In the modern world of dental care, leadership plays a pivotal role in shaping not only the success of a practice but also the quality of care provided to patients. This post digs into the critical importance of effective leadership within the dental industry, exploring how strong leadership skills can influence every aspect of a practice, from patient satisfaction and staff morale to operational efficiency and innovation. Whether you are a seasoned dental professional or new to the field, understanding the impact of leadership can transform the way you approach your practice and ultimately contribute to its success and sustainability. Join us as we uncover the fundamental reasons why leadership is not just a desirable attribute, but an essential component in the dynamic and challenging world of dentistry.
Leadership in dentistry impacts both the practice’s operations and the quality of patient care. Here are 8 ways in which leadership matters in dentistry:
Creating a Positive Workplace Culture: Effective leadership fosters a positive work environment, which is essential for staff morale and retention. Leaders who communicate openly, recognize employee contributions and promote teamwork create a collaborative and supportive atmosphere. This not only enhances job satisfaction but also improves the quality of patient care.
Driving Operational Excellence: Strong leaders implement efficient operational processes and systems within a dental practice. They focus on streamlining workflows, optimizing appointment scheduling, managing inventory effectively, and ensuring compliance with healthcare regulations. This operational efficiency is key to a practice’s profitability and sustainability which benefits everyone.
Innovating and Embracing Change: The dental industry is continuously evolving with new technologies and treatment methodologies. Visionary leaders are open to innovation and actively seek opportunities to incorporate advanced technologies and practices. This forward-thinking approach keeps the practice at the forefront of dental care, offering the best possible treatment options to patients.
Staff Training and Development: Leaders play a vital role in the professional development of their staff. By providing training opportunities, mentoring, and constructive feedback, they help team members grow their skills and knowledge. Well-trained and confident staff are more efficient, provide higher quality patient care, and are happier in their roles. And in an industry facing staff shortages and high turnover, leading a team and keeping them happy is paramount. In the words of Marcus Buckingham, “People leave managers, not companies.”
Patient-Centered Care: Leadership in dentistry isn’t just about managing a team; it’s also about prioritizing patient care. Effective leaders ensure that their practice maintains a strong focus on patient satisfaction, addressing patient concerns empathetically, and striving to provide a comfortable and positive patient experience.
Financial Management: Good leadership goes well beyond expertise in the field of dentistry. It involves sound financial decision-making, ensuring the practice’s profitability and financial health. This includes budgeting, financial planning, and resource allocation, all of which are crucial for the practice’s long-term success.
Crisis Management and Problem-Solving: Leaders are often tasked with navigating through challenges and crises, whether it’s handling a global pandemic like COVID-19, dealing with staffing issues, or addressing patient complaints. Effective leaders are adept at problem-solving and can guide their practice through difficult times with minimal disruption.
Building a Strong Reputation and Trust: Dental leaders play a significant role in building and maintaining the reputation of their practice. Through ethical practice, community involvement, and excellent patient care, leaders can establish a sense of trust and credibility in their local community.
A word about vision, mission, and values
Vision, mission, and values are fundamental elements that define the identity and guide the operations of a dental practice. They are critical in shaping culture, influencing decision-making, and determining the direction and goals.
Vision: The vision of a dental practice is a forward-looking statement that outlines what the practice aspires to become in the future. It acts as a guiding star, helping to align the long-term goals and aspirations of the practice. A well-articulated vision inspires and motivates the team, encouraging them to work towards a shared future. It also helps in attracting patients who resonate with what the practice aims to achieve, such as becoming a leader in cosmetic dentistry or providing the most family-friendly dental services in the region.
Mission: The mission statement describes the purpose of the dental practice. It answers the question of why the practice exists and what it seeks to accomplish in the present. A clear mission statement helps in focusing the practice’s efforts and resources on its core objectives, such as delivering high-quality dental care, ensuring patient satisfaction, or advancing dental health education. It sets the tone for the practice’s daily operations and helps in making strategic decisions that align with its primary goals.
