DTUK2910

November 29-December 5, 201024 United Kingdom EditionPractice Management I magine how beneficial it would be to have a treat- ment coordinator in you practice? Particularly now when practices are fine tun- ing qualityaspects for their application for Care Qual- ity Commission registration, and really need to generate a strong income stream de- spite the current economic environment. Many practices have already realised the potential benefits of developing the treatment coordinator role. They recog- nise the win-win outcome of this new team role that can sustainably increase profit- ably, whilst enhancing the job satisfaction of senior DCPs, in whom over a number of years the business has made a substantial investment. In many cases the main rea- son practices have not yet taken this idea forward is because they are not in a position to invest £1,000 in a training course for their chosen DCP to gain a recognised qualification. This being the case, there is excellent news for prac- tices in this position; un- til December 2010 there is a £1,000 training grant avail- able to reimburse practices willing to pay out for practice management or care coordina- tion training. Over the past 10 years the treatment coordinator role has been introduced to numerous practices, allowing them to hold on to valued staff who feel they have reached a dead-end in their dental nursing career. In some cases this is because af- ter many years they need more challenging work, or because occupational health issues, such as back pain, make it difficult from them to continue to work chair side. In the treatment coordinator role these staff can continue to offer excellent benefits for the business, the patients and the dental team. Observing practices across the UK, there is notable divide opening-up between proactive practices, with a customer care philosophy; and those who are at full stretch on reactive tread- mill and are not able to devote time to the development of co- ordinated care procedures to enable patients to make fully informed treatment choices, based on their understanding of the potential health gains, rather than purely on the finan- cial concerns. To optimise the full benefits of treatment coordination, it is advisable to train your treat- ment coordinator in aspects of project management, the GDC Standards, health promotion, psychology and sociology. Working toward a level 3 Di- ploma in dental care ordination enables dental professionals to build skills and confidence to research, develop and review procedures designed especially for your practice, patients and team. To find out how you can get your training costs fully reim- bursed for care coordination training please see the Dental Resource Company website www.dental-resource.com DT The value of a treatment coordinator Glenys Bridges looks at the role of a treatment coordinator in practice About the author Glenys Bridges is managing director of the Dental Resource Company, and has provided training for dental teams since 1992. For more information, visit www.dental-resource.com or call 0121 241 6693