Company leader
Keith Dressler
Founder and Chairman
Rhinogram
Keith Dressler, DDS, MSD, is founder and chairman of Rhinogram, a Chattanooga, Tennessee, company whose texting software lets patients message a practice without downloading an app.
An Orthodontist in a Family of Physicians
He grew up in medicine. His father, a retired OB-GYN, pioneered laparoscopy in the Southeast and owned a hospital. "I was sort of the outcast orthodontist," he said, and he has practiced orthodontics for more than 30 years while starting companies on the side. He co-founded Elite Physician Services, a patient finance company he ran as chief executive and chairman until it became the Citi Health Card in 2003, and in 2000 he co-founded OrthoBanc, which he sold to OrthoFi in 2020.
Texting Patients from His Own Practice
Around 2013 he saw younger patients in his practice who wanted to text instead of call. Reminder texts went out one way, so replies asking to reschedule were lost, and patients began finding staff members' personal cell numbers. "Patients really do want to text your office, and they're going to whether you like it or not," he said. Rhinogram, his third technology venture, gave the practice a HIPAA-compliant number matching its voice line and also accepts Facebook Messenger, so patients could send a photo of an injury and skip a trip to the office. He remains chairman, and David Erlichman is now chief executive.