Values: Values are the principles and beliefs that guide how a dental practice operates and interacts with patients, employees, and the community. They form the ethical foundation of the practice, dictating how it conducts itself both internally and externally. Core values might include integrity, compassion, excellence, innovation, and teamwork. These values not only help in creating a positive workplace culture but also build trust and credibility with patients. When a practice’s actions are consistent with its values, it fosters a loyal patient base and a committed team.
Incorporating a clear vision, mission, and set of values helps a dental practice in numerous ways. That said, it’s not something you just set and forget or bring to life via posters and inspirational artwork. The vision, mission, and values must be lived by the leader first and foremost, and “managed” within the rest of the organization. When done well, it enhances internal coherence and consistency, aids in developing marketing and branding strategies, attracts and retains staff who share the same values, and builds a loyal patient base that identifies with the practice’s ethos. Overall, these elements are crucial in setting a practice apart in a competitive industry, ensuring long-term success and sustainability.
Conclusion
The significance and importance of leadership in dentistry cannot be overstated. Strong leadership is the backbone of a successful dental practice, influencing every aspect from patient care to team dynamics and operational efficiency. It is the catalyst that drives innovation, fosters a positive workplace culture, and ensures the highest standards of patient service. Leaders in dentistry are not just skilled clinicians but also visionary thinkers who guide their practices through an ever-changing landscape, ensuring adaptability and sustainability. By embodying effective leadership qualities, dental professionals can create an environment that not only thrives in the present but is also well-equipped for the challenges and opportunities of the future. Ultimately, good leadership in dentistry is about making a lasting impact – on patients, staff, and the broader community – affirming that at the heart of a thriving dental practice is not just expertise in dentistry, but also the power of inspired leadership.
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.
Guest blog post by Omar Visram, CEO, Enkel Back Office Systems
In the competitive and ever-evolving world of dentistry, managing the financial health of your practice is just as important as providing top-notch oral health care. A skilled bookkeeper plays a pivotal role in ensuring that your practice not only survives day-to-day, but thrives over the long haul. This post aims to highlight the essential services every dentist should expect from their bookkeeper, ranging from accurate financial reporting to strategic financial planning.
Below are the 5 core things you should be getting from your bookkeeper:
1. Timely, Accurate Financial Reporting
At the heart of any successful dental practice is a robust system of financial reporting. A competent bookkeeper ensures the accuracy of key financial documents such as income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements. These reports are vital for understanding the financial position of your practice, making informed decisions, and planning for the future. Accuracy in financial reporting also helps in identifying areas of improvement and growth opportunities, making it a non-negotiable aspect of bookkeeping.
2. Cash Flow Management
Cash flow is the lifeblood of your dental practice. Effective cash flow management involves monitoring the inflows and outflows of cash, ensuring that your practice has the necessary funds to operate smoothly. Your bookkeeper should excel in managing accounts receivables, timely invoicing, keeping track of expenses, and advising on cash flow strategies. This meticulous management helps in maintaining a healthy balance which is crucial for day-to-day operations and long-term financial health.
3. Payroll Management
Payroll management is more than just issuing checks to your employees. It encompasses handling tax deductions, maintaining employee financial records, and ensuring compliance with employment laws. A skilled bookkeeper will take charge of these responsibilities, ensuring that your payroll process is efficient, accurate, and compliant. This not only saves time but also minimizes the risk of errors and legal issues.
4. Budgeting and Financial Planning
A strategic approach to budgeting and financial planning is essential for the growth and sustainability of your dental practice. Your bookkeeper should assist in creating realistic budgets that reflect your practice’s goals and financial constraints. They play an important role in long-term financial planning, helping to forecast future revenues, plan for expansions or investments, and prepare for any financial contingencies.
5. Advisory and Analytical Insights
Beyond the numbers, a valuable bookkeeper/controller acts as an advisor. By analyzing your financial data, they can provide insights into your practice’s performance, identifying areas for cost savings, investment opportunities, and strategies for financial growth. This advisory role is instrumental in guiding your practice towards profitability and success.
Outsourcing Non-Core Functions: Bookkeeping
Unless you’re running a large, multi-site dental organization, odds are outsourcing your back office functions is the optimal path forward. Outsourcing bookkeeping services offers significant benefits for dentists, primarily by allowing them to focus on their core expertise: providing quality dental care. By entrusting financial management to specialized professionals, dentists get more accurate and efficient handling of their practice’s finances, from payroll and tax readiness, to cash flow management and financial reporting. This not only reduces the risk of errors and non-compliance but also offers valuable insights for better financial decision-making.
