Efficient office organization leads to effective office functioning. It frees team members up to take care of people. It can greatly increase effectiveness – defined as helping people make choices appropriate to their health and improving efficiency of care delivery.

Dental office organization starts with understanding tasks and roles:

ABCs in the Dental Practice

A = Administrative Tasks

These are tasks that can be done when patients are not present. For example, planning next week’s schedule for effectiveness or following up on and processing insurance claims.

More examples:

• Filling the hygiene schedule.
• Working the re-care system.
• Supply ordering.
• Treatment planning.
• Specific treatment pre-planning.
• Review of x-rays, charting, and chart notes. 

B = Behavioral Tasks

These are usually communication efforts with patients. Focused, uninterrupted time is available.

Examples:

• Talking to new patients on the phone.
• Care instructions following treatment.
• Treatment conversations.
• Financial arrangements.

C = Clinical Treatment

Here the patient is present. Ideally, treatment has been organized and so thoroughly thought-out beforehand that care proceeds rapidly and efficiently.

I have heard it said that treatment can be fast and good, fast and bad, or slow and bad. Slow and good is virtually never possible.

Speed and efficiency respects the patient’s time and emotions. This is why effective clinical organization must include pre-planning. 

Understanding Office Roles

If you understand these roles for yourself and each team member, your week can proceed much more effectively. Many dentists do not feel “productive” unless they are chairside spinning the high speed, but this is not always the case.

If you consider your role in the practice as similar to a CEO (vision and implementation) and/or COO (efficient operations) you must consider “A” time important.

If you consider yourself an advocate for your patients, your “B” time – especially quiet time to ponder treatment options as well as learn and grow in communication – is essential.

To increase your dollar per hour productivity, you must practice continual chairside improvement and time management in treatment procedures. This is the only way to accomplish more work in a single day.

To be continued …

It’s important to consider your hygienists as autonomous skilled professionals independent from your management. Of course, as the leader you must provide guidance, but you should still defer to their training in their specific field.

A Hygienist’s Expertise

This is one of the hardest parts about managing a team – letting go of the reigns a little. But you don’t have to entertain a free for all to provide some freedom. If a hygienist has made it clear to you that they have both clinical and behavioral skills, then it’s your job to open up a dialogue.

You should discuss with them what you will individually bring to an exam. Find out what they feel comfortable recognizing and diagnosing, that way you can both be on the same page. Don’t rely on the antiquated belief that hygienists only know how to recognize. They are also fully capable of diagnostic techniques.

In hygiene school, they will have thoroughly reviewed the signs and symptoms of multiple conditions. But for them, their education tends toward directing them to call the problem to the dentist’s attention.

The key to all of this is to only offer advice in your area of expertise. That goes for both hygienists and dentists. As with most things, individuals vary. Dentists and hygienists will have different qualifications, therefore providing different perspectives in the practice. No matter our level, we must offer our opinions as opinions and be willing to listen to the thoughts of others.

Diagnosing versus recognizing comes down to semantics, while both are very different from the actual treatment planning designed by the clinician. It’s a hygienist’s responsibility to serve the patient’s needs to the best of their ability based on their skill level and judgement.

What do you consider a hygienist’s purview in the dental practice? We’d like to know what you think! 

Hygienists make up a huge component of a dental practice’s atmosphere and productivity. You should be devoting plenty of time to understanding their motivations as well as your own. Even better, you should actively consider how best to support them.

Supporting New Hygienists

One obvious instance of support a dentist can provide occurs with the dental hygienist who is fresh out of school. Hiring someone new to the field confers pros and cons. The biggest upside is that you can mold them to your preferences. But in that upside lies a heavy burden: You must be willing to guide their learning and influence their patient care.

A hygienist who is very new to either your practice or dentistry itself needs plenty of time to become oriented. You can support them by seeing all of their patients for a while and completing an extremely thorough exam. This will ensure both the hygienist and patient get the most out of the experience.

Take steps like:

1. Ensure all deposits that can be removed are removed.
2. Observe the gingiva and determine if prophylaxis has caused as little trauma as possible.
3. Measure pocket depths to calibrate the hygienists readings to yours.
4. Look closely for decay and provide an opportunity for the hygienist to feel the signs of disease that you do.
5. Check for wear or breakdown and teach both patient and hygienist how to see it.
6. Carry out an oral cancer exam and clarify what is cause for concern.
7. Point out what draws your attention on an x-ray.
8. Finally, make any diagnostics you offer into a learning experience for both the patient and the hygienist.

Once you feel comfortable that your hygienist is appropriately skilled, you must open lines of communication surrounding who handles what responsibilities.

How do you bring new hygienists into your practice culture? Please let me know! 

How you help patients become healthier in your practice is a big question. That’s even more true when the role of your hygienists is unclear. The best method of serving patients well can become hazy due to procedural problems that have nothing much to do with care.

