In today’s rapidly evolving world, staying ahead of the curve is essential to ensure the success and longevity of any business, including dental practices. The dental industry is no exception, as it faces unique challenges and opportunities for growth. One of the key strategies to future-proof your dental practice is by embracing technological advancements and innovative strategies. By doing so, you can stay ahead of the curve and position your practice for success in the years to come.
Understanding Future-Proof Technology in Dentistry
“Future-proof” technology in dentistry involves more than just keeping up with the latest trends. It means integrating systems and methodologies that anticipate and quickly adapt to future advancements, regulatory changes, and patient needs. The benefits are multifold: enhanced efficiency, improved patient outcomes, and a stronger competitive edge. Implementing future-proof technology will mean adopting cloud-based practice management software, integrating artificial intelligence for diagnostic accuracy, and leveraging data analytics for personalized patient care. The goal is to create a dental practice that is resilient, adaptable, and always ahead of the curve.
Embracing Technological Advancements
Technological advancements have revolutionized many industries, and dentistry is no exception. By embracing these advancements, dental professionals can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their practice, enhance patient care, and future-proof their business. Let’s explore some key technological advancements that can help future-proof your dental practice.
1. Cloud-Based Practice Management Platforms
Cloud-based practice management platforms have emerged as a game-changer in the dental industry. They offer a myriad of benefits that modernize and enhance the efficiency of dental practices. One of the primary advantages is accessibility; with data stored in the cloud, dental professionals can access patient records, schedules, and other critical information from anywhere, at any time, using any device with internet access. This flexibility is particularly beneficial for practices with multiple locations or for professionals who need to access information remotely. Additionally, cloud-based systems typically ensure higher levels of data security and backup, as data is stored in secure, professionally managed data centers, reducing the risk of data loss due to local hardware failures.
These solutions often come with automatic updates, ensuring that the practice always has the latest features and security enhancements without additional hardware investments. Moreover, they can be more cost-effective, as they usually operate on a subscription model that eliminates the need for large upfront investments in hardware and software. Cloud-based solutions also facilitate easier scalability, allowing practices to easily add more storage or features as they grow, and improve collaboration among staff, as data can be accessed and updated in real-time by multiple users.
Lastly, and a key component of what is meant by “future proof”, true cloud-based systems are designed to integrate with other digital tools and technologies that come to market. This seamless integration capability enables practices to quickly embrace and adopt future technologies, without long wait and onboarding times.
2. Artificial Intelligence (AI)
The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in dental practices is set to revolutionize the field. AI can enhance diagnostic precision by analyzing dental images and patient data, identifying patterns and anomalies that might be overlooked by the human eye, thus aiding in early and accurate detection of dental issues. This not only improves patient outcomes but also streamlines the diagnostic process, saving time and resources. Furthermore, AI-driven predictive analytics can assist in treatment planning, offering personalized care recommendations based on a patient’s unique health profile. AI will also play a crucial role in automating administrative tasks, like appointment scheduling and patient communication, which boosts operational efficiency. Finally, AI can facilitate continuous learning and improvement through its ability to process and learn from large volumes of data, keeping the practice updated with the latest trends and best practices in dental care. As patient expectations and industry standards evolve, AI equips dental practices with the tools to remain competitive, efficient, and at the forefront of dental care innovation.
We’ve written an in-depth blog post discussing six ways AI will impact dentistry. You can read more about the future of AI in dentistry here.
How Cloud Solutions Will Future-Proof Dental Practices
Cloud solutions future-proof a dental practice in several ways, ensuring that the practice remains resilient, adaptable, and competitive in an evolving healthcare landscape:
Scalability and Flexibility: Cloud-based systems easily scale up or down to meet the changing needs of a dental practice. As the practice grows, adding new users, services, or even locations becomes seamless. This flexibility allows for easy adaptation to future market demands or practice expansions.
Continuous Updates and Innovation: Cloud solutions typically offer automatic updates, ensuring that the practice always has the most current technology, features, and security updates. This means the practice continually benefits from the latest innovations in dental practice management without the need for manual upgrades or significant reinvestment in new software.
Enhanced Data Security and Compliance: With data security and patient privacy being paramount, cloud solutions provide robust security measures that are continuously updated to meet evolving threats. These systems often include compliance with healthcare regulations like PIPEDA, ensuring that the practice remains compliant with industry standards.
Cost-Effectiveness: Cloud solutions can be more cost-effective over time. They usually require less upfront investment compared to traditional software, as there’s no need for an expensive server infrastructure. Subscription-based models include maintenance and updates, reducing the long-term costs of IT support and hardware.
Remote Accessibility: The ability to access patient records and practice management tools from anywhere offers significant advantages in a world increasingly shifting towards remote and flexible work arrangements. It enables practitioners to offer tele-dentistry services, access patient information during emergencies, and collaborate with colleagues remotely.
Data Backup and Recovery: Cloud solutions provide automatic data backups, reducing the risk of data loss due to local hardware failures, natural disasters, or cyber-attacks. This ensures that the practice’s critical data is always available and recoverable, safeguarding against potential business disruptions.
Integration with Emerging Technologies: Cloud-based systems are often designed to integrate seamlessly with other digital tools and technologies, such as digital imaging, AI diagnostics, and patient communication platforms. This integration capability positions dental practices to easily adopt new technologies as they emerge.
