Managing a global dental practice

Tags: affordable dental, Costa Rica, Costa Rica Dental, Costa Rica dentists, dental implants, dental tourism, dental travel, global dental, Houston, Jeff Schult, medical tourism, medical travel, overseas dental, patient coordinator, Pennsylvania, Prisma Dental, Reading, Telma Rubinstein, Texas, Tiffany, United States, zirconium crowns|May 8, 2008

When I first considered going to Costa Rica for dental work, I had dozens of questions. I was comparing and contrasting my options; I was nervous about going outside of the United States for major dental work; and after all, I was contemplating spending what was, for me, still a lot of money (though many thousands less than the same work would have cost in the U.S.)

It was the spring of 2004, and Dr. Telma Rubinstein had answers for all of my questions. Thank goodness for e-mail, though we also spoke on the phone several times. I remember noticing that I would sometimes get e-mail from Telma at odd hours — midnight and later. When I got to Costa Rica, I found out that those late night hours were pretty much the only ones she had for corresponding with possible patients. Prisma Dental often stays open into the evening to accommodate patients; and Telma and Josef reasonably liked to have at least a few hours to have dinner with their two terrific kids … so the e-mail box waited, until the very end of the day. It was a crazy life, and I wondered how she did it.

So did Telma.

So I was glad of Prisma’s decision, in 2005, to hire an overseas patient coordinator, Tiffany Kofroth. Now it is Tiffany who handles most of the e-mail and phone calls, in consultation with Telma and Josef — freeing them to spend more time with patients (and to get a little more sleep.)

Tiffany lived in Reading until she was 21 and then moved to Houston, Texas, for three years. She’s a certified and licensed pharmacy technician in the U.S., where she worked for doctors’ offices and in hospitals. (Click on the photo to view larger size.)

“I have been at Prisma almost three years now and I love working here,” she says. She has been married “to the most wonderful husband in the world” for about three years as well.

Tiffany is an integral part of the Prisma team, communicating with patients, getting answers to their dental questions, and even advising them on accommodations, transportation and travel concerns and plans. For patients who e-mail clinic@prismadental.com, she is likely the one who will respond; for U.S. and Canadian patients who call the toll-free number, 1.866.741.8194, hers is likely the voice they will hear. She has made a world of difference in a dental practice that has so many patients from the United States and around the globe.

-jeff schult