Hygienists in the Dental Practice

For example, there is some confusion over the relationship between the insurance company, dentist, and hygienist. Essentially, what level of care are hygienists allowed to handle and why? This brings up multiple concerns such as their ability to diagnose, who the patient wants to hear recommendations from, and how a periodic exam is charged.

The only way to figure out the right answers to these areas of interest is to take a hard look at your individual dental practice. There is no one perfect solution, no size fits all. You have to decide what is appropriate based on your relationship to hygienists on your team as well as their skill and knowledge levels.

Who Does What?

Clarity is a great motivator. When people understand their purpose, they are better able to carry it out well. The only way you can have clarity around the role of hygienists that will then seep over to them is to separate the expectations you feel bound by from what you actually think is best.

Taking the time to consider the big picture of your practice can go a long way. You can only maximize all the personnel resources at your disposal, including a hygienist’s communication skills, technical knowledge, personal perspective, and time, if you know why you’ve hired them in the first place.

First, determine where a hygienist’s value fits into your practice. What clinical service is your best and what behavioral service is your best? Most importantly: Who provides these services and why?

Where do hygienists fit into your dental practice? Give me a shout in the comments below!

How can a patient trust you, if you don’t even trust yourself? Let’s dive in:

Trusting Yourself

The last frontier of trust is trusting yourself. Most people would say that trusting themselves is by far the most difficult.

When you have decided to place your trust in another person, you have surrendered some control to them that you previously held. When you decide to trust yourself, who or what are you giving up control to?

The answer, in my view, is a four letter word called ‘fear.’ Nothing gets in the way of human progress and performance more than fear. Often our fear is grounded in the inaccurate internal assumptions we use to organize our identity, define how we see ourself, and define our relationship with the world.

When fear dominates our inner world, meaning, happiness, achievement, and our relationships suffer.

Performance and Attention

In pursuit of high achievement, ancient philosophers, theologians, and modern brain science all agree: “We become what we give our attention to.” Our first option is simply to give our attention to the fear that lives within us and the possibility and consequences of failing.

It often sounds like this: “What will happen….What does it mean…How bad will it hurt…What will people think…If I fail.” It is uncertain, unknown, improbable, and anxious. The other option is to create all of the certainty that I can and attack the fear head on.

In this approach, I study my performance as much as possible in order to learn. I structure a plan and rehearse every sequence. I practice this plan for as many hours as needed. I identify and create solutions for each potential problem in advance.

I create a very clear picture of the final result that captures my attention and focuses my energy and creativity. By spending the time and energy in advance to prepare myself, I have created all the certainty for success that I can.

At that point, it is all about trust. Trusting in my preparation to create certainty. The certainty of success.

The white hot center of human performance is trust. There is no substitute for a deeply held trust in yourself. As Covey said, that kind of trust changes everything!

In my last post on SEO and Google, we talked about the first two steps to get found online by the people who need you most – those in your community. We went over the age, authority, and quality of your website. Not to mention the importance of staking your claim in all of the directories.

At this point, you’ve got a secure, responsive website and hundreds of citations of extremely consistent NAP data. Now what?

With the first two steps completed, search engines need proof that you exist and that you’re worth recommending to their users. How does this happen?

Local SEO Domination in Dentistry

Step 3: Social Engagement and Reviews

Consistency in social media is key. If you’re never going to tweet, don’t get a twitter account. You need to be active where your patients are active. For most of us, that’s going to be Facebook, Instagram, Google, and Yelp.

Pediatric and orthodontic offices should strongly consider putting content out on Musical.ly and Snapchat.  Twitter and LinkedIn are wonderful for connecting with other professionals. Participate in conversations on social media and search engines will know you’re a real live business.

They don’t, however, have any idea how good you are until you get reviews. Again, consistency is key. Don’t get too hung up on volume.

A consistent stream of reviews, as little as one per week, will do better than a brief campaign that produces the same end volume in a month’s time and quits. Native reviews direct to sites like Google, Yelp, etc. have more weight than those acquired by aggregation software like DemandForce, SolutionReach, or RateABiz.

Also, because of geo-location enabled devices, you can look forward to reviews written away from the office being ranked higher. Ask for them consistently, especially when a patient offers a compliment, and you will see results.

Step 4: Go Forth and Create!

The last step is simple but probably the hardest. Be active!

Build your library of content, whether it’s in the form of blog posts, podcasts, or vlogs. Steady streams of updates send the signal that you are a living breathing organization that deserves to be noticed and recommended.

Always keep the subject focused on what benefits your patients experience. I like to divide my content in equal parts – personal interests, professional interests, office updates, industry updates, and local news. This simple post I wrote in 2017 on conservative dental therapies gets as many views as our “about us” page.

Now go and share with the world how awesome you are and crush the competition while doing it!

Gone are the days of feeling good that everyone in your community can find you because you paid a single fee for an ad in the yellow pages.  

Today, you need your dental practice to be visible when people in your area are looking for services like yours. More and more people are using their phones and computers to do this.

