insight needed to make informed, strategic decisions without complicated, manual, time-consuming processes.

Gaidge is a cloud-based monitor that has three major components. First of all, we provide key practice management information in brilliant charts and graphs. Gaidge is an easyto- use framework that simplifies the process of collecting data. We take this data and present it to the practice on a dashboard that reveals a quick snapshot of how the practice is doing compared to industry standards that have been set by some key consultants. Beyond the dashboard, we also provide about 30 other charts which track practice performance in various areas.

Another important feature of Gaidge is our regional and national comparison data. A practice can view its information in comparison to regional and national industry trends for forecasting and formulating an action plan on areas that need improvement. Gaidge provides a current evaluation of what is happening in the industry and how the practice stacks up.

Finally, Gaidge can be an invaluable resource for a practice that needs to easily share data with a consultant. Our consultant portal provides quick access to information which creates a gateway of simple data exchange and can eliminate hours of work for the practice and the consultant.

Gaidge is a partnership between practice consultant Mary Beth Kirkpatrick, one of the owners of Impact 360 Consulting, and OrthoBanc, the premier risk analysis and payment management solutions provider for the orthodontic community.

What is OrthoBanc's background prior to Gaidge? How did you get started in orthodontics?
Merritt: Before we began working with orthodontists, most of OrthoBanc's management team (Bill Holt, president; Tina Mead, director of operations; and myself, Marla Merritt, director of sales and marketing) worked in the credit reporting industry. Our company was an affiliate with Equifax, one of the three leading credit reporting agencies, and we served about 40 counties in South East Tennessee. During those years we worked with many banks and other lenders to develop risk management solutions. We brought this knowledge and experience to the orthodontic industry when an orthodontist in our area expressed a need for our expertise.

OrthoBanc began serving orthodontists in 2000. Since that time, we have maintained consistent growth because we continually look for new products that will serve the financial needs of our customers. We currently work with more than 3,000 practices helping them with the collection of their monthly patient payments. We also provide credit recommendations (ZACC – Zuelke Automated Credit Coach) and collection services. Selling these products has put us in the unique position of talking to practices about their concerns with regard to treatment acceptance and collecting payments for treatment.

In late 2011, OrthoBanc partnered with Impact 360 and consultant Mary Beth Kirkpatrick to develop Gaidge. Mary Beth came to us with an idea for a product that would help practices monitor their performance, spot trends and make adjustments. Her industry knowledge from years of consulting with practices provided tremendous insight into what the product needed to encompass. OrthoBanc's programming team developed the Gaidge platform.

What is your philosophy at OrthoBanc? What is your goal for Gaidge?
Merritt: Superior customer service is always top of mind for OrthoBanc. We tell our team regularly to remember that we are an extension of each practice that we serve. We always try to live by the rule that we want to treat others the way that we would like to be treated. We carry this philosophy through for our customers, the orthodontic practices that we serve, as well as their customers, the responsible parties that we deal with daily.

Just as OrthoBanc has become the source for payment management in this industry, it is our goal for Gaidge to become the source for practice metrics. Gaidge is truly the only source of daily performance monitoring to guide a practice through tough economic times. Gaidge reveals what is happening in the practice and is becoming the picture of what is happening in the industry as well.

What would you consider to be the "best kept secret" about Gaidge?
Merritt: Since Gaidge is so new, I don't think orthodontists have grasped what this product can do for our industry. We finally have a tool that can track real data on practices across the country. We have the ability to store average treatment costs, average time to completion, average number of new patient phone calls, etc. Using this information, a practice can determine how they stack up with their AAO region or even nationally. How valuable would it be to a practice to know that the average time to completion is four months shorter than that practice's average? Wouldn't that make them reconsider the products or methods they are using? What if a doctor knew that his close ratio compared to new patient phone calls was lower than the practice average in his area? Would that orthodontist reconsider staff choices or processes? Gaidge can help orthodontists spot trends in their practices and will give suggestions for possible changes.

How can an orthodontist begin working with you?
Merritt: Gaidge is currently integrated with OrthoTrac Office and Dolphin Management software. We are also working with several other practice management software companies so look for other integrations coming soon. If you are currently on OrthoTrac Office version 11.3 or higher, or Dolphin Management version 5.0.4638 or higher, contact Gaidge today by calling 800-287-3396 or e-mail us at marketing@gaidge.com.

Orthotown Magazine
October 2025
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