The ortho front-desk playbook: 8 plays that move case acceptance

Ortho practices lose more cases between the consult and the booking than during the consult itself. The parent leaves with a treatment plan, tells their spouse that night, and by Wednesday is shopping. The front desk needs a specific playbook to close this gap — here's the one we teach PracticeIQ customers.

Play 1 — Book the next step before they leave

Never let a consulted case leave without a calendar entry. Even if it's a 'come back in a week to review the treatment plan' placeholder, the mere existence of a scheduled touchpoint raises close rate by 15–20 points. Generic SaaS calendars won't do this — your PMS has to track 'consulted but not started' as a distinct status.

Play 2 — Recap email within 60 minutes

Every consult gets a custom recap email — name, X-ray attachment, treatment plan summary, financing options reviewed, next step. Not a template; a personalized one. PracticeIQ generates this automatically from the voice call transcript + PMS data, but even manually it's worth the 5 minutes.

Play 3 — Financing pre-approval in the chair

Patients who leave the office without a financing decision convert at 35%. Patients who leave with pre-approval (Proceed, CareCredit, Sunbit) convert at 65%. Offer all three, walk them through the soft-pull on their phone, have them pick before they stand up.

Play 4 — 24-hour spouse / partner call

Most ortho treatment decisions involve a second person. Call (don't email) within 24 hours to offer a second consult with the decision-maker. Sounds aggressive — actually the highest-rated touchpoint in post-consult surveys.

Play 5 — Insurance verification already done

If the patient arrives for their consult and you still haven't verified their insurance, you're losing 10% of close rate. Front desk (or AI) must verify 24-48h before the appointment and have a clear out-of-pocket number ready.

Play 6 — 'What stops you from starting today?'

The single most underused question in an ortho consult. Script it into your treatment-plan presentation. Answers sort into: financing, timing, second-opinion, decision-maker-not-here. Each has a specific next-play.

Play 7 — Referring-GP closeout

Many ortho consults come from GP referrals. Within 48h of the consult, email the referring GP with a plain-English summary — 'Jane started treatment', 'Jane postponed', 'Jane went elsewhere'. This closes the referral loop AND drives 2x more referrals going forward.

Play 8 — 30/60/90 nurture if they didn't close

Every unclosed consult gets a three-touch sequence — day 30 (insurance benefit reminder), day 60 (Invisalign special if applicable), day 90 (new-year-new-smile / wedding / graduation trigger). Most practices have day 0 and done. The 90-day sequence recovers 8-12% of lost consults.

The AI integration

PracticeIQ handles Plays 1, 2, 5, 8 automatically — and surfaces Plays 3, 4, 6, 7 as dashboard reminders for your staff. The goal isn't to replace your front desk; it's to run the follow-up playbook without anyone having to remember every patient's next step.

See the ROI math at /roi or book a 15-min demo if this sounds like the practice you want to run.