What is trust and why does it matter in the relationship-based practice? 

Writer and public speaker Steven M. R. Covey says that trust is the one thing that changes everything. Trust lives at the intersection of competence and character. In other words, great skills alone are not enough because you might use them to benefit yourself and not your patient/client.

Trust in Relationships

Character alone is not enough because you might not be able to deliver great clinical results. When character and competence are both present, then what is possible within that professional relationship becomes different.

A strategy to establish and build high trust working relationships in a professional practice is equally as essential as developing high clinical competency. In fact, they are synergistic and will provide energy for one another.

Trust then is not just a philosophical construct. It is not just a means to bring your personal mission to life. It is also a critical business strategy in building a relationship-based professional practice. This is the face of the trust that lives between a dentist and their patient.

Strong Leadership

Much research has shown observable trust to be the number one factor in a patient’s decision to trust the practice as a whole and the dentist in particular. This is simply a measurable function of leadership and the culture that results when great leaders are at their best.

A high performing leader will have strong relating competencies, high integrity, courageous authenticity, self-awareness, and a focus on achievement. These competencies will attract like-minded team members, establishing a culture of respect, appreciation, accountability, and trust.

When this happens, trust will flow in both directions and be visible and experienced by all. This entire process is nonlinear. It is very interdependent and, by necessity, simultaneous. Much like each biochemical system in a cell is necessary for proper cellular function, each complex biochemical unit is also necessary for the other systems to form in the first place. Together, they ensure the entire cell functions properly.

Similarly, while the dynamics of respect, trust, appreciation, and accountability are essential ingredients to establish a healthy practice culture, they also rely on one another to sustain a successful system. They are necessary for the entire practice to function at its best.

Check out this article for quick and easy body language tips that develop trust! What’s your take on this oft-debated topic? 

There are many reasons to continually think about how you can add more value to patient appointments. First and foremost, though returning patients want to feel comfortable, they will also appreciate small beneficial changes when they visit.

Value is the number one motivator that will keep patients coming in regularly on time without missing appointments. If being at your practice is particularly enjoyable, they’ll be excited to keep their commitment to regular recall appointments. Additionally, if you provide expanded health services, you’ll be elevating your hygiene appointments to another level.

Here’s a value add that’s easy to implement and good for patients:

Hygiene Boost: Taking Blood Pressure

Many patients may see their hygienist more often than their regular physician. That’s why taking their blood pressure at the start of an appointment is so beneficial. Blood pressure can tell you a lot about the state of their general health.

Patients may be surprised at the result gathered from the blood pressure cuff. If it reveals seriously high blood pressure, a recommendation to a physician may be necessary. The hygienist should explain that your practice takes this additional measure so that you can truly provide comprehensive care. It’s part of your thorough screening process, including periodontal assessments and oral cancer screenings.

Your hygienists will also appreciate being able to provide this extra touch of healthcare. They could really be making a difference for someone who had no idea they were experiencing an issue. Most importantly, it’s another relatively inexpensive way to show patients they are cared for. The entire process should take less than two minutes.

For more Pankey fun, check out this blog on our favorite places to eat Cuban food here. The next time you’re in Key Biscayne, you won’t be able to resist.

What add-on services do you provide during hygiene appointments? We’d love to hear your good ideas!

How you schedule in your dental practice can significantly impact productivity. If patients are arriving late, not showing up at all, or moving their appointments a lot, you may have a minor crisis on your hands.

There’s no reason to stress when efficiency is only a few simples changes away:

Efficient Practice Scheduling

Scheduling effectively is largely determined by how much patients value your services. Are you and your dental team doing your part to make patients feel respected, cared for, and treated with the highest level of attention possible? Do your patients understand what services are provided during a hygiene appointment? Do they value oral healthcare or know how it can affect the entire body? Do they understand their individual risk factors and how routine care supports managing and minimizing these risks?

All of these are questions you should ask before going out and searching for answers to a mysterious lack of practice growth. Also, you should consider how you set up the daily schedule. Are you moving more intensive cases to the beginning of the day when you and your team are fresh? Do you have enough energy, are you arriving late to the operatory, are you running behind? If patients feel like you aren’t respectful of their time they may not be respectful of yours.

The simple change is to engage your team more. Are your hygienists and dental assistants taking the reigns as much as they can for procedures and managing the schedule? Are they an integral part of developing patient relationships, creating ownership and building an atmosphere where patients want to keep their appointments? The team is also a key component of schedule flow. Are they being utilized effectively to complete clinical procedures? This can be a key to maximizing your productivity without chronically running behind.

Have your hygienists complete their assessments at the beginning of appointments so you can drop in whenever it’s most convenient. That way patients aren’t waiting for you if you get trapped in a complex situation. All of the above are ways in which your schedule could be improved.

How do you maintain steady growth and increased productivity on a yearly basis? Please let us know your favorite tips or recent changes! Also, we have a feeling you’ll love this blog on setting splint therapy fees …