Enhanced Patient Experience: Cloud solutions can offer features that improve patient engagement and satisfaction, such as online appointment scheduling, electronic health records, and automated reminders. Keeping pace with patient expectations in the digital age is crucial for the long-term success of a practice.
By investing in cloud solutions, dental practices not only meet their current operational needs but also position themselves to adapt to future technological advancements, market shifts, and patient expectations, thereby ensuring their longevity and relevance in the dental care industry.
How ClearDent is Keeping You Future-Ready
When it comes to future-proofing dentistry, ClearDent is committed to leading the way, offering a range of products designed to meet the modern needs of dental practices. With comprehensive platforms for any practice size or specialty, ClearDent is committed to continuous innovation in practice management solutions.
ClearDent Cloud, Canada’s first true cloud-based dental software built in (you guessed it), Canada, offers unprecedented growth and scalability opportunities, allowing practices to manage their operations from anywhere. And for clients using ClearDent’s market leading on-premises solutions, we built ClearDent Link to seamlessly unite your systems with the cloud so that you can adapt swiftly, meet changing patient expectations, and navigate the future with confidence.
By incorporating advanced technology and user-friendly interfaces, these platforms coupled with other ClearDent extensions ensure practices are well-equipped to adapt to the ever-changing landscape of dental technology.
Conclusion
As we conclude, it’s clear that the future of dentistry lies in embracing advanced, adaptable technologies. Futureproofing is not just about keeping up. It’s about staying ahead and ensuring that your practice is equipped to handle whatever the future holds. ClearDent’s array of products embodies this forward-thinking approach, providing diverse solutions designed to meet the changing requirements of dental professionals.
By choosing future-proof solutions, dental practices can remain at the leading edge of technology, offering the best possible care to their patients while maintaining efficient, profitable operations. This strategic approach to technology adoption positions dental practices to meet current challenges and capitalize on future opportunities in the ever-evolving field of dental healthcare.
Feeling overwhelmed? Missing important details? Wanting to feel more prepared when walking into the operatory or when answering an incoming call? You’re not alone. Here are 5 ways to get your team in sync using tools they already have to improve communication at your dental practice.
1. The Huddle – a daily team touchpoint
Given how hectic today’s practice has become, it’s understandable that we’ve started to forget about the daily team check-in, aka the huddle. The huddle plays an important role in that it gives you a chance to discuss challenges and create a plan to resolve them together, enhancing communication at your dental practice.
It’s best practice to make it a habit, build it into your scheduled routines, and make it count.
For those who have never experienced a huddle, it’s a chance for the team to get together to set goals, discuss patient needs, assign tasks and prepare for the day ahead, improving communication at your dental practice.
The typical huddle is anywhere from 10 – 20 minutes and is meant to be brief and direct. Having access to the huddle via a workstation in the meeting room or ClearDent Cloud can be a benefit when viewing the day sheet and patient charts.
Assign a huddle leader. This role can rotate through the staff and is responsible for keeping the team on task and on time during the meeting.
Recap goals and team announcements
Overview of the day. Each provider is responsible for going through an overview of their day and highlighting outstanding treatment, insurance coverage, patient warnings, and opportunities for same-day treatment. (Good software will have all this information at your fingertips with tools like chart audit reports, treatment status indicators, patient warnings and linked family members accessible from the day sheet.)
Identify special situations. Bring attention to patients who may require special assistance, challenges with things like room turnover, and timely recall checks or assistance with a difficult patient. Determining when a provider is and is not available to leave their patient is important and sets expectations for other team members before the day gets hectic. Sharing these concerns at the beginning of the day allows other team members to jump in and help.
Celebrate successes!
Bonus topic: Ask the huddle leader to bring a new tip to the meeting. This can be something they’ve learned that would benefit other team members like a shortcut or feature of their practice management software, or a tip relating to loading and unloading the sterilization machine, right down to a tip about an easier way to get to the office during construction
The huddle is your team’s communication hub. After a few meetings, you’ll notice the days are running smoother, the office is more cohesive, and the team is in sync. Your patients will notice too!
2. Make digital the norm
The sentiment of “A place for everything and everything in its place” couldn’t be more appropriate in a digital world, especially when handling sensitive patient information and improving communication at your dental practice.
Phone Calls: First, we must abandon the urge to grab the pen and notebook when the phone rings! Make it a habit to open the patient’s profile and enter information in the appropriate place. Here is an example of a “best practice” conversation fully integrating digital into the discussion.
Example:
[Phone rings]
Receptionist: Good morning, thank you for calling XYZ Dental, Lisa speaking, can I start with your name?
Caller: Hi, it’s John Smith
Receptionist: [Immediately] Hi John, give me just a moment while I pull up your profile. (Patient recognition)
Caller: Ok, but I don’t have a lot of time. I am heading over to the school to pick up my son. He fell and I think his tooth fell out.
Receptionist: [Who can see the family file] Oh my goodness, I’m sorry to hear that. I hope Danny is ok. I will let Dr. Smith know you’ll be heading over. Do you have any other information about his condition? (Empathize, restate the problem, let the patient know you heard them and are going to work with them, ask for more information)
The receptionist can talk to the parent, enter notes, and view the child’s information, making interactions more personal. Remembering the child’s name builds trust and shows they are valued at your practice.