Moreover, outsourcing can be cost-effective, eliminating the need for in-house financial staff and associated overheads. Often overlooked, when you work with established bookkeeping firms, you get the professionals to do the work, but you also get established and proven processes. The best bookkeeping firms give you the benefit of best-in-class tools and technology for managing all of the back office functions (which would otherwise cost you hundreds of dollars per month). Ultimately, outsourcing your bookkeeping leads to improved financial health and growth opportunities for the practice, unburdening dentists from complex financial tasks and letting them concentrate on patient care and practice development.
Conclusion
In conclusion, a bookkeeper is far more than a number cruncher for your practice. They are a crucial part of your team, ensuring financial accuracy, compliance, and strategic planning. By understanding the diverse range of services a good bookkeeper provides, you can ensure that your practice is not just financially sound but also poised for future growth and success.
About Enkel
Enkel Backoffice Solutions is one of Canada’s leading accounting as a service providers. We offer bookkeeping, payroll, accounts payable and accounts receivable services to over 300 businesses and not-for-profit organizations across Canada, including a number of Canadian dentists. Our team of accountants and bookkeepers can help you manage your back office on an ongoing basis. Get the monthly reporting and financial visibility that your business needs.
About the Author
Omar Visram | CEO
Omar is the co-founder and CEO of Enkel Backoffice Solutions, which he co-founded in 2016. For over 15 years, Omar has been active in the Canadian taxation, strategic planning, audit advisory, and finance operations disciplines within senior roles at KPMG and BCAA. Prior to founding Enkel, Omar worked to launch BCAA’s Evo car-sharing business by managing the fleet operations and customer experience teams from launch to full-scale operations
Omar holds a BBA from Simon Fraser University and is a qualified CPA, CA.
Guest Post: Anne Genge, Certified Information Privacy & Cybersecurity Professional
Imagine starting the day at your dental practice with a hot cup of coffee, ready to see patients, when suddenly, your computer screen freezes. A ransomware message appears and demands payment to unlock your patient records. Today, ransomware is the most common cybercrime used by cyber criminals where your data is encrypted using nefarious software that easily finds its way into the practice via email. Once it gets installed on one computer, it spreads to the others in your network as well as your server blocking access to everything.
This nightmare scenario is becoming increasingly common in healthcare. It complicates things since, these days, almost every patient management and diagnostic tool is digitized, connected, and often required for critical patient care.
Why is Dentistry an Easy Target?
Cybercriminals target healthcare practices, including dental practices, with ransomware attacks for several key reasons.
Valuable Data: Dental practices store sensitive patient information, including personal, financial, and medical records. This data is highly valuable on the dark web (digital black market), making it a lucrative target for cybercriminals.
Urgency and Dependence on Data: Dental providers rely heavily on access to patient data for daily operations. The urgency and critical nature of this data make dental and other healthcare practices more likely to pay ransoms to regain access quickly, as any delay can have severe consequences for patient care.
Lack of Robust Cybersecurity: Many dental practices lack robust cybersecurity measures. This could be due to budget constraints, lack of awareness, or the complexity of securing increasingly digital and connected healthcare environments. This makes them more vulnerable to cyber-attacks compared to other industries that might have more advanced security protocols.
Lack of Cybersecurity Awareness Training: Healthcare practices, including dental offices, often lack comprehensive cybersecurity awareness training for their staff. Employees may not be fully aware of the various forms of cybercrime, such as phishing emails, weak password management, and unsafe browsing practices. This can lead to unintentional breaches of security protocols, leaving the practice vulnerable to ransomware attacks. Cybercriminals exploit these vulnerabilities to gain unauthorized access to the network.
The Rising Tide of Cybersecurity Threats
Data breaches are surging, impacting millions globally. In dental practices, where patient trust is crucial, a single cybersecurity incident can devastate your business. Cybersecurity is no longer just an IT issue; it’s as vital as CPR for the digital heart of your practice.
