Building efficiency in your practice – Autor Mark Croft Managing Director UK & Ireland MyPlant
Featured Products Promotional FeaturesPosted by: Dental Design 30th August 2019
In modern dentistry, efficiency is key. Patient lists are getting larger, complex treatments are becoming more widely accessible and the demand for speedy treatment and rise in patient expectations means that without an efficient approach, practices will struggle.
To cope with this, it’s important for practices to examine their workflows and concentrate on areas where they can streamline their services, as well exploring other ways to boost productivity.
Practice management makes perfect
Like every business, a dental practice needs good management in place in order to thrive. An effective practice management system is essential, as these systems help to streamline the organisational aspects of the business in many ways.
Firstly, going paperless and incorporating a digital system is likely to make a number of daily management tasks a lot more convenient. Appointments can easily be booked in and moved if necessary, and it’s far easier to keep track of patients and estimate profit margins and other significant financial aspects of the business, especially as all of this information will be in once place.
A good practice management system will also allow staff to chase up no-shows and reorganise missed or cancelled appointments effectively – this helps to prevent times where dentists will have no scheduled patients to see, improving efficiency throughout the day.
Motivation and education
Of course, although patients are the lifeblood of a practice, your team is just as crucial to keep happy, motivated and ready to work. Efficiency in each role is essential for a well-run unit, and a lot of efficiency relies on factors such as motivation as well as innovation.
It’s no secret that dentistry is a fast-evolving industry where new treatments are introduced all the time. Are your staff trained in these new methods? Have they had the chance to explore these new techniques so that they can apply these skills in everyday practice? It’s likely that the majority of new treatments and techniques will aim to shorten treatment times or allow for shorter appointments, and this is something worth considering as this will soon boost your business in terms of speed. Furthermore, patients will be drawn to establishments that offer state-of-the-art treatments and this can help fill your patient lists with people who are willing to pay for more niche or trendy treatments.
It’s also important to consider the job satisfaction of the people who work with you and for you. It’s likely that if any member of the dental team is feeling stuck in a rut, their motivation, performance and therefore efficiency as an employee will be affected. Boredom is routinely cited as one of the core reasons for lower productivity, and can also result in talented staff members leaving your practice if they feel they are not being engaged enough.[i]
In order to combat this, it’s worth seeing if there are any training courses that you can send people on so that they can learn new skills. This will not only keep them invested as they feel that you are helping them to develop their career, but it will also come with further benefits such as them picking up bankable skills that can help your practice become more profitable.
Perfect your daily workflow
It’s all well and good to look at the wider picture, but it’s also necessary to examine your everyday workflows to see if these can be improved.
Are there any technologies that your practice could use which you invested in? As digital technology continues to make leaps and bounds, these systems make it easier than ever to streamline your workflows, especially in terms of treatments such as the taking of oral impressions.
Your instruments too can impact your efficiency as a professional. Precise, well-made instruments not only help you to perform more accurate surgeries, but also help to decrease patient discomfort. This means that you will inevitably achieve high-quality outcomes, faster, allowing you to improve your own efficiency levels.
Now practitioners can benefit from some truly high-quality precision instruments by choosing myplant. A sister company of Meisinger, myplant has recently been launched in the UK, allowing professionals to buy the world-famous Meisinger instruments in the UK for the first time. This includes the whole Meisinger portfolio of steel instruments, diamond instruments, ceramic abrasives, flexible polishers and more.
Focus on what’s best for your business
Improving efficiency doesn’t have to require drastic changes. By identifying areas where your practice can improve as well as investing in essentials that can help aid your performance, you can ensure that your practice is likely to become a more profitable and efficient in the future.
To find out more, visit www.myplant-dental.com, email order@myplant-dental.comor call 0049 21311 259465
[i]LinkedIn. How to Handle Boredom in the Workplace. Link: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-handle-boredom-workplace-peter-stark-csp-1c/[Last accessed July 19].
No Comments
No comments yet.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.