Ahead of the curve: Modern tools for an excellent patient experience

Communication in a busy dental office like ours is vital -- not only to our team's efficiency, but also to the experience we are able to provide for our patients. The more smoothly our business runs and the more productive our employees are, the greater the quality of service we can provide to our clients. This understanding is exactly how we have successfully grown the business during the past several years.

David R. Brown, DDS.

One of the keys to our success in the areas of efficiency and quality service has been capitalizing on technologies and tools designed to make practices like ours function smoothly. Our team has also integrated other useful tools in the marketplace -- even consumer technologies -- to drive our practice toward operational and customer service excellence.

As an example, my team has come to rely on iPads for patient check-in, consent forms, and patient education. New patients are first directed to our website, where they fill out new patient forms online. Once they do so, their information is automatically integrated into our patient management software. Files can be completely and automatically organized, and the need for physical paperwork or filing is eliminated.

If new patients do not fill out their paper work prior to their appointment -- either because they forgot, or they are uncomfortable with the technology -- when they walk in, we provide them an iPad to complete their forms themselves. Often, we also have a member of the team assist older patients or those who are unfamiliar with using an iPad. We have even received feedback from a number of senior citizens who say they have always wanted to try an iPad but didn't know how to use one until their visit. When a team member shows them how easy and intuitive it is, they love it. This is one of the small touches that positively influence patients' experience with our practice.

One of my favorite programs for the iPad is the Dental Demo Suite for General Practitioners (DDS GP). This is an iPad application that allows me to show patients various diagnoses and procedures through video animation and pictures. The program allows patients to understand dentistry and what a treatment plan can accomplish in a tangible way. This visual aide helps me explain different conditions and treatment options (such as root canals and extractions) in a way patients can clearly comprehend. It allows me to demonstrate various treatment options for better understanding and expectation-setting among patients.

I have noticed these demos help make decision-making a much easier and effective process for my patients. The visual demonstrations often relieve some of their anxiety, as that feeling of nervousness often stems from not understanding what is happening. Patients can actually hold the iPad to look at the pictures or stop and rewind to learn at their own pace. My team uses DDS GP along with real intraoral photos for a more holistic approach. Our approach to oral health makes more sense to patients with the DDS GP incorporated into our education process.

Another tool that has advanced our communication capabilities is our office phone system, which integrates directly into our patient management software, Dentrix. We use the OfficeSuite Dental phone