All of the information gathered during the call is logged directly into the patient file – without the need for hand-written notes that must be added to the file later.
Sticky Notes and Notebooks:
Next, let’s remove the labels and sticky notes from the monitor and front desk area. This clears the clutter and to incoming patients, makes the office look more organized.
Reminders and notes may include:
Cancellation requests
Phone numbers and billing information that need updating
Post-treatment reminders
Lab follow-up reminders
Other office to-do’s
Find a digital home for all these items. Use the to-do list in your practice management software, place a digital sticky note directly on the scheduler, indicate lab case statuses on the scheduler view, and associate those lab cases with upcoming appointments. Even a reminder like turning off the monitor can be resolved by setting the proper power settings.
Next, create systems using a digital to-do list to assign tasks to team members. Do not keep a paper notebook of tasks! Things will get lost or missed. Tasks written five pages back are often left outstanding and lose their priority and importance. If you are away for the day, is anyone going to pick up your notebook, decipher your notes and flag items that were due today? The goal is to keep all team tasks digital!
Set start and due dates, use the priority option to flag items of high importance, associate the task with a patient, and even mark the task as private. Assigning tasks gives ownership to the team members and ensures that items are being taken care of consistently. A good practice management solution will have all this functionality built-in, and you shouldn’t have to purchase other third-party solutions. Here’s an example of how productivity tools enhance efficiency when managing multiple locations:
The Office manager had a meeting with the clinic lead in location B and would like to create follow-up tasks. While the Office Manager is at location A, she accesses location B directly from her browser and adds the tasks to her clinic leads to-do list.
Going forward, continue to find ways to digitize the clutter. Scan documents like insurance responses, referral letters, and requests for information directly into the patient file and then securely shred them to ensure patient privacy.
Relying on a single team member to possess the answers to every question can create bottlenecks and inefficiency in office operations. It’s important to foster a collaborative environment where patient information isn’t confined to just one person. Sharing information openly among the staff ensures everyone is well-informed and can step in seamlessly when needed. When individuals (unintentionally) hoard information, it not only restricts the flow of knowledge but also poses a significant risk, particularly when that team member is absent. In their absence, crucial details may be inaccessible, leading to confusion and potential disruptions in patient care. By encouraging transparency and open communication at your dental practice, practices can operate more efficiently, ensuring that vital patient information is readily available to all team members.
Going digital doesn’t need to happen in a day. Set goals and take it step by step. The process of clearing the clutter will gain momentum naturally!
3.Follow up with follow-ups!
Consistent follow-up is critical for revenue production, and failing to do so can create a perception of disorganization. Implement effective office systems to ensure daily tasks are completed, avoiding reliance on others to handle them later.
Establishing a follow-up schedule provides a sense of structure, making things feel less overwhelming and allowing the team to concentrate on the task at hand without feeling pulled in multiple directions – leaving incomplete tasks everywhere.
The office should set practical communication goals for the week. While exceptions and urgent situations will always arise, these goals serve as a framework to maintain organized lists and prevent tasks from being overlooked for an extended period.
Here is an example:
Every day:
Check the to-do list.
Monitor the waiting list and booked-and-waiting list for patients who need to be rescheduled or pulled forward.
Monday:
Leverage your Treatment Plan Manager reports to identify unscheduled patients with approved outstanding treatment.
Follow up on pending predeterminations; the insurance company might need additional information. Often, responses are sent directly to the patient, who may not realize they’ve received it or understand its content.
Tuesday:
A/R review, send statements bi-weekly and proactively follow up with delayed insurance payments.
Wednesday:
Follow up on referrals to specialists. Have specialist treatment updates been scanned into the patient’s file? Is there a need for additional treatment?
Check on your reputation management, how have patients been hearing about your office? Have they left feedback that requires action?
Thursday:
Recall Manager – follow up with patients who have received upcoming due and overdue reminders.
Maintain your Patient’s Without a Recall report.
Look for patients who may have been in for their initial exam and hygiene but have not been enrolled in the recall system.
Friday:
Reconcile lab cases delivered throughout the week to match with invoices received.
As the cases are checked in, ensure that patients are booked.
Patients will say yes more often if they receive personalized care from compassionate providers.
4. Patient Communication: How much is too much?
Effective communication with patients is important in any healthcare setting as it fosters trust and understanding. However, it’s equally important to recognize the boundaries of communication, understanding that there is a fine line between being proactive and overwhelming patients with excessive contact. Striking a good balance is key, ensuring patients are well-informed without feeling inundated. By being mindful of your contact policies, providers can maintain respectful communication, enhancing patient satisfaction and overall patient experience.
The office should keep these things in mind when setting up communication templates, automated notifications, and reminders, as well as outreach by the team for surveys, inactivation updates, and follow-ups. Leverage technology to seamlessly connect with both your office and patients, enhancing communication at your dental practice and improving efficiency.
Establish clear office policies and guidelines for communication progression. For example, you may want to initiate with a text message, followed by an email if there is no response, and if still no reply, make a single follow-up call.
