I’m talking with Kaycee Jones, the Director of Member Experience and the lead coach at International Academy of Sleep (IAOS). Back in 2013, based on my own experience and successes, I began promoting courses focused on sleep dentistry. I hit the pavement hard, but continued to notice that many dentists were still not achieving the success they desired. They were clinically proficient but were finding it difficult to successfully integrate sleep into their dental practice. I began to question if I was missing an opportunity. 

That’s when I realized the path to success wasn’t more clinical courses, but courses on how to build a team and practice that actually integrates, markets and manages sleep cases. Fortunately, this revelation brought me a clearer focus on my mission and the opportunity to make a real difference in so many dentist’s lives. It helped me build IAOS, the most successful sleep program today.

Avi:

So, what does IAOS do differently? Kaycee, since you are the lead coach, and you get to speak to our wide range of members, let me ask you: What are some hurdles a typical dentist will face in dental sleep medicine? What about an IAOS member? And how are we helping people navigate these hurdles, so sleep isn’t just something they try, but dominate?

Kaycee Jones:

Well, the first thing I’ve noticed is both dentists, and even medical doctors, don’t get a lot of education on obstructive sleep apnea. So, my biggest passion right now is to help dentists recognize the signs of an airway obstruction during a dental exam. 

We also teach our members how to bill medical insurance, which is a huge obstacle for many dentists. OSA is a medical condition, and Oral Appliance Therapy is a dental solution to a medical condition. We help them get credentialed and get connected with an amazing billing team that aids in overcoming these roadblocks.

Avi:

A dental sleep practice is a business. And businesses require constant effort. But with running a business, comes a certain type of stubbornness. We hear “I already tried,” “this doesn’t work,” and “Should I just give up?” What do we do to help members in these types of situations? How does IAOS work on a mindset with members where they realize this is a business, and if they don’t invest in themselves and their business, it could all go away?

Kaycee Jones:

Great question. We have coaches who meet with members weekly, and they have access to them at all times; I answer text messages 24/7! We also guide them through every step of their dental sleep journey, and a lot of that is working on mindset.

We set up a roadmap with small goals to help members move forward. Our goal is to make sure they are always moving forward, no matter how small the step.

We also encourage our members to attend the quarterly retreats. The energy they feel at those quarterly retreats is unmeasurable, and the camaraderie of this community is something that I have never seen before.

We truly have an open atmosphere, and listening to other dentists voice their roadblocks and the ways they overcame them helps members want to move forward in their business. And they realize they aren’t the only one with these issues; they aren’t alone in your journey.

Avi:

I can’t overstate this enough – the IAOS program is amazing. And it was really built on this foundation: “Dentists are busy, so how can they build a sleep business from the ground up?” It turns out the answer is just a formula.

Members must commit to their coaching calls; 1-2 calls a week for 15 to 30 min. That’s the first part.

The second part is they have to work on their business. Somebody has to play the role of dentist in the practice, and they’ve chosen to put themselves in that role, because that’s what they trained for. That is working in their business.

Working on the business means working to ensure the business is profitable and sustainable. This brings me back to our quarterly retreats. My whole life I’ve been the guy that would come up with the programming for them. The last retreat we had was by far the best retreat we’ve ever had, and I had nothing to do with planning this time; I just showed up and did some lectures.

These retreats are well-planned and deliver what dentists need to succeed in dental sleep medicine like sales, billing, and pitching their business. Their training made this one of the best retreats I’ve seen, but my favorite part was the keynote speaker.

I was sitting there listening to this beautiful story from this beautiful man, and bawled, not caring at all, because it was a reflection of myself and my family. I shared some major intimate details of my life just because I want people to know: Hey, we all struggle.

We all go through it, and you’re not alone in this. You cannot just decide to do sleep, open your business and expect it to succeed. It doesn’t work that way. It takes an effort, a team, and a system. Here at IAOS, we believe we have all of it, and we want to work with you. 

When practicing dental sleep medicine, we’re working with doctors. However, there seems to be a snubbing of the nose coming from sleep physicians to dentists. How are we bridging this gap?

Kaycee Jones:

Again, it comes down to mindset. We help our members gain the confidence they need to overcome this roadblock, and the education they receive in our diplomate program teaches them how to interact with certain specialties in the medical world.

We role-play during our coaching calls and these dentists just don’t realize how much OSA knowledge they have compared to most physicians. You discover you are educating the physician on OSA. 

Avi:

Do you know what it takes to become an expert? You just need to know more than everybody else. It’s not that hard if you come to any one of our Blueprint lectures. 

We’ve done a lot of Blueprints in Austin because we have such a great program there, but we want to make our program more accessible. So we’re on the road a lot this year, and we’re coming to or close to your city!

By attending a Blueprint, you’ll know more than most physicians about sleep. Now you’re an expert. Now you can talk. However, you’re not just going to be able to go in and talk to a sleep physician and think you know more than them. That takes time and effort, and a lot of understanding.

But a regular doc, primary or internal? You’re going to know more than them after one simple lecture.

And that’s the beginning because there are levels. The Diplomate is a program that everybody can learn and do to understand approaching specific kinds of doctors. 

We want IAOS members to be the go-to sleep expert in their area. When a doctor has a patient with a question regarding anything involving the world of sleep, including CPAP and other treatment options, they will come to them because they respect them as the sleep expert.

