The AAO awarded the 2024 AAO Ortho Innovator Award to the creators of Bright Referral, a digital solution for referrals.
The American Association of Orthodontists (AAO) has awarded the 2024 AAO Ortho Innovator Award to Geoff Sudit, DDS, MS, and Liz Sudit for their company, Bright Referral.
Dr Sudit, an orthodontist, founded Bright Referral with his wife Liz, a marketing industry veteran. The 2024 Ortho Innovator Award winner developed a technology solution for orthodontists (or any specialist) to receive, track and follow up with referred patients.
Now in its sixth year, the AAO Ortho Innovator Award program is part of an ongoing effort to support innovation among orthodontists and partners in the industry.
“Our team is thrilled to receive the Ortho Innovator award,” said Dr Sudit. “We are loving how effectively our product improves referral tracking and guides prospective patients to orthodontic practices.”
Bright Referral’s primary goal is to add transparency and control to the referral process for all parties involved – GPs, patients and orthodontists.
Orthodontists provide their referring dentists with Bright Referral’s NFC Bright Cards. When the dentist wants to refer a patient, they tap the Bright Card to the patient’s phone. The patient then sees who they are being referred to and is prompted to share their contact information with the orthodontist for follow-up. The patient can also schedule an appointment or reach out on their own if they wish within the browser-based experience. The system also enables GPs to share notes with specialists easily, using a HIPAA compliant voice memo feature.
“Even if the patient does not share contact information, the system alerts the orthodontist to each referral,” said Dr Sudit. “Instead of having no idea when a referral has been attempted by the GP, the orthodontist learns exactly when referrals are made and by whom. This helps the orthodontist acquire a better understanding of their referral network including which practices are referring most often, and which practices make referrals that most often convert to new orthodontic patients.”