Tailor your communication method based on your audience and the message’s sensitivity. For reminders or basic inquiries like appointment confirmations, text messages are appropriate. For more confidential matters, such as treatment proposals, you should utilize encrypted, password-protected emails if your practice management solution allows for that (and if you use ClearDent, you have this capability built-in)
Be mindful of the recipient’s work environment and schedule when considering phone calls. A considerate approach might involve sending a brief text first, asking for a suitable time to discuss important matters over the phone, and demonstrating personalized care and respect for their time and privacy.
Use and maintain patient-preferred contact methods. Without systems in place, staff will waste time trying to contact patients, only to leave messages.
Do not text patients from a personal cell phone. Ensure you are texting your patients from within the software so that you have an audit trail and record of conversations accessible from the patient’s Chart. (If you use ClearDent, you can text from the office phone number which would be best practice)
Provide opportunities for patients to get organized by giving them clear ways to confirm their appointments.
Recall best practices:
Send an automated notification to unscheduled patients 30 days before their due date via email or text which will be logged directly on their patient chart.
Send another automated notification, if still not booked 1 week after their due date.
Do not put cancelled recall appointments on the waiting list. These patients will be captured in the Recall Manager reports. There is no need to have the same patient on multiple lists.
5. Communication is more than words
Effective workplace communication is about active listening, the ability to understand unspoken feelings, and responding with genuine empathy. It’s in these subtleties that true connection and understanding are found, making communication a holistic exchange that encompasses the complexities of human expression and connection within a professional setting.
Avoid Miscommunication
Choose the proper communication method: Knowing a patient’s preferences is key to effective communication, but so is choosing the proper communicator. In situations like treatment coordination, scheduling, or A/R collections you want to have the proper team member communicating with your patients. One team member may be a better fit according to their experience, efficiency, position or the audience they are going to speak with.
Message: The message being conveyed should be clear and concise.
Feedback: Feedback plays a pivotal role in effective communication by offering valuable insights into the reception and comprehension of a message. Actively seeking feedback allows the communicator to gauge the audience’s understanding, ensuring that the intended message aligns with the received one. For instance, in a professional setting, feedback can be instrumental in refining treatment plan presentations, proposals, or instructions. It provides an opportunity for the team member to identify areas of confusion, clarify misconceptions, and adapt their communication style to resonate better with the patient.
Culture: Understanding the cultural context is important for effective communication. It means being mindful of the customs, traditions, values, and norms prevalent within a specific community or group. For instance, in some cultures, direct eye contact signifies confidence and sincerity, while in others, it may be perceived as disrespectful. Similarly, certain phrases or gestures might carry different meanings across cultures. Being culturally aware helps communicators choose appropriate language, tone, and body language, ensuring their message is received as intended and minimizing the risk of misunderstandings.
I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I am not sure that you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.
Robert McCloskey
Conclusion
When feeling overwhelmed and seeking a sense of preparedness, it should be reassuring to know that many dental professionals share these sentiments. Using these practical solutions will help to bring your team back in sync. The daily team huddle serves as a valuable touchpoint, providing a structured opportunity to align everyone’s focus. Embracing digital solutions proves essential in streamlining communication at your dental practice and information sharing, enhancing overall efficiency. The emphasis on thoughtful follow-ups emphasizes the importance of consistent, yet respectful communication, avoiding overwhelming contacts. Communication transcends mere words; it’s about understanding unspoken cues, fostering empathy, and building meaningful connections. By implementing these strategies, teams can navigate their challenges effectively, ensuring a cohesive and well-informed work environment.
So, you’ve successfully made the jump into the digital age by implementing software to help manage your practice. Maybe your contract is coming up for renewal, or you’re starting to wonder what else can be streamlined in your business by implementing more technology. We’ve scoured the latest tech features from practice management software providers to give you a list of problems in your dental office that the latest code can resolve.
Digital Ledgers
A well-designed digital ledger means fast and easy access to patient financial information, completed treatments, insurance and claims submissions, billing, and even printed statements. By digitizing billing, you remove lots of human error risk and the time it takes to complete, ensuring a faster response from insurance companies and payment.
Explanation of Benefits (EOB) and Coordination of Benefits (COB)
When invoicing, speed and accuracy are everything. Having a system that automatically updates the insurance co-payment amount in the transaction based on EOB provides instant and correct calculations of a patient’s portion of the invoice. This facilitates accurate, real-time patient collections. If your patient has dual insurance companies, a software system capable of handling COB electronically will do the job of forwarding the portion unpaid by their primary insurance to the secondary insurance to determine the eligible portion to be paid, and then forward any remaining to the patient, enabling real-time patient collection even in the trickiest case. These tech featuresensure seamless handling of complex billing scenarios, enhancing efficiency and patient satisfaction.
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
Submitting electronic claims is only one of the many things in a software system approved by CDAnet and ITRANS for EDI in Canada. You can learn more about EDI integrations through the Canadian Dental Association and their own CDAnet website. Some software systems can support all the EDI functions, such as the ability to transmit documents and dental images electronically, which speeds up insurance benefit adjudication, to future-proof your investment.
Ortho Contract Billing
Many software providers offer contract billing for ortho treatment to keep you on track for both treatment and billing. For ongoing treatments, you can automatically submit claims, send invoices, and update ledgers.