Cybersecurity in Daily Operations
Every email, patient record, and data transfer in your practice carries potential risks. Simple habits like creating strong passwords, recognizing phishing emails, and securing personal devices can significantly reduce digital infection risks, much like handwashing prevents physical infections.
The Critical Healthcare Connection
For healthcare providers, a data breach can lead to compromised patient information, operational disruptions, and damaged reputations. Given healthcare is a prime target for cybercriminals, dental practices must be as vigilant against digital threats as they are against dental disease.
Basic Cybersecurity Training: A Significant Defense
Cybersecurity might seem daunting with its technical jargon, but it’s manageable with plain language and a supportive environment. Dental-specific cybersecurity awareness training is the best way to ensure your team understands the different types of cybercrime they will encounter in their workday and how to avoid them in your practice.
Fostering a Cybersecurity Culture
Cybersecurity is a collective effort. It requires a culture where every team member, from the administrative staff to the clinical staff, understands their role in safeguarding patient and practice data. Regular training, briefings during staff meetings, updating policies, and communicating clearly are key to building this defense.
Practical Cybersecurity Measures
To enhance your cybersecurity, consider these steps:
Have your team complete cybersecurity awareness training, annually.
Obtain a professional security risk assessment to find the gaps in your network.
Implement strong password policies and multi-factor authentication.
Back up patient data securely and regularly test these backups.
Cybercrime are constantly evolving, and so should your defenses. Stay updated on cybersecurity trends, participate in webinars, and refresh your training regularly. Cybersecurity is an ongoing journey, not a one-time task. There are free resources available specifically for dental practices.
The Role of Specialized IT Support
Just as dentistry has specialists like endodontists and periodontists, cybersecurity needs specialized IT expertise. General IT providers may not have the nuanced understanding required for the unique challenges in dental practices, such as protecting sensitive patient data and complying with healthcare regulations. Specialized dental cybersecurity professionals, with their focused training in breach and threat prevention, are better equipped to handle these specific needs.
Security Risk Assessments: The New Patient Exam Analogy
Think of a security risk assessment as a new patient exam for your practice’s digital health. This assessment, much like a comprehensive dental check-up, evaluates your IT environment to identify vulnerabilities in software, hardware, and user practices. It’s a diagnostic tool that helps formulate a strategy to mitigate risks and strengthen your digital defenses.
The Impact of Basic Security Awareness
Even basic security awareness among your team can significantly enhance the security of patient data. Training to recognize cybercrime and adopt safe digital practices is akin to teaching good oral hygiene to patients. It’s a fundamental aspect of overall care.
The Go-Forward Plan
In the realm of dental healthcare, the integrity of your cybersecurity measures is as vital as the quality of the dental services you provide. Education is key in cyberspace, and prevention is always preferable to remediation. By securing your practice, educating your team, and seeking specialized cybersecurity support, you can effectively combat digital threats.
Cybersecurity is challenging, but with a united effort, it’s a battle that can be won, one click at a time. Remember, you’re not alone in this; together, we can safeguard practices and patients’ data against the rising tide of cybercrime.
Together, we can make dentistry safer online.
About the Author
Anne Genge | Certified Information Privacy & Cybersecurity Professional
Anne is the founder of Myla Training Co., Canada’s first-ever online privacy and cybersecurity training platform for dental professionals. With over two decades of experience, Anne has become a leading expert and trainer in this field. Anne collaborates closely with practice owners, managers, dental teams, and IT providers to ensure the safety of patients and practice data while enabling compliance with privacy regulations. Anne can be reached at anne@myla.training or call 877-363-9229 x702.
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.
BURNABY, BC — May 10, 2023 – ClearDent, a leading dental software provider for Canadian dentists, announces that it will now be providing preferential pricing for its software to RBC Healthcare clients.
“Being selected as the RBC Healthcare dental management software provider speaks volumes about the strength and credibility of our leading, on-premise solution, our newly launched cloud platform and the many extensions we offer to support the productivity and growth of dental practices.”
