Dental practices can be booming spaces, with patients undergoing routine cleanings as well as more involved procedures. Working efficiently is essential for dental teams to maintain a strong business. But as patients demand even better care and dental teams tackle shifting insurance requirements, team members are stretched thin.
That’s why dental teams need to invest time in optimizing workflows to ensure high-quality patient experiences without overwhelming staff.
Here’s how these efforts can contribute to more productive dental teams.
The Hurdles Dental Practices Face
Although dentists and hygienists hold specialized training in dental procedures, those skills only occupy part of each workday. Non-clinical tasks can be a time-consuming component that limits how many patients team members can see.
These tasks include managing appointments, updating patient information, and following up on insurance claims. And, ultimately, these tasks lead to lots of repetitive manual labor and paperwork where critical details can fall through the cracks. And if one team member calls in sick, that just triggers even higher workloads for everyone else.
For dental teams hoping to avoid this stress and keep the focus on patient care, streamlining workflows is key, and automation is central to that effort. In dental practices, this can mean automating reminders or appointment confirmations.
Sending a quick text reminder to a patient is something that can be set up with the right software, for example, and staff won’t need to spend time calling patients as a result. Or, with insurance claims, the right patient management programs can fill in data, check for accuracy, and submit claims online. As a result, staff can dedicate more time to strategic planning,
Making the Most of Technology
Dental teams must embrace technology to stay on top of patient care. Practice management software can centralized scheduling, billing, and communications.
It can outline treatments and give patients access to everything from upcoming appointments to billing from one user-friendly dashboard. Staff can check patient histories and reach out about insurance issues or billing statements.
Patients will enjoy the convenience of being able to see a transparent breakdown of all treatments and costs without waiting on the phone. And staff will enjoy the ability to assign responsibilities and check off tasks as they’re completed.
This contributes to a more organized and efficient practice, and patients will notice a more seamless experience.
Improve Patient Intake
New patients always require more time for dental teams, though any form of patient intake can be time-consuming. Staff members have to enter data, scan insurance cards, and file everything. Especially with paper forms, this can contribute to errors while taking team members away from more pressing tasks.
Digital intake forms, by contrast, offer a more streamlined check-in process for dental practices. Patients can check in online and complete forms from the convenience of their smartphones or tablets.
That way, vital information is entered into the practice management system already, simplifying matters and reducing wait times for patients once they arrive for appointments to transform their smiles.
Focus on Continual Improvement
Even the best efforts to streamline workflows will encounter some challenges. Learning new technology isn’t always a quick process, and there will be some stumbles along the way. Dental teams need to be patient with one another and review workflows regularly to catch errors or gaps.
Dental teams also must be mindful of how responsibilities are delegated. One team member should check to make sure a patient has current insurance information before their appointment, for example.
If the staff member discovers that insurance has ended or is unable to cover a given procedure, they can alert the patient. Dental teams can have quarterly meetings to review processes and share concerns to help keep workflows balanced and accurate. Committing to this constant review process will create a more engaged team and a better patient experience.
Build Smarter Workflows
Dental practices can create smarter, better operations with the help of digital tools. Practice management software, automated processes, and ongoing workflow review will help create a stronger workplace that puts patients first.
Staff won’t be trapped doing repetitive tasks and can focus their work on delivering the best care. Patients will see the difference!