Case studies

Glass Orthodontics

Date Posted: 02.02.22

Dr. Glass Manages the Cycle of Work-life Balance

Dr. Glen Glass has a demanding schedule as a husband, father of five, and the sole doctor of three orthodontic practices on the eastern shore of Alabama. Dr. Glass was born in Taylorville, Alabama, just south of Tuscaloosa and has remained in the state throughout his education, and now in his professional practice. Dr. Glass knew that he wanted to be an orthodontist at an early age, and even wrote an essay about his goal when he was in the tenth grade. Upon graduation from orthodontics school in 2003, he took over an established practice in Daphne, Alabama, from a retired army colonel, Dr. Jerry Williams. He has since added two more practices, one in Bay Minette and the other in Atmore, Alabama.  

“Well, having three locations and five children, I don’t have a ton of hobbies, so one of my favorite things to do, it’s really a stress relief every day I come home, is I love to cook,” explains Dr. Glass. This is a cherished time for him to decompress and spend quality time with his family. Dr. Glass and his wife Stephanie, a professional counselor, have five children, ages 18, 16, 12, 5 and 4. Dr. Glass admits to being the life of the party. He says, “I get mostly inspired by my family, and just wanting to provide.”

Patient Care, Customer Focus

Business-savvy and progressive, Dr. Glass is proud to have a state-of-the-art office, with all the latest technology and equipment, but he is serious about customer care. “It is a small community, and every patient that walks through that door and gets treatment, gets my personal cell number,” states Dr. Glass. “I want them to know that they are getting the best.” His staff is also onboard with the positive customer experience. He is the self-proclaimed “rooster in the henhouse,” leading by example, with ten employees as well as his Office Manager of over sixteen years, Vicki Grill. She is vocal about the cordial, family-like work environment that has been established at Glass Orthodontics. “He does a great job of taking care of us as a team and as individuals,” says Vicki. The mother of two girls carefully balances being a parent with her critical role at Glass Orthodontics, while being an integral part of the patient experience. She explains how she treats patients with the golden rule, as she says, “I want to give them the experience that I would want for myself.” 

Glass Orthodontics gives back to the community. “Our practice is so involved with the community. Every patient is on a different team, so you have to spread the love around,” says Dr. Glass. They offer a partial scholarship annually for patients and sponsor various teams in the neighborhood. “Education is a huge thing at our practice, what we try to support, because that’s the cornerstone of the foundation of the community,” says Dr. Glass. 

Cloud 9 has been one of the best decisions that we have ever made. It definitely makes everything a lot easier. It is very user-friendly and can make training a lot easier.

– Vicki Grill, Office Manager

Conversion to Cloud 9 Software

“Cloud 9 has made a huge impact on our practice, mainly from just the sanity point,” claims Dr. Glass. Glass Orthodontics was one of the first practices to make the conversion to Cloud 9 Software. “Cloud 9 has been one of the best decisions that we have ever made. It definitely makes everything a lot easier. It is very user-friendly and can make training a lot easier,” says Vicki. They were on a different system that required several IT professionals in the office, and service was unreliable. Vicki was part of the decision-making and she pointed out limitations with business expansion. “The remote desktop that we had in place could go down at any moment,” Vicki says, “We were talking about adding a third location. I said, we cannot add a third location with the software that we have. We have to have something that’s going to be more of a Cloud base.” With Cloud 9 Software, Dr. Glass says, “I’ve got a product that works.” 

Cloud 9 Accessibility

“What we like most about Cloud 9 is the accessibility, being able to pull it up anywhere. That’s one of the most important things,” asserts Vicki. The software has been scalable and easy to use for the growing practice. “It makes it so much easier as an office manager,” she says. Dr. Glass affirms this sentiment. “The Cloud 9 accessibility has been just amazing. With five children running around, busy life, to have a patient emergency, the staff’s up here at the office with them, whether it be a radiograph or a question, I can pull that up whether I’m at the beach or the ballpark,” says Dr. Glass. 

Cloud 9 Support Listens

Cloud 9 listens to the changing business needs of the practice. “I think that is the big thing that Cloud 9 does. They see what’s going on, they see the trends and they’re up to speed with everything,” says Dr. Glass. His office manager agrees. Vicki says, “Being able to call the support team and say, you know, hey, I’m looking for this, or I’m looking for that.” Over the years, Cloud 9 has worked with customers to fine-tune the software. Vicki says, “The Cloud 9 support team is amazing. They do such a great job with listening to our issues and our questions.”  

Says Dr. Glass, “Cloud 9’s Saved Us a Ton of Money”

Dr. Glass says, “I think Cloud 9 does a great job of looking at the overall practice and system work that goes on to run a business. Not so much treating a patient, but actual running of the business. And they do a great job of getting needs met, as far as any reports that we need generated. It’s just been phenomenal.” He goes on to say, “The bottom line is, Cloud 9’s saved us a ton of money. Tell you, a ton of headache, if you will. I mean, T-1 lines to multiple practices, remote desktop servers to IT guys, internet issues that can come with each one of those lines, and then to simplify it and put it all under one system, it saved us a ton of money.”