Karl Schmidt, VP of Business Development, ClearDent
RBC Healthcare supports the evolving needs of dentists throughout their entire career, from students to practice owners and all the way into retirement. Through RBC Healthcare Advantage plans, dentists are provided with relevant advice, preferential pricing on personal and business banking solutions, as well as access to discounts on a suite of practice solutions aimed at helping them manage and grow their practices.
“Our collaboration with ClearDent supports RBC Healthcare’s strategy to be the holistic provider for our healthcare clients, by bringing them innovative solutions beyond typical banking products and services. We spend significant time understanding the needs of our clients and identifying Practice Solution partners that add unique value. ClearDent’s innovative solutions, along with their strong reputation built over 20-plus years in the industry, were just a couple of factors that influenced our decision to bring their unique value to our clients.”
Ahad Ahmed, Senior Director of RBC Healthcare
About ClearDent
ClearDent is Canada’s dental practice management software. Modern dentists use ClearDent to go completely paperless and integrate with popular, advanced digital equipment. Our all-in-one practice management solution is easy to use and full-featured, and is available in On-premise, Hybrid and Full Cloud platforms. As a result, staff workload drops significantly, making it simple to book, confirm and remind patients about appointments with cloud-based patient engagement features. With improved patient care, dentists get paid faster and reduce unpaid services. Visit us at www.cleardent.com.
About RBC Healthcare
RBC Healthcare was created to address the needs of healthcare professionals throughout each of their life stages. RBC Healthcare’s network of over 1,100 Healthcare specialists is trained to understand the unique needs of Healthcare Professionals. This innitiative is available to eligible healthcare professionals banking with RBC. To learn more, visit rbc.com/healthcare.
About RBC
Royal Bank of Canada is a global financial institution with a purpose-driven, principles-led approach to delivering leading performance. Our success comes from the 97,000+ employees who leverage their imaginations and insights to bring our vision, values and strategy to life so we can help our clients thrive and communities prosper. As Canada’s biggest bank and one of the largest in the world, based on market capitalization, we have a diversified business model with a focus on innovation and providing exceptional experiences to our 17 million clients in Canada, the U.S. and 27 other countries. Learn more at rbc.com.
We are proud to support a broad range of community initiatives through donations, community investments and employee volunteer activities. See how at rbc.com/community-social-impact.
Charting and digital imaging were meant to grace your screen: don’t they look great together?
Most dentists eventually realize that, by removing the need to rifle through paper charts, their standard of patient care can improve. In fact, gathering information by switching software programs or finding a paper chart is a thing of the past. Dentists are now treating patients with tools stored in a single location, that are retrievable with a few clicks.
Digital Imaging in 2021
Since this blog post was published in 2020, the state of digital imaging in the dental software space has changed. Some practice management software vendors have announced they will be discontinuing digital imaging support this year.
ClearDent believes that supporting digital imaging is essential for a practice management software company, unlike those vendors.
When dentists provide extraoral X-rays, including panoramic (Panorex) X-rays, they need to access the information through practice management (PM) software.
Choosing A Practice Management Solution
Dentists who begin searching for an ideal practice management solution face several challenges. Teams commonly consider all benefits and consequences of switching to a new practice management software provider, which can feel overwhelming with all the options.
The marketplace offers many dental software alternatives: some vendors support digital imaging, while others lack similar support.
As cloud-based software becomes more readily available to the dental industry, these protocols can become even more obscure and difficult to understand.
Here are some identifying questions to help you choose the right solution (on-premises or cloud) for your specialty practice.
Can the PM software capture, store, and view patient information?
Are charts and x-rays accessible within a few clicks?
Can you administer treatments and view schedules?
Can you pull up patient medical histories?
Can you manage your clinic’s supply and inventory?
Can you manage all the financials from the software?
Most importantly, will your vendor continuously support the development of critical features needed to help you run an efficient practice? The last thing your team needs is to waste time finding decentralized information or relying on third-party integrations. Third-party integrations carry security risks, leaving practices vulnerable to data breaches.
Switching to ClearDent
Every dentist who has shifted to ClearDent have been able to capture, store, and retrieve patient data all in one place.
Over 1,400 practices from coast to coast in Canada have already switched to ClearDent.
Learn how your dental practice can be powered by ClearDent – our demos are free.