Dental Patient Scheduling
A staple of any dental practice software, the ability to integrate scheduling directly into calendars with easy viewing and updating is one of the biggest time savers you can find. Simplifying to the level of drag-and-drop, maximizing your schedule takes a second or two, instead of minutes or hours. A clear and easy boost to the art of schedule making.
Automatic Patient Reminders
An extension of expanded patient communication, automatic reminders remove the burden of early morning check-ins. Select a message for people a week before their appointment, starting their treatment, or who haven’t been in for a check-up for 6 months, and let the software take care of the rest.
Patient Communication
Increasingly, patients prefer to communicate over a silent text, rather than a call they might have to step outside to take. Comprehensive software will allow you to shoot out an SMS or email to confirm appointments, reminders, and everything in between. Automating reminders and confirmations takes even more strain off your front desk. Consider the increased value of group messages as well. Software that can message a single cohort means your staff can send one quick group message when trying to fill a hole in your schedule instead of calling or messaging each person individually. These tech features streamline patient communication, making it more efficient and effective.
Complete Patient Clinical Record
With built-in charting and imaging, x-rays can be fine-tuned to be seen in greater detail. Save even more time by automatically rotating, mounting, and labelling the image with the correct tooth number before attaching it to the odontogram. And, with periodontal charting built in, and click-to-include clinical notes, everything you need is just a click away.
Production Growth Reporting
Well designed, and easy-to-understand reporting is key to analyzing the metrics of your business. By visualizing the important day-to-day information, you can get comprehensive, at-a-glance insights into things like cancellations, comparative productivity, and average earnings.
Practice Communication
Sharing pertinent information from the operatory to the front desk means that reception can pre-verify completed procedure codes, submit an electronic claim right after treatment is complete, and prepare an accurate patient invoice if required before the patient arrives for checkout
Staffing + Hours
Ensure there is coverage for all your patients and appointments with a system that allows you to see your schedule while also tracking staff hours from sign-in, to sign-out. Removing the manual counting of hours and the required comparison to the shift schedule will also translate to a smoother run of payroll.
Inventory Management
Don’t get caught with low stock. An inventory management tool keeps track of quantities and can notify you when supplies are close to depleted. Top-of-the-line inventory services will also provide vendor price comparisons, so you know when you’re getting the best deal.
Mobile Applications
If you’ve become accustomed to late hours in the office pouring over your schedule and checking in on patients, it’s time to consider support for mobile apps. Many software solutions now offer a way to securely access records and even connect with multiple practices or locations with much more convenience. A few companies will even offer tablet or iPad apps to speed up patient check-in and record reviews!
Want to learn more about tech features and what practice management software can do for your office? Download the free guide today!
Knowing the right moment to adopt new technology in dentistry and understanding the role that technology plays in your clinic is how you can use innovation to grow your dental business.
Let’s cover how technology changes already help, what these changes can look like for a business, and how to keep an eye out for opportunities in the future.
Taking the Paper Out of Paperwork
We spent a lot of time writing things down on paper before computers became as ubiquitous as they have. With the paper format, we had a system that worked easily and felt easy, even when an error required a whiteout or a new sheet to correct. What wasn’t easy was finding something misplaced or lost. As more and more of our records and bills digitize, software that focuses on your workflow as you move between sensitive oral care and insurance provider billing continues to speed up.
Patient management software, especially digital records, has taken much of the stress out of record-keeping, largely speeding up the busy work of dental practices everywhere. By creating a reliable digital system that saves on investment and even square footage costs, but is focused on ease of use, you can grow your productivity while costs continue to decrease.
Technology as a Service
The classic approach in business is to appraise market demand for a product, and then make a call on whether that business can profit over a period of time.
Services can be different. They often require additional training or specialty staff. While not especially new, take sedation dentistry as an example: simple training, yes, but to offer a full range of services that meet the many demands of those suffering from deep anxiety, you need IVs, access to general anesthesia, and even another medical degree. While that investment in a specific niche can pay off, full sedation is unlikely to work for a dental office without an oral surgeon.
Making The Case For New Technology
When you see an opportunity to provide additional services, the cost to the bottom line can be complex depending on how you intend to offer those services. Judging whether or not a new technology in dentistry is the right fit requires looking at the influences and conditions that could impact success outside of your office.
However, sometimes vendors back out of a specific space and force entire markets to reassess their needs. In the case of practice management software, when vendors back out of offering on-premises software, dental clinics are forced to judge whether it is time to switch to a new software vendor.
Chase Solutions, Not Products
People are more passionate about the brands they choose than ever. When the ones that innovate in a particular field get the word out, they can better create a passionate following. When patients inquire about invisible braces, are they asking about getting a beautiful smile without ugly braces, or about Invisalign? The invention of invisible braces cracked the market wide open for self-conscious adults actively chasing the opportunity to straighten their teeth.
Listening To Your Patients
In an age where product marketing can achieve cult status, you don’t want to end up simply buying into the most viral video. If your patients are routinely mentioning a product or service, dig deeper to find the reason that stands out for so many, and then find a way to tackle the issue they present. Even if many companies will narrow your choices by way of patent or expensive training, knowing that you’re paying for a technology in dentistry solution your patients will love, and not the marketing that sold them is what makes a difference to your bottom line.
