I hope you’re feeling a bit more clarity about open hygiene time in your practice with our six-part series. In this article, let’s look at this issue from both the clinical and the administrative perspective.
First, the clinical. In your practice, are the hygienists educating patients throughout the appointment about the reasons for their diagnosed hygiene intervals? The hygienists need to discuss the benefits of receiving on-time care for diagnosed intervals, the reason for the diagnosed interval as well as the consequences of not following the diagnosis.
When the dentist enters, the hygienist should be prompting with the information that has already been provided to the patient. Once the dentist has completed their examination they, in turn, need to support the hygienist’s findings. Patients must hear and absorb all of the communication regarding support, benefits, and consequences of hygiene protocol to make the program successful.
From the administrative perspective, it’s vital that methods of contacting your patients have grown with the available technology and that your software is set up to keep track of your patients preferred methods of contact. Long gone are the days of home calls, leaving messages, and relying on a return call for action. The ability to auto-confirm your patients through text and email not only frees up administration time, it also offers a better success rate of patient appointment attendance. When advance bookings are pre-confirmed two weeks in advance, and two days before appointments, hygiene schedules remain intact.
If you have any questions about your patients and their communication needs, then email cindy@yourbenchmark.ca and we can set up a time to talk.
