Working in a dental practice sounds like the day is filled with molars, extractions and x-rays. In reality, the daily grind for dentists shows up when patients cancel their appointments, when office staff members have disagreements and when the paper trail for patients’ previous dental records goes cold. These daily struggles for dentists are real, but you can overcome these obstructions by implementing digital tools, conflict resolution skills and electronic patient forms in your office.
Help Your Staff Members Stay on the Same Page.
Your staff members are only as good as their level of communication between one another and yourself. Yet, it is not always practical to keep the conversation levels high, especially when patients are being seen or examined. So, one of the easiest ways to help keep your staff in the loop on the day is by using in-office apps, as explained in the post, “5 Apps For In-House Sharing of Notes.” These apps are easy to use and rarely include subscription fees, so you can avoid unnecessary expenses. Moreover, you can use these apps when generating marketing ideas or sending out continuing education reminders.
Become an Expert in Conflict Resolution.
Disagreements and conflicts are inevitable in every workplace, and as an office manager, dentist or other authoritative figure, it is your responsibility to resolves these conflicts. You may have to shuffle the schedule around, make accommodations for staff members who need additional training and work on ice-breaker exercises to build rapport. In fact, conflict resolution can be critical in helping your patients maintain their appointments.
For example, you may want to explain your office cancellation policies or insurance requirements in advance of appointments. A previous post, “6 Ways to Help Your Patients Stick to Their Appointments,” includes additional tactics to prevent those excessive cancellations as well.
Eliminate Redundant Tasks.
Your staff members work in your practice for a love of dentistry, but how can maintain that love if their duties resemble a call center representative than a health care worker? Take a look at the schedule in this blog post. It is filled with redundancy and mind-numbing entry of data manually. Electronic patient forms can virtually eliminate much of the repetition and give your staff members an opportunity to work with patients for better oral health, not spending all day staring at a computer screen.
Even with these tips in practice, you are still going to have duties that are not dealing with patient care. However, you can make the day go faster and be more productive if you take these steps now. To learn more about electronic patient forms for your dental office, contact Practice Sense at 1 (800) 619-2955.