You may have noticed we’ve made some adjustments to our brand. These were made in tune with how we see the future of ClearDent and the improved solutions, refreshed look, and services we aim to provide dentists across Canada and align with our three core values: Community, Creativity, and Courage.
When it comes to our Community, we are always listening and looking to improve the way we communicate. This includes the release of a new ClearDent News feature that will be accessible within your ClearDent software, to ensure important messages don’t go unnoticed.In our Support team, we’veincreased our capacity to answer your calls, resulting in lower average call wait times. We’ve also introduced new methods to route your request to those who can help you best including a new Cloud support team (cloudsupport@cleardent.com) available to help you via e-mail.To strengthen our lines of communication, we also intend to re-introduce an improved Account Management team (myaccount@cleardent.com).
During a time when everyone is doing their part to limit in-person interactions, we’ve looked to Creativity in both the software and services that we provide. We’ve launched a Patient Portal as part of ClearConnect that helps you provide a safe, contactless experience for both your team and patients. While we normally invest in your continuing education through in-person seminars, we’ve pivoted to holding monthly webinars for our customers on best practices in dentistry and using ClearDent.
Working toward the future, we are also setting bold goals that will hold us to our final core value – Courage. We’re excited to be working on a Cloud solution that will offer a full suite of administrative, clinical, and patient engagement features. Our all-in-one Cloud solution will enable us to broaden our community by working with partners on third-party integrations and more. The future of dentistry is always changing and we strive to be at the forefront of emerging technology, teaching our community how to use these tools to improve efficiency and productivity across your dental practice.
As we continue, we will continue leaning on you, our customers, to create solutions made for Canadian dentists.
Let’s take a moment to talk about how busy life gets inside your dental office. Between sealants and whitenings, there’s managing schedules, sterilizing tools, and serving patients as just a taste of the tasks that fill every day. Finding the right people to assist in your practice when it comes to performing these procedures is often the difference between peace of mind, and feeling like you were better off having done it yourself, but that is only half of it. Implementing effective hiring tips can ensure you select candidates who not only meet the skill requirements but also fit well with your practice’s culture and values.
Finding the right hire will feel like the best money ever spent, but a hire that quickly turns over can come with great costs, usually into the tens of thousands of dollars. We’ve got important details on making sure that your hiring process reduces your employee’s flight risk.
The Art of Detailed Explanations
In an ideal world, a job posting goes out, the dream hire is the first to apply, and the entire process is wrapped in under a week. In reality, you can expect up to 200 resumes, depending on your office location. Creating a job description that isn’t just accurate to the role, but paints a picture of expectations in your office helps you to quickly weed out many of the applications you’ll receive. Branch out beyond the minimum experience for a dental assistant to outline the values, culture, and expectations of your business by speaking to the type of person who will not simply do a good job, but will be a great fit.
The top talent that will help grow your practice is looking for purpose and asking big questions about the priorities of where they work. Providing big answers about what it means to hold a valued role in your office is a signal that you’re looking for the best. With most workers preferring a shared sense of responsibility over higher pay, you’ll be able to quickly weed out those copy-and-pasted CVs that ignore your values and are just looking for a paycheque.
Questioning Interview Questions
Just about every job on Earth starts with an interview. We’re all familiar with the operational standards: What interests you about this job? Where do you see yourself in five years? What is your biggest strength? These are relevant pieces of information but are so commonplace that many applicants can answer without thinking about the question. Implementing effective hiring tips, such as drawing on unique experiences when crafting questions like “How would you handle a rude patient?” or “What is the most valuable thing you learned in school?” can help gauge an applicant’s strategic thinking.
Giving your interviewee a chance to ask any question about the everyday work they’ll encounter, and more importantly, the types of expectations or values that are in place, ensures that employment excitement is mutual. Remember that the interview works both ways. Just as you are evaluating the candidates to see if they are a good fit for your office, they are evaluating you to see if your office will be a good fit for them.
Meeting the Family Before Joining
If you’re setting up your office for the first time, hiring a receptionist or assistant is a one-to-one relationship that relies on dozens of hours every week for collaboration. That means you need someone who can complete the job capably as well as be a good fit with your personality. If you’re on the other side of the coin, filling a role in a second or third office, that great personality may seem less important because you’re less likely to interact with them frequently. In that case, look to the office managers, doctors, and technicians that will rely on their work, and get their feedback.
By including coworkers and colleagues in the interview process, you can gain valuable insight that picks up on questions or experiences that may not be your top priority. Furthermore, by getting first impressions from those who will spend their weeks working with a new hire, you don’t run the risk of a new hire making your current team unhappy, or worse, convincing them it’s time to look elsewhere.
Implementing effective hiring tips can make the process smoother and more successful. Hiring is a daunting and time-consuming task, but it generally speaks to your practice being in a position of growth or being ready to take on challenges new and old. The hiring process is a tedious task that can be tempting to rush through, but taking the time to prep, ask the right questions, and check in with your people can save you thousands while finding a great fit, maybe for life.
There’s much to be said for going digital and ditching the burden of paperwork, but not all benefits of a paper-free office are instantly obvious. To address the most compelling arguments for digitizing the dentist’s office, here are three big benefits you can expect. When you incorporate practice management software into your business, you’ll start seeing game changers in your work that go beyond throwing out your filing cabinets and collapsible bookcases.