Without proper dental scheduling, there are many ways that time can be wasted in a busy clinic. And when time is lost, revenue and morale take a hit too.
A full schedule does not always translate to productivity and profitability. The goal of an efficient schedule is to run your dental clinic smarter not harder, maximizing time and revenue. A well-managed appointment scheduling system allows you to anticipate, prevent, and react to unexpected changes while minimizing the impact to both your team and patients.
Everybody suffers with an ill-managed schedule:
Patients are kept waiting when appointments are overbooked or lagging behind
Potential revenue is lost when appointments are under-booked
Dentists are burnt out when there is no balance between types of appointments
The team feels stressed and overworked when they’re behind schedule
The role of a dental scheduler is not an easy one but we’ve got four dental scheduling tips that will help you avoid the problems above, run an efficient schedule, and optimize your clinic to its fullest potential.
Set goals for your clinic
Your dental clinic is a business like any other. Before you delve into the nitty-gritty of day-to-day scheduling, take a step back and look at the whole picture.
Ask yourself what is it that you’re trying to accomplish; it will help you set a production goal for your dental scheduling.
To create a profitable schedule, work backwards:
Determine how much profit you want to make in a year,
Then translate that to a monthly goal,
And get your daily average production goal by dividing your monthly goal by the total number of working days in a month.
This gives you an idea of how much production you should aim for in a day. Use this goal as you schedule a mix of routine and complex appointments. However, remember to be mindful of available resources, which leads us to our next tip.
[Keep track of your goals easily using ClearDent analytics, aka ClearInsight – book a demo today to learn more]
Schedule dental appointments strategically
When scheduling appointments, you have to consider factors such as available time slots, types of procedures, cancellations, and much more to ensure the mental, emotional, and financial health of your dental clinic and team. Use these tactics to strategically schedule appointments:
1) Organize your daily schedule in blocks to accomplish your goals
Designate time blocks for different types of procedures, such as:
Determine how long procedures take by timing each accurately for the most common length. Don’t forget to factor in time for the anesthetist, hygienist, and dental assistant. This exercise will give you a good idea of the average time needed for each procedure.
For example, complex restorative procedures can sometimes require 2 hours or even more. While on the other hand, new patient consultations don’t require as much time but are equally as important. You need to allocate enough time to a first appointment so the team can make a good first impression and build a relationship with the patient – new business is critical to growth.
For longer procedures, consider blocking off a specific time slot for that type of procedure each month so when a patient wants to book a longer procedure, there’s an appointment available.
Set up your schedule with blocks dedicated to each type of appointment in a way that helps you reach your production goal. Complexity and time involved for each procedure are both useful to know when scheduling appointments so that you can make sure to properly block off enough time for the procedure, as well as to let patients know how much time they need to take out of their schedule.
2) Stagger the schedule
Creating an effective schedule is almost like a puzzle. When scheduling appointments, always keep your team in mind. Complicated procedures can be mentally and physically draining for both dentists and dental assistants. Schedule procedures in a way that gives dentists and assistants some buffer time to recover by alternating routine and complex procedures.
3) Maximize the team’s time
Avoid dental assistants waiting for the dentist by scheduling their tasks separately. This way, both dental assistants and dentists can perform tasks concurrently, maximizing everyone’s time. In addition, try to schedule appointments so that the dentist is able to use at least two chairs at any given time, rotating between the patients.
Set up proper clinic practices
There are certain procedures you should have in place that allow you to organize your schedule more efficiently.
Keep detailed notes on your patients
Some appointments require more time depending on the patient, and detailed notes can help you plan for that. For example, a dental cleaning will take longer on someone with gum disease than one that does not or certain patients may be chatty, while others just want to get in and out. Maintaining notes about patients’ preferences and history can help you properly schedule sufficient time for each.
Automate patient recalls
Ensuring your patients return for regular check-ups helps keep your schedule populated. Using an automated patient recall system takes the onus off of you to keep track of when it’s time to reach you. You can set up reminders in the form of email, text, or phone call that automatically go out letting them know it’s time to reschedule.
