THE MISSING LINK: A DENTAL PROCEDURES MANUAL
by
Gordon Burgett, CEO, Dental Communication Unlimited
Every dental office already has a procedures
manual in a raw, unrefined form: its those snips of paper taped to the
x-ray machine, cabinet doors, and telephone pad that remind the person how a
procedure is best done.
The missing link between those memory jogs
and a dozen benefits for the dentist, a healthier bottom line, and far less
stress that an usable manual brings is commitment, a
reason to do it, and the time needed to convert tradition,
hand-me-down processes, and common sense into such a cohesive system.
The magic word and salvation is SOPs, friend
of any military recruit trying to reassemble their rifle or make a bed.
Standard operating procedures are no less vital to busy dental offices,
particularly where personnel turnover, vacation fill-ins, scattered supplies,
and the need for legal consistency are the ruleand overwhelming chaos eternally
threatens.
Ive yet
to meet a dentist who didnt want a dependable,
reliable process in place and on paper, says Marsha Freeman, author of Standard
Operating Procedures for All Dentists. But theyre busy and
think they must write it themselves, when in truth they have little ideanor
should theyabout the minutia of the front office. The whole thing seems
overwhelming, so it never gets done.
The quickest way to start is to gather
up every one of those helper notes, copy them or tape them to sheets of paper,
and put them in a three-ring folder.
Then have the staff sit down and draw
up a task sheet for every department: front office, back office, hygiene, ... List every task that needs to be done. Then prioritize
them: those you need immediately, those that would be very useful now, and
those that can wait.
Start with the urgent ones. Set an hour
a week aside for the staff to write down the best way to do the most needed
things. Dont worry much about the form at first, just so the points are
clear. Pass the sheets around so the others in that department can add, modify,
or question the contents. When the process is hammered out, check the spelling,
type it up, and put it in the book! A few months of this and everything needed
will be on papercreated by the very people who know it best and will use
it!
Theres a key element still missing that
makes a procedures manual doubly important to the dentist.
At some point most dentists envision a dream practice: a way they could
uniquely serve, an ideal relationship between themselves and their patients and
staff, a place where they would enthusiastically go to work. Yet the reality
never seems to match that ideal.
SOPs can provide a basis and means, however,
for that dream (or those expectations) to take form.
The steps to tie a smoother-running office
to both the dentists dream and a standard of care, service, and
performance required for legal protection are straightforward, and can be
implemented by standard operating procedures.
But first the doctor must put that dream
into words. What they want their practice and office to be like must be
converted into a Mission Statement, a paragraph or two (or many) that clearly
defines how the dentist wants his or her practice to look and act.
Without such a statement, a dental practice
is like
The dentist must first select and define the
road, the verbal direction, through a Mission Statement. (Input from staff,
spouse, and friends is encouraged, but the final vision in statement form must
describe the dentists dream.)
Once done, then every SOP starts with a
Desired Outcome and a Measurement.
The Desired Outcome must be in
concert with and support the Mission Statement. What does the doctor want to
have happen when the patient checks in? The Desired Outcome might
read The patient should be warmly greeted and
brought back for treatment within five minutes of arrival. Is that
consistent with the doctors dream or expectations?
How might that be measured? Observation and feedback. How would you measure
Tray Setups? By observation, plus the number of times you must
leave your chair to get something forgotten!
Creating the actual step-by-step SOP makes
more sense when you have a guideline, a desired outcome first
established. If your SOP is for Bleaching and your desired outcome is
to return post RCT teeth that have discolored back to their natural
shade, the rest is putting down, in order, how that is done.
I suggest a simple E-D-I-T
process, says Marsha, who developed her original Standard Operating
Procedures for Pediatric Dentists book while creating procedures
manuals as a consultant in the
After they have a task list for each department and a Mission Statement
for guidance, they gather up the SOPs they have and (E) edit each makeshift SOP
so that it describes the task in a way that meets the doctors needs or
they (D) delete what they have and (I) insert a completely rewritten version.
The new or edited SOPs are then subject to (T), team
review. That is, all to whom that SOP pertains read and correct it. From those
modifications and comments each final SOP is prepared.
A full procedures manual also includes job
descriptions, evaluation forms, and task sheets, plus tray layouts for clinical
use. (Trays laid out in desired form can either be photoed,
with the photos inserted in the manual, or the instruments can be set on the
copier in the proper order, the light shield carefully laid
on top, and copies made, to be inserted.) Many copies of the final manual are
produced, one each to be kept in the various departments, one for the office
manager, and one for the doctor.
We find it much easier to start with
Marshas Standard Operating Procedures for All Dentists book,
then adapt it on the accompanying computer disks to meet that offices
Mission Statement and specific peculiarities or needs, says Robyn Hayes,
one of the 29 Certified SOPs Consultants trained by Marsha.
If the doctors in a hurry, we zip
right in on the six or eight key SOPs most needed now, then we work outward until
the project is finished. The SOPs Implementation Video Guide for Dentists is
particularly useful if the doctor wants us to get them started, then they want
to complete it on their own. It breaks the process into seven sections that
they can plug into their video for guidance.
The value of having a SOPs manual completed and current?
Beyond creating the dream practice that
allows excellent dentistry to be practiced without the constant intrusion of
managerial hassles and procedural questions, it provides an ideal starting
point for vacation fill-ins or new staff members to carry out daily activities
in the best and preferred way. All the office manager does is clip the pages of
the processes most performed by that person, explain where the forms, supplies,
and machines are, and the learning curve is reduced from months to days!
The doctor and the staff know where things are, procedural questions are
minimized (Its in the book!), consistency rules (the same
function is performed correctly time after time), and legal protection is
possible because the processes are defined in detail in print.
Theres a bonus for doctors who
hate the semi-annual or annual job evaluations as much as I do, Marsha
confides. The SOPs provide a key measuring tool that helps the doctor
evaluate the persons performance. Together they define the SOPs the person
uses, and each independently appraises how well the tasks were performed. Focus
falls on the areas where the appraisals differ, and improvements are based on
bringing the weaker areas into line. It takes the guesswork out of it and at
least establishes a starting point for a true evaluation.
Who needs SOPs most? Those with the greatest
urgency are new dentists, who immediately benefit from the structure; practices
that are growing and adding staff; those bringing in a new associate (so a
standard of operation exists between two strong personalities), and certainly
those planning to sell a practice (so there is an office structure that will
survive the absence of the original dentist).
In truth, says Marsha, every
dental office needs a procedures manual to help them operate more efficiently,
happily, and productively. With SOPs, everybody winsthe doctor, each member of
the staff, and particularly the patient.
From Concepts, Burkhart Dental Supply Company, Spring, 1998, pp. 22-3.
|
Gordon Burgett |
(800) 563-1454 |