1. A Helping Hand for Your Business
Even if your day-to-day is spent focused on your patients, it’s likely that the business side of running a practice occupies most of your thoughts. DIAC’s 2018 Future of Dentistry Survey Report says that 78% of dentists are focused on billing and overhead more than anything else, with patient growth and retention a close second for 75% of doctors. These two topics clearly represent key indicators for an independent dentist.
Billing before the Internet was typically an in/out tray of inventory management, insurance numbers scribbled on a patient’s file, and a constant set of reminders left for the end of the day or week. Software can not only replace the hand-written submissions for payment, but in many cases, automate them. Rather than manually keying in insurance claims, practice management software can turn a completed treatment into a claim and submit it to the insurance in just a few clicks. Inventory that watches its own capacity can automatically generate its own reports, bills, and even offer vendor price comparisons when stock is detected as being low.
For those that are concerned about cancelled appointments and unexpected openings in their schedule, there are currently many studies that show calling them directly won’t get the response you expect. As people move away from their phone and closer towards email and text as their preferred communication channel, the ability to send out SMS or email updates is the perfect means to communicating with your patients where they are.
2. Streamlining Everyone’s Workflow
If you’ve yet to consider how much time you spend retrieving information, imagine instantly opening up records, x-rays, or reference material without leaving your patient’s side. While about one-third of dentists today still rely on paper in their approach to health care, many are starting to see the time-savers involved in reliably accessing the information right when they need it.
This benefit doesn’t start and stop with patient profile review. Reception benefits from an integrated system by receiving changes to a patient’s treatment as they’re entered into a file. Changes to their follow-up appointments are made by clicking and dragging schedules that also send out those helpful SMS updates for appointments. The reality is that a single system that’s integrated into all of your necessary services increases your office’s ability to respond and multi-task while cutting down on the risk of error or miscommunication.
3. Cost Savings and Planning
IT infrastructure can be perceived as an arduous upfront cost and a reason to stick with print, but maintenance and often forgotten charges are where you’ll find immediate results. If you suppose that a patient record is about $5 in materials alone, a healthy office is spending $6000 just to keep patient records on their books. Without including the cost of staff searching for records, updates or error correction in paperwork, you’ve got a massive amount of overhead that you might think insignificant at face value. Of course, this doesn’t even include printer ink or physical security mechanisms to protect the documents that are so important.
Savings don’t exclusively come from consolidation or electronic record keeping, but also monitoring costs. Being able to generate cost reports or statements on a daily or weekly basis lets you track your costs moment-to-moment. Complete integrations that incorporate expected income from scheduling, inventory costs, and payroll hours paint an exact portrait of your business’s performance, right down to the last cent.
Cancellations, no-shows, and missed appointments are a constant frustration with anyone running their own dental practice. Making sure patients arrive on time can feel like a gamble with busy schedules, but it’s not necessarily life that’s getting in the way of some patients making their appointments. Quite often, reasons to cancel appointments stem from anxieties with dentists in general.
Engaging with patients can sometimes be a difficult process if they’ve had poor experiences with a previous dentist. Some studies through Statistics Canada suggest up to 40% of Canadians have some level of anxiety towards their dental visits. Deep anxiety was reported as a substantial driver for early and last-minute cancellations and no-shows alike. If you’re ready and willing, providing a caring experience will reward you with a patient that’s calmer and more at ease, but also indebted to you. The patient that you go the extra mile for will deeply appreciate your hard work. So what can you do to calm the nerves of someone with post-traumatic dental stress?
Offer Up an Ear
If a patient is brand new to your practice, it may be worthwhile to expand on their medical history. Taking time to establish their previous experiences with dentists gives you an idea about how much care or attention they may need. Asking about their previous dental experiences to learn about possible sore spots is a great way to actively listen, but there’s no need to simply dwell on the negatives.
If there were positive memories, beyond the toy reward during a childhood visit, bringing them to the surface can help to identify paths forward and even persuade them that their dental experience can turn into a good memory. Some dentists also find success by adding certain questions to their intake forms so that the information can be kept as part of the patient’s file.
A Calming Welcome
Sensory input is a big cause of anxiety. Smells, colours, and surroundings are the first things that set off our nervousness, and all those things are staples of dental offices. Depending on the size of your office, you might be able to curb that sterile chemical smell with a hypoallergenic air freshener, so when a nervous nelly enters for the first time, they don’t immediately feel as though they’re on the defensive.
While we’re on the topic of your reception area, are your walls a clinical off-eggshell, or have you added a splash of paint or an accent wall to spice things up?
A soft blue or green are both shades that naturally put people at ease. If you prefer neutral colours, then consider filling your walls with unique art centred on nature or historical sites, both of which can calm our brains. Other options include adding a TV that can distract, or cover up a particularly loud drill. Creating a welcoming and calming environment can help reduce patient anxiety and minimize no-shows, ensuring a more efficient and pleasant experience for everyone.
Focus on Distractions
When it comes time to take a seat in the dentist’s chair, that same sensory input we talked about before is now in full swing, and there’s not much you can do to limit the sounds, smell, or feel of the room. Presenting distractions for your patient to focus on can relieve a lot of their tension.
