The Calm Before the Storm

As your office is learning the new normal when it comes to scheduling and seeing patients, you may find that you are not seeing as many patients as you were prior to the COVID-19 virus. This may be due in part to scheduling appointments at a reduced capacity and that patients may not be ready to proceed with elective dental treatment yet. 

This could be considered the calm before the storm. We know that your practice will get back to normal capacity at some point, but in the meantime, this could be an opportune time to re-train your staff while you are less busy. 

Here are some areas that you can concentrate on when it comes to re-training your staff:

Chart Review

Whether you have your team enter patient information in the Dentrix or in a paper chart, it’s always a good idea to review the patient information prior to their appointment. Your staff may need a refresher on what to look for when doing chart reviews. Here are some ideas of things to look for while reviewing charts: 

• Patient health conditions like pre-medication requirements, blood thinners, or drug allergies
• Patients with outstanding balances
• Unscheduled treatment plans
• Overdue continuing care, including X-rays

Inter-Office Communication

Reviewing the way the team communicates with each other and with the doctor is an area that often needs improvement.  Having a morning meeting or daily huddle can start the team on the right foot for the day by knowing where the entire team needs to be, when they need to be there, and why.

Reviewing the importance understanding and using patient route slips can help to communicate patient treatment needs between the front and back office.

Make sure the whole team knows how the doctor likes to be communicated with. Some doctors like short and concise explanations regarding patients, while some doctors prefer more detailed explanations. 

Verbiage and Scripts

Now would be a great time to remind your staff of the words and phrases your office prefers to use when speaking to patients. Take the time to review and update any phone scripts you are using in the practice. After experiencing time away from the office due to shutdowns and quarantines, some of this preferred speech may have been forgotten. 

Investing some time now to re-train your team while the office is slower than usual will help your practice to operate more smoothly once you are busy and at full capacity again. If you have questions on these topics, e-mail me at vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.

Charlotte Skaggs, Certified Dentrix Trainer

Charlotte Skaggs is the founder of Vector Dental Consulting LLC, a practice management firm focused on taking offices to the next level. Charlotte co-owned and managed a successful dental practice with her husband for 17 years. She has a unique approach to consulting based on the perspective of a practice owner. Charlotte has been using Dentrix for almost 20 years and is a certified Dentrix trainer. Contact Charlotte at vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.

from  The Dentrix Office Manager Blog https://ift.tt/3fSonuP