Hygiene Consultant Knows Time is Money

Being both a service provider and profit producer makes the time hygienists spend with their patients very valuable. Being unable to provide to our fullest potential could be extraordinarily expensive to the business in ways we hadn’t thought of. To get the most out of the time a hygienist spends with a patient, it is important to have a focused agenda, clearly defined goals, and a workable system. It is not about cramming more work into less time during an appointment, but about getting the best use of the hygienist’s time with the patient. Let’s examine specific strategies to create the foundation of a successful hygiene program. One of the main objectives of monitoring and managing hygiene production and refocusing on the functions of the hygienist is to expand our business’s universe and make us more valuable. Remember … when one thing changes, it leads to another. Few things will remain the same expresses Hygiene Consultant.

A critical item to discuss in your team meetings is changing your practice’s treatment approach paradigm. Many dental practices in this new era of preventive dentistry face challenges moving from the Prophy to treating the patient’s total health. Many dental hygienists today still feel pressure to complete the cleaning when, in fact, the most important service they can provide is education and a treatment plan to reverse the disease process. Diagnosing and treating based on what insurance will cover or based on what the patient wants, instead of what the patient’s needs, helps neither your patient nor your practice. So here’s another example that demonstrates the value of your dental hygiene department: When the hygienists regularly move beyond the Prophy, they add value to the patient’s services.

Most patients see their dental hygienist more often than their physicians. And when you begin offering a variety of services, such as blood pressure screenings, oral cancer exams, fluoride treatments, xylitol products, periodontal exams, smile analyses, etc., you increase the value of your services — and your patients start to see amazing potential to improving their overall health just by visiting the dentist. Plus, many of these services incur a small fee, adding to the profits of the dental hygiene department. Something else of great importance is the daily retention rate for both the doctor and hygienist explains Hygiene Consultant. Did the patient schedule his or her next visit? We consider any patient not scheduled for an appointment inactive, so tracking these numbers is critical to the health of the business. Your goal should be to have all patients walk out with at least their two next appointments scheduled, either doctor and hygiene or two hygiene visits.

Seeing the fruits of your labor is extremely important to continued success. Knowing exactly how much your numbers have improved each month can guide you to know where more potential remains. Not to mention, seeing your improvements is a huge morale booster — now you know that all your hard work is worth it! Not sure how to track your progress? It is recommended that each month, the hygiene team or office administrator run and review. This report will analyze all dental hygiene procedures each month to determine what percentage of production the appropriate hygiene department codes represent. And what better time to review this data, which tracks the hygiene department’s effectiveness, than during your monthly team meeting? It’s exciting, actually. You’ll see that when you implement many of the assessments and procedures just described, you will experience at least a 30% increase in your hygiene department within the next six to nine months. A realistic way to evaluate hygiene’s profitability is to look at the blend of procedures as well as the associated fees says Hygiene Consultant. Examples include all the traditional preventive services and appropriate periodontal procedures, radiographs, sealants, and health-care products. lso included in most hygienists’ days, but rarely shown as production for hygiene, is the preliminary exam with the use of an intraoral camera or digital photography, prediagnostic treatment plan, and discussion. Tracking these elusive numbers can be difficult. We found the best way to track these numbers is to make them part of my daily goals.

Scheduling the recare appointment is only half the battle, though states Hygiene Consultant. The recare appointment is the most canceled and failed appointment on the dental schedule. And one cancellation per day in the hygiene department will lead to what is called a loss leader. This means a loss in the hygiene and doctor productivity. Many offices experience a cancellation and patient appointment failure rate of 25%. But this need not occur when you use the strategies we suggest. In fact, a realistic goal to set when following these suggestions is 95% or better in scheduling effectiveness.

Most important strategy: Have written guidelines for patients that explain what will occur when they cancel an appointment at the last minute or fail to be present for their scheduled appointment. Some practices post these in a visible place in the office, in addition to having new patients sign that they’ve read and understand the cancellation policies. Just make sure you write your expectations using positive words. The scheduled daily goal for production and the next hygiene visit should no longer be the only considerations in a hygiene day. Today’s progressive hygiene departments should have daily sales presentations and sales acceptance goals. What are these, and how do we track them?

Hygiene Consultant Knows Time is Money