Aspen Dental receives second award for training and development

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Aspen Dental Management, Inc. was honored on June 9 with a CNY BEST Learning and Performance award from the American Society for Training and Development (CNY chapter) for excellence in learning and performance practices. ADMI's Training and Development team was recognized for its Practice Executive Program (PEP), an initiative designed to help improve communication and teamwork between the leaders in Aspen Dental practices: the dentist and the practice manager. This marks the team's second consecutive Learning and Performance award.

For the 2.5-day program, teams of dentists and office managers traveled to ADMI's Practice Support Center in East Syracuse to improve their performance in several key areas, such as building stronger relationships with patients, and the ability to help patients understand insurance benefits and payment options. Eighty percent of the time is spent role-playing patient consultations. The interactions are filmed and played back to allow participants the opportunity to hear feedback from subject matter experts.

"Building strong working relationships between the doctor and practice manager is key to the success of any Aspen Dental practice," said David Sokolowski, managing director of training and development at ADMI. "Our team is constantly looking for innovative ways to improve practice performance, and results show that PEP is working. The 12 offices that have participated in the inaugural program have achieved improved business results, and perhaps most importantly, patient satisfaction levels also improved or were maintained in nine out of the 12."

ADMI has invested significantly in training in recent years; the company's Practice Support Center, which opened in 2006, houses a 90-seat auditorium to host ongoing training sessions. In 2010, ADMI invested more than $6 million in support of professional development initiatives for 750 doctors, hygienists and office managers.

In addition to Sokolowski, members of the ADMI Training and Development team include Lisa Brennan, operations trainer; Mark Britz, manager of learning solutions; Teresa Clonan, administrative assistant; Carrie Holtz, manager of operations training; Robin Ivens, operations trainer; Mike Jimerson, director of laboratory performance improvement; Lenore O'Connor, director of operations training; and Renita Russell, instructional designer.

To learn more about Aspen Dental, please visit www.aspendentaljobs.com.

Aspen Dental opens two practices. Read more here. tinyurl.com/5vgyeak

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