Taking Your Practice Back in the Era of COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic and fears have absolutely created some significant obstacles for our dental practices. You probably have had sleepless nights, toiled over finances, put technology or other upgrades on the backburner, or likely had very difficult conversations with your team members about their employment. Perhaps more than anything, the uncertainty has been overwhelming.
If you’re like me, you’ve asked, “What will our practices look like moving forward? Will patients trust your care? How much more will infection control standards cost both in time and money?” Meanwhile, you and your team members are ready to recapture the energy and momentum that you enjoyed at the start of 2020. But it will be different…when the doors reopen.
It’s time to develop and commit to a forward-thinking plan that encompasses a safe environment, actively engages patients, and promotes practice resiliency:
• Promote both public and professional confidence in infection control measures. Because people require constant reassurance, infection control must remain at the forefront of your patients' health and central to your team members. Maintain your high standards through various resources: OSAP.org, ADA.org, and CDC.gov. Adopt the “new norms” of pre-screening patients before their appointments and implementing pre-rinses. Use this as an opportunity for your entire team to showcase your infection control methods and disseminate this on your website, in a blog, or text.
• Communicate with your patients every week to build loyalty and ensure their safety when they return. Keep in mind that patients might be hesitant to call or schedule, but by connecting with them via email, text, Facebook, or Instagram, you’ll offer a positive outlook and a gentle reminder that you are there to care for them and that you miss them. Let them know you will be accommodating and flexible in managing your ever-changing schedule.
• Use this moment to think of ways to co-create a “new practice” with your team members. After all, this is their workplace, too! Together, acknowledge the difficulty of reaching prior levels of production, new perks to your patient retention plan? Maybe you extend new hours? Perhaps you implement a new procedure? Whatever it takes to make your new goals effective, adopt and commit to them for success.
As passionate dental professionals, we are all entering a new age of dentistry—filled with technology and bound by the human touch. Go forward from surviving with knowledge to thriving with confidence!
Lori Trost, DMD
Red Bud, IL