We’ve talked about struggles, and one of the biggest struggles in dental sleep medicine is getting paid for the work. How does IAOS ensure their members are getting their reimbursements approved?

Kaycee Jones:

Well, we make it pretty easy with our learning portal. We have a checklist, and you cannot move on to the next step until you complete the previous steps. We also have a lot of educational content in our learning portal, including recordings of our previous retreats. 

Avi:

We just announced the launch of new software called Restfull, which I believe is about to take over this industry. It’s been needed for a long time. I was recently asked how software plays a role in dental sleep medicine and at the time it was such a mess. I was using four different software programs, and I had to enter the patient’s information in each one of these software programs just to get a patient through the process. But Restfull will allow you to streamline this process. It works like a quick-start guide, giving you quick and concise directions. Restfull is spelled with 2 L’s because it’s a full solution. 

Shifting gears here Kaycee. We want our members to just be able to treat their patients, but it isn’t that simple. Why can’t someone just treat their own patient? Why not just make them an oral plan? Shouldn’t it be that easy?

Kaycee Jones:

You would think. However, they do have to have a diagnosis from a board-certified sleep physician. A lot of these obstacles come down to being able to administer a sleep study and get a diagnosis. And Restfull is going to help with that.

Avi:

Now to clarify, Restfull is not an IAOS company. IAOS has invested in it, but it does not own Restfull outright. It was built on what we found was necessary to succeed in sleep as an IAOS member, but it is not exclusive to them. Some of the features we felt were necessary include tracking patient referrals and billing. We have put together what we call ‘billing intelligence’ because billing requirements vary significantly from state to state.

Kaycee and her husband Paul are both IAOS members and coaches, so let me ask: What was it like back then for you when you were both making this decision? Take me back to how this decision went for you then, and how you think this decision would go today.

Kaycee Jones:

When we joined IAOS, we joined because we really wanted to help people. Paul was the dentist, and I ran the practice, but when we joined, we were floundering with it. We had probably 5 different platforms that we were using and we were paying a lot of fees.

However, as we’ve evolved in IAOS, so has our process, and it has become so much more streamlined. 

Avi:

You’ve done an amazing job with our coaching program, by the way. Now, take me through the structure of your coaching calls with your original coach, Dr. Brandon Hedgecock.

Kaycee Jones:

Brandon is amazing! He’s building this incredible empire, and he’s a great speaker, very helpful. Coaching calls consisted of a quick check-in and answering some of our questions. And it was great because he answered every single question, and he texted us back every single time we asked him a question.

But now we’re a little more structured. As coaches, we set these goals every single call, and we hold our members accountable for completing them.

We customize their plan according to their schedule. Some of our members are running sleep-only practices and can set 10 goals, while those still in traditional dentistry can only stick to 2. But we always want to move you forward.

Avi:

I’m very proud that everything we do is customized for the members because we understand who they are, and we understand they’re busy. Getting a tailor-made plan is exactly what IAOS has always been about. Now, we do a lot of marketing to get the word out about IAOS, but what is something you want people to know about IAOS?

Kaycee Jones:

I wish people knew how much we want them to succeed in this business. We want them to treat patients and change the lives of not only the patients in their practice but also in their community. And we want to help them achieve this.

Avi:

Members paint their own vision, and we help them get there. The clearer they become with their vision, the better. Maybe they want to do sleep only or continue practicing traditional dentistry and sleep. We can help and with Restfull, it will be easier. 

Like Kaycee said, the camaraderie at IAOS is unheard of. I wanted to build a community where every quarter we get to hang with people that we want to see. Every quarter, I get to be remotivated and re-energized; we’ve seen it happen for years, and it doesn’t stop. The group constantly grows and evolves. And that’s waiting for you. It’s not going to come to you, you have to go to it.

If you get into sleep because you want to help people, you’re going to end up making a lot of money because you’re going to do it the right way. And if you get into this because you want to build a successful business, you’re going to end up saving lives. Did you know the average treated sleep apnea patient lives, on average, 8 years longer than someone who’s either undiagnosed or diagnosed and not treated? You can add 8 years to someone’s life. 

We want people to be part of IAOS. We want them to be part of our world. If you go to IAOS.com, check out the events page. We have small events, I believe, 10 months of the year. When I say small, I’m talking about 10 to 15 doctors, and then we have 2 large events in Las Vegas each year. The next one is coming up in March.

This event can cost you as little as a dollar! So if you want to make a difference, come out to one of these blueprints because it will change your world. 

Kaycee Jones:

Speaking from my heart, I truly believe dentists have an obligation to become trained and recognize the symptoms and the signs of an obstruction of the airway during a dental exam. Physicians aren’t doing it. They simply aren’t looking into the airway. They generally don’t even know dentists have the ability to do this and change someone’s life, save it even.

Avi:

Thanks again for sharing your experience in this interview Kaycee. I always get excited when I think about how we’re bridging the gap between IAOS, Restfull, and our members. We really are changing dentistry in a way that’s sorely needed. 

I just want to close with a personal invitation to readers to join us at one of our events. Whether it’s a small gathering with 10 to 15 doctors or one of our large events in Las Vegas, we’d love to see every dentist interested in the dramatic changes sleep treatment can bring to their practice there. It’s so rewarding to know we’re making such a profound difference in the lives of so many doctors and patient.