Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

March 28-April 3, 2011United Kingdom Edition Call Today 01274 881044 Special Price £279 Guaranteed to keep skin dry, supple and hydrated. Does not contain allergenic substances. Formulated for all who wear gloves for an extended period. Perspiration Free Gloves with Odaban! £7.65 Tube 75ml rrp £499.99 Pk 100 £5.90 Tub 125 £2.95 Tub 200 £5.85 Protect against Airbourne Viruses, Bacteria & Fungi • Natural effective disinfection • Continuously attacks airborne pathogens to 99.9999% effective • Reduce post surgical risk • Used in hospitals worldwide • Protects staff and patients • Quiet & easy to use • Wall mounted or floor standing Two Requirements.... One Solution • Detergent integrated in the wipe • Removes Bio-Film • Effective in less than one minute • Chosen by world rated University Hospital Leuven Flu Season Special Cleans and Disinfects The unit emits a constant stream of hydroxyl radicals that fight airbourne organisms. Proven against bacteria and viruses in trials. • Keeps skin dry & hydrated • Free from allergic substances • Economical and easy to apply • New unique formulation O ver the past few months, most private practices in the UK have been spending a lot of time prepar- ing for compliance under the Care Quality Commission. Principals, practice managers and their teams have employed many precious man-hours on everything from completing the paperwork to revisiting aspects of their practice to ensure com- pliance, and many of the discus- sions in surgery about GDPs’ frustrations with the CQC! I frequently hear dental practices saying that they would prefer to be spending their time treating existing patients or attracting new ones to their practice, rather than complet- ing paperwork or documenting systems to ensure the smooth running of the business. That being the case, systems may not be the most popular things to discuss, but they are vital to the success of your practice. If you do want to attract new patients and ensure that your existing ones keep coming back, then having systems in place is more likely to help ensure that you have a healthy ap- pointment book and a profit- able practice. There are literally hundreds of systems that you need. For example, with regards to com- pliance for the CQC, a series of well-run systems make it much easier to implement, and keep the right side of CQC regulations in important areas such as: • Clinical Compliance • Health and Safety • Staff Discipline • Staff Interviewing and Recruitment • Induction of new staff •Appraisals Documenting all these sys- tems can seem overwhelming; a never-ending task reminis- cent of the painting of the Forth Bridge! So at this point I am going to recommend that you make your mantra “Progress not Perfection” when consid- ering the systems you need to have in place to effectively run a dental practice. Start with the priority areas and know that you will constantly have to re- view/add/amend as you devel- op your practice. So what would I recom- mend as the priority areas for systemising your practice? My Top three are: 1Conforming to Regula- tions So that you can practise dentistry and continue to run a business. To include, most importantly: a. Clinical Standards and Protocols b. Health and Safety 2Client Experience So that you can attract new pa- tients, ensure your existing pa- tients keep coming back and recommending you, and main- tain a profitable business. To include, most importantly: a. New Patient Enquiry By Phone Process (and scripts) b. Client Experience Checklist c. Appointment Booking Procedures 3Managing your Team So that you have the right support team to help you grow your business. To include, most importantly: a. Robust interview process b. Contracts and job descrip- tions c. Regular team meetings and individual performance appraisals In many ways the most im- portant systems are not the back-office, hidden systems that help your administra- tion run well (although they are, of course, important), but the systems that are patient- facing, which enable your team to give a consistent message that truly represents the stand- ards for which you and your practice stand. Most dental practices want to deliver a fantastic customer service for their patients but some are frustrated with the reality of achieving this. What typically happens on a day- to-day basis is that their team finds a way of doing things that (with or without the principal’s agreement) they have decided are effective. They may vary these ad-hoc systems for the benefit of the patient, or to make their own day easier to manage. This can work reasonably effec- tively until somebody new joins the team. At this stage the team member who best knows the system will verbally pass it on to the newcomer and nothing gets written down. In situations where even this is impossible, the new team member may find themselves having to create a new system all of their own. So without systems your team can be very flexible to suit the patients and themselves and ex- hibit a ‘can do’ attitude towards patients, but can end up deliv- ering a different message every time. However, with systems your team can deliver a consist- ent and accurate message and feel confident that the message they are giving is the right one. In addition to this your team can promote a message that is congruent with your brand. Let’s look at a possible sys- tem for a “New Patient Enquiry by Phone”. I believe this is one of the most important things to get right in these challeng- ing economic times. In other words, you want to ensure that you make the most of the phone enquiries you receive by turn- ing as many of them as possible into new patient consultations. Procedure for new patient enquiry by phone: The process needs to include: • Rules regarding within how many rings the phone is an- Progress not perfection Ernestine Wright discusses how to systemise your practice to make your life easier Creating a well run system can seem like an overwhelming task