Minimize patient cancellations
No-shows and last-minute cancellations are an unfortunate but inevitable part of running a dental clinic. However, there are ways to minimize its impact.
Send appointment reminders
Considering appointments are often made weeks, even months, in advance, relying on patients to remember their appointments is likely to lead to many unnecessary cancellations. Prevent this by sending reminders a couple weeks before the appointment date, asking patients to confirm the appointment and allowing them to reschedule if the time no longer works for them. Follow up with another reminder within 24 hours of the appointment if they haven’t confirmed.
These days, many dental solutions have patient communication tools that not only sends these appointment reminders automatically but allow you to communicate with your patients through their preferred method of contact, whether it’s by email or text.
Have an on-call list
A patient waiting list can help you fill gaps that last minute cancellations create in the schedule. There are a number of dental systems that help you maintain online waiting lists. These allow you to send out a mass notification of an opening to patients on that list, rather than having to go down the list and call each person. This instant communication significantly increases your chances of filling the slot.
Creating an efficient appointment scheduling system is a fine art, requiring carefully honed skills over time. These tips will help you schedule effectively and run a well-optimized dental clinic.
When patients don’t show, up or cancel at the last minute, it can harm your dental clinic’s bottom line. No-show appointments equate to lost time, productivity, and profit for your practice. Patients also suffer from missed appointments due to delayed care as well as reduced available appointment times. You may be thinking, I can’t control my patients… what can I do to avoid last-minute cancellations?
Although these instances may feel out of your power, there are actions you can take to decrease last-minute cancellations and changes. Here are some suggestions on how to keep your practice operating at maximum capacity so that your patients can have the best experience possible.
Send multiple reminders
Adopt a no-show policy
Schedule convenient appointments
Pre-book appointments
Demonstrate gratitude
Make your office fun
Keep a waitlist
Send multiple reminders
When booking an appointment, ask your patient how they prefer to be contacted–keeping in mind all of the different mediums such as phone, email and text messaging.
Maintain accurate and up-to-date contact information, including cell phone numbers, email addresses, and home addresses. Utilize multiple reminder methods with automated text messages and emails. SMS Text Messaging in particular has been shown to result in fewer no-show appointments, as it gives patients the date and time in an easily accessible place. However, it’s important to find software that can automate these tasks for you, and give your front desk staff more time to build relationships with your patients.
Then, develop a cadence for your reminder messages that prove to be most effective in reducing no-shows while also allowing your patients to identify unforeseen appointment conflicts with enough time for you to be able to re-book that appointment time.
This is the reminder cadence that we have found to be most effective:
Adopt a no-show policy
Setting a policy for no-shows, last-minute cancellations or late changes demonstrates that your clinic knows its value. There are many different types of no-show policies to consider. Not every policy has to include a monetary penalty, and in fact, many practices find these to be off-putting. However, adopting a no-show policy doesn’t mean that you don’t care about your patients. If someone doesn’t show up for an appointment, don’t alienate them–follow up with a caring message to see if everything is okay. When someone calls last minute to change their appointment time, offer alternative options to retain their business. Above all, demonstrate compassion towards your clientele to find the policy that feels best for both them and your business.
Schedule convenient appointments
How can you schedule appointments to avoid cancellations and no-shows? Keep a patient’s unique situation in mind when you’re booking their appointments to set them up for success.
Do they have kids in school and only have availability in the afternoon?
Is there a holiday coming up where schools will be closed but your practice will be open?
Are they constantly travelling and prefer to be called for a last-minute opening?
Does your clinic offer extended weekend, morning, or evening hours?
If you operate out of multiple clinics, is there a location that would suit their schedule better?
Accommodate their needs to ensure they can make the appointment. If your clinic doesn’t already offer extended hours, consider if that would enable you to extend your client base. Taking a moment to understand your patient’s scheduling needs makes a big impact on their view of your practice.
Pre-book appointments
How can you increase patients pre-booking their procedures? This increases their investment in the appointment and sets a standard for your clinic’s post-procedural operations. After all, people are more likely to be thinking about their follow-up visit while they’re still in your office. Create a routine with your practitioners and front desk staff that includes having all patients speak to the front desk before them leaving. Even if no payment needs to be tendered, it allows your staff to ask the patient how their appointment went and allows the scheduling process to be more personal.