Start by reserving any spaces with natural light, windows, or a more spacious layout to allay any feels of claustrophobia. If you’re lucky with the layout of your office, you may have a secure enough ceiling to position a TV or screen that’s aimed at any reclining individual. The combination of sound, images, and stories is a surefire way to distract from discomfort and pain. If you’re concerned that the sound may distract from conversations between you and your assistant, let your patient know they’re free to wear headphones while they get lost in a podcast, audiobook, or music.
The stresses that compile into a bad dental experience may not always be under your control, but how that anxiety and nervousness is handled in patients of all ages is yours to command. When a patient goes from fearful to optimistic about their impending cleaning or cavity filling, they know exactly who to thank, and they thank that dentist or practice with a loyalty that can last for a lifetime. Reducing patient anxiety can also help minimize no-shows and cancellations, ensuring a smoother schedule for your practice.
Dental practices frequently hold special places in the community. Recommendations from friends and family may be the top decider when searching for a new doctor, but just about every other patient will choose their oral health provider based on proximity. Being able to show that you’re engaged with the neighbourhood elevates you past just being another dentist in the eyes of possible patients.
If you want a strong presence in your community, you could use pricey flyers and bus stop ads, but charity can be just as effective, and much more rewarding. Engaging directly with local groups and organizations yields benefits for both your business and those in need.
The Math Behind the Money
There are many ways that businesses can be encouraged to engage with non-profits and other support-providing services. If you’re in search of a silver lining for your office, then look no further than useful charitable deductions. When thinking about where your donation goes, it always pays to be mindful of how they’re spent. Many high-profile national or international charities frequently distribute your gift across a wider region, or in specialized places such as research hubs or urban centres.
While high overhead is becoming less of a concern about efficacy, you may be interested in organizations that see a larger portion of proceeds directly go to those who need them. When a charity has a narrow focus, dollars typically go much further. Consider local sports teams or clubs for kids, where even smaller donations can make a big splash.
Charity Without the Cheque
Running a business can be exhausting, and charity may be the last thing on your mind during a tight fiscal month or an overloaded schedule. Consider researching charitable organizations that you can instead partner with, so the work can be shared. Just by soliciting food donations in the office, or putting up advertisements in the waiting room, you can generate engagement with any cause near and dear to your heart. Of course, finding an organization that shares your approach to business is paramount.
If you’re the type of practice that puts out promotional material or has an active presence online, don’t forget to advertise, re-tweet, mention, and share your advocacy for more awareness.
Being Proud and Public to the Dental Community
The satisfaction of making a difference in someone’s life is just one of the many rewards that come with a philanthropic purpose. Local newspapers and media are often eager to celebrate businesses that make a difference in their neighbourhood. Proudly associating your name with charity contributions, or work in a not-for-profit practice, is a great way to let prospective patients know that you value their community as much as you value them. If you’re examining how to best spend a marketing budget, take a look at how far that money could go towards sponsoring a local event, public cause, or even parade float.
As a business owner and practicing dentist within the dental community, making time for, or contributing to, charities can be daunting. Smaller offices may feel like this can be a distraction from your patients, but raising the profile of your practice solidifies your role in the community, and helps to bring in new patients.
There’s no secret that the latest tech is bringing lots of change to just about every industry. Smartphones are making work possible from anywhere, and with the latest digital security, even medical documents are safe on your server. If you’ve been wondering about the benefits or risks of transitioning to a paperless practice, we’ve got answers to your top questions.
The Cost of Change
Dollars and cents are also not the only cost worth considering when looking into something new. Maintenance for dental software may feel like you’re shifting the burden from a strict filing regime to figuring out how to download updates, but many software providers offer their updates as automatic installations, provided free of charge.
Ability to Integrate
Each and every practice is its own unique business. Dentists and Office Manages alike have their own preferences and may build out solutions that range in purpose. Bringing your documents and records into the digital age doesn’t mean they need to sit alone. Any software worth the investment will provide you with built-in options or open integrations that will allow you to carry out all the functions and processes your practice needs. Many software solutions will work comprehensively, solving multiple needs in an office using a single product suite.
Even if you only need to move your documents to a server, make sure that your ultimate choice is compatible with the products that have kept your business operating up until now. Slowing your workflow by jumping between programs, and manually re-entering sensitive information is tedious experience and a waste of your time and money.
Keeping Secrets Safe
Providing health care is one of the most rewarding services that dentists can offer, but the care that is provided is intensely private. Laws like the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) are in place to protect not just the information of patients, but their rights to privacy. Privacy breaches against massive firms and organizations routinely make the news for their staggering volume, but you might be surprised to learn that the most common target for hackers is smaller businesses that are perceived to be easier targets due to their size, and lack of investment into cybersecurity.
When examining your options for software to transition to a paperless practice, secure providers will be more than happy to talk about their certifications and compliance. Completing certifications, like the ones set by Health Canada, means that your provider is paying close attention to security. Don’t be afraid to inquire about encryption, remote storage, and even access roles, to prevent any single compromised user from accessing every piece of info about your patients.
The landscape for dental software that replaces the paper in your practice is rich and can be overwhelming. Focusing on the cost, integration, and security of the software will help weed out the option that won’t quite fit and help to refine the search for your office’s ideal solution.
Want to learn more about what practice management software can do for your office?
