Medical Histories: A Critical Part of Emergency Preparedness

New patients typically complete comprehensive medical histories before you see them chairside, providing details about their current and past medical conditions that will factor into treatment decisions. But of course, things change, making it critical to check in regularly.

In fact, Dr. Don Cohen, Chief Clinical Officer with HealthFirst, recommends reviewing medical histories with “every patient, every visit,” calling it an absolutely crucial part of the appointment. That doesn’t mean you need to go over every question you’ve already asked, but you should reaffirm the medications the patient is taking and make sure there aren’t any new ones to add to the list. He also said it's critical to take every patient's blood pressure at every appointment.

The key, Dr. Cohen said, is to know what to ask. Asking if anything has changed isn’t enough, as it may not occur to patients that their recent sleep apnea diagnosis or the fact they’re currently taking 2 different kinds of antibiotics are important changes to note.

When you’re treating patients with a known condition, inquire about common symptoms and ask if they’re experiencing any. Tell diabetic patients, for example, to bring a glucometer and strips to their appointment (or make sure you have them on hand) so you can get an accurate sugar level. They may tell you their sugar was fine this morning or that their A1C is good, but that’s not the whole story. If they had foods before coming in that could alter their sugar levels, you need to know before you begin the procedure.

Asking pointed questions also can help patients with medical conditions they’re not aware of yet. For example, Dr. Cohen once noticed a patient was limping. When he asked about it, he learned the patient was having keen pain that started in one knee and then moved to the other. He encouraged the patient to see his family physician, who diagnosed him with an advanced case of Lyme disease.

“It’s really important to ask the question if we see something that doesn’t look right,” Dr. Cohen said. “You’ll be amazed at what you find out and how you can really be helpful.”

The Right Tools to Stay Prepared

No matter how much you know about your patients, you’ll still have to deal with medical emergencies in your practice at some point—it’s just a question of when. You must be prepared, and that includes CPR training for all team members, creating an emergency response plan, conducting regular drills, and having the right equipment and medications at the ready.

HealthFirst provides education on emergency preparedness and offers various emergency medical kits to help ensure you can respond quickly when patients are in distress. The STAT KIT® Emergency Medical Kits keep devices and medications organized in one mobile case, so you can easily find everything you need.

The kits range from basic medication kits that contain essential non-IV medications to more advanced kits that include common ACLS medications and devices, essential for clinicians who provide sedation dentistry. Every kit comes with 7 basic medications, including an AUVI-Q epinephrine auto-injector, glucose, diphenhydramine, aspirin, albuterol, nitroglycerin, and naloxone. HealthFirst tracks each medication using its OnTraq software, allowing you to easily view kit status, medication expiration dates, lot numbers, national drug backorder status, and upcoming medication replenishment shipments.

It's About Saving Lives

HealthFirst is committed to educating and preparing dental teams to properly handle medical emergencies. Being unprepared could “leave you in a situation when you’re not practicing under the appropriate standard of care,” Dr. Cohen said. These kits have become the standard, and without them and the proper training, “horrible things” could happen in your practice.

“Being prepared makes all the difference in the world,” Dr. Cohen said. “My goal is to save lives. When I ask new hires what they do and they tell me they pick and pack the meds, I tell them, 'No, you don’t—you save lives.' No matter what you do in our company, you’re involved with saving lives.”