Keep a waitlist
If you have patients with unpredictable schedules, offer to put them on a wait list. As no-shows or last-minute cancellations occur, they can be contacted to fill in these otherwise vacant spots in your schedule. If patients do end up missing an appointment or need to change last minute, offer to add them to the wait list so that they can still get their appointment completed without you having to risk another no-show.
Demonstrate gratitude
How can you show your patients that you appreciate them and their loyalty to your practice? Keep a calendar of birthdays and other milestones, and send notes through personalized emails, postcards, and text messages. Ensure that the time they spend in your office is centred around their needs. Practice active listening, and promptly follow up on any questions or requests. Special touches paired with consistent communication and reliable follow-ups create a unique and memorable relationship between your practice and patients.
Make your office fun✌️
Keep your customer base, and your staff, enthusiastic with holiday-centered giveaways and prizes. Set up a raffle that patients can enter every time they show up for an appointment on time. Allow existing clientele to receive a referral perk if they bring in new patients. Make sure your staff has input and responsibility for the events taking place around the practice. Not only will you be creating a fun working environment for your employees, but at the same time, you will be maintaining a warm and delightful experience for your patients.
Conclusion
While no-shows and last-minute cancellations are part of running a dental clinic, you and your staff can minimize their occurrence. In turn, this will boost your clinic’s bottom line and allow your office to operate at top efficiency, since no shows result in wasted preparation time in addition to the missed chair time. If you haven’t already analyzed whether automated software could boost your business, take a couple of minutes to chat with a ClearDent Solutions Expert or download our eBook: Your Guide to Choosing Dental Software.
How many patients can I squeeze into the day? The most common refrain among dentists and office managers alike. The business of a dental practice is built on providing quality oral health care to as many people as the day can hold. Patient care will always be the bread and butter of the industry, but as your practice grows, finding opportunities to increase productivity in your dental clinic can mean saving the business money, or even freeing up plenty of time. Regardless of your practice size, we have recommendations for finding savings in your office.
Trusting Your Specialists
Whether hygienist, technician, or other, your specialists have insight into how your office is being run. Each of these jobs represents an important part of your finely tuned practice machine. The ability of any dentist and specialist in an office to wrap up their appointments on time has a tremendous impact on your bottom line.
Finding the time to review a process or even frustrations in a process, can net you valuable minutes every day. These grievances can often be based on having to chase down misplaced charts or incorrect X-rays. Those delays lead to frustrations for staff and patients alike, never mind realizing you don’t have a periodontal probe ready when you need it.
When tools are easily accessible, and there is a single source of information like digital records, no one is scrambling to find allergy lists or up-to-date X-rays, your office starts to run like an expert orchestra.
Patients per Hour
For most offices and clinics, this question is about who is being served. For practices focused on productivity, this is about patients overall. You can only care for so many patients in an average 9-5 days, and capitalizing on this means your front desk staff need to fill as many units of productive time as possible while fighting cancellations and hard-to-reach patients.
While receptionists are busy on the phone confirming patients for their cleaning, they may be spending upwards of five minutes between scheduling and leaving voicemails. Texting is already proving to be more reliable for engaging customers, but with a system that supports automated reminders, you’ve freed up an hour or two each day to focus on the patients in the office. Restructuring the workload also frees time to focus on problem patients who might be most reluctant to step foot in your office.
The Express Intake Lane
Do you know how long it takes for your patients to check in? What about updating their insurance info, or changing their address? Keeping and maintaining an in-depth set of records for your patients is everything, including being able to reliably bill and charge. Checking or updating records isn’t just a minute or two delay before an appointment starts, it can be a delay of hours or even days when you realize that the wrong paper record was filed and the patient hasn’t answered the last two calls your receptionist made.
With electronic records, you never run the risk of filing the wrong record since there is only one record. If your entire office supports easy access to information, with tablets or small screens next to where you treat patients, you can confirm information at multiple points, rather than risk it not coming up in conversation with the front desk. Embracing electronic records can significantly boost productivity in your dental clinic, ensuring smoother operations and better patient care.
