How Dental Can Start Thinking “Lean”: Part 2
Lean Clinical
As mentioned in the opening article of this three-part series, lean is about refining your business processes down to exactly what is needed to provide customers the best possible services. In this article, we will identify four clinical areas of a dental practice where lean methodologies are best applied.
1. Offering More In-House Services
The ability to deliver the treatments the patient needs (and wants) in a timely, convenient, and efficient manner can have enormous, positive impact to your practice. When you provide more procedures in-house, you begin to eliminate non-productive, wasted steps, such as the patient needing to schedule with, and travel to, other doctors. At the same time, it allows you to add value to both your patients and your bottom-line through adding increased procedures, especially if you focus on same day service.
For instance, imagine how convenient it would be for a patient that comes in for a hygiene visit, has it diagnosed that she needs a root canal, and can have the endo treatment during the same appointment. Or at the very least, schedule it with your office rather than having to call an endodontist and make other rounds of appointments and trips.
Similarly, wouldn’t it be great for the patient (and you) if you could handle their implant case all the way through, from placement to restoration? Not only is it more convenient for the patient, but it helps standardize the workflow and reduce variation throughout the different phases of the case. In addition, patients are much more comfortable staying with a provider that they have seen, especially for treatment that they may not have experienced previously. And maintaining the relationship for patients throughout care leads to high case acceptance.
However, if you don’t want to handle the treatments yourself, there’s always the option of bringing in associates or specialists, even on a part-time basis, for implant cases, prosthodontics, and lab work. Additionally, in-house service offerings can even extend beyond oral treatment, such as for sleep apnea and Botox.
By becoming more of a “one-stop-shop” for the patient, you’re creating a real win-win for everyone involved. More convenience and peace of mind for them, more production and revenue for you.
2. Digital Dentistry
Nowadays, digital technology is allowing businesses to deliver faster, better, and more accurate products and services in almost every industry. This is particularly true in dentistry. Take digital impressions for example. Digital impressions are faster and more predictable than the traditional method and can be adjusted on the fly. This allows for a much more comfortable and easier experience for the patient and provider. Plus, the workflow provided by the ability to instantly transmit the scan to the lab increases efficiency greatly. The same goes for digital X-rays, which have the added benefit of immediate, high resolution image capture while eliminating wasteful activities like waiting for film to develop. Not to mention getting rid of the caustic chemicals involved in traditional X-ray processing.
Digital caries detection systems are another example of eliminating waste and adding value. It allows clinicians to find decay earlier and with more ease, ultimately allowing them to be more proactive with prevention. This can potentially save patients from more invasive and expensive procedures down the road.
3. Single Visit Restorations
Even though CAD/CAM falls under digital dentistry, it deserves individualized focus based on its ability to offer single-visit crowns, which is the perfect example of lean application in dentistry. Plus, crown and bridge is a core production center for most dental practices.
CAD/CAM creates the ultimate value stream for a fixed restoration procedure by eliminating all non-value activities from the traditional process. These non-value activities include extra visits, an uncomfortable impression process, the need for a temporary, and higher potential for further adjustments to fix inaccuracies.1 You’re going from a process with multiple layers of visits, steps, and parties involved to essentially four steps - scan, mill, adjustments, and placement – by one party, in one visit with no need for a temporary.
Additionally, it helps eliminate the cost for a lab and reduces the likelihood of an inaccurate impression. Again, saving time and wasted steps.
Bottom line, you’re refining the process down to exactly what you need to deliver to the patient exactly what they want. Fast, accurate, and easy.
4. Guided Implant Surgery
One of the key principles for lean is poka-yoke, which is about accidental error prevention. It’s an idea that you put systems and processes in place that help avoid mistakes. In dentistry, one of the best examples of this is guided implant surgery. Not only because of the general advantages of the technology involved, but mainly due to the pre-planning that is required prior to the surgery. Mistake-proofing is about advanced knowledge, doing the work ahead of time so potential trouble areas and pitfalls can be dealt with proactively, rather than reactively.
This leads to better outcomes for everyone involved. For the doctor, there’s accurate placement with reduced potential for mistakes, surprises, and stress, all leading to a more efficient procedure. And for the patient, it can lead to an overall better experience such as quicker healing times.
Additionally, guided implant surgery displays how lean principles are interconnected with each other. For instance, mistake-proofing a process is not just a smart practice, doing so allows you to bring your office’s performance to another level. Happier patients mean more referrals and more income.
Finally, it’s important to note that applying lean principles is a process that is implemented over time through incremental steps. But if the time and effort is put in, the benefits can be abundant. After all, you’re putting processes in place that will allow you to provide superior care to your patients, more so than your competition. And not every area we covered will make sense for you. The key is picking one to focus on and starting from there.
References
1. James Klim, Edward B. Corrales, “Innovation in Dentistry: CAD/CAM Restorative Procedures”, ineedce.com, 2009.
About the Author
Alex Sadusky currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Dental Card Services Alliance, LLC (www.dentalcardservices.com), an organization he co-founded in 2009. Dental Card Services Alliance is the exclusive credit card processing services provider of the AGD Exclusive Benefits program and has numerous other endorsements, alliances, and associations.
Prior to resuming the role as the CEO of Dental Card Services, Mr. Sadusky was Vice President Office of the CEO for Dentsply Sirona, the world’s largest dental consumable and equipment provider. In his previous roles with Dentsply Sirona, Mr. Sadusky was responsible for corporate strategy and business development, specialty markets, and strategic projects.
Prior to joining legacy Sirona Dental, Mr. Sadusky spent over 15 years of experience in investment banking, venture capital, private equity, management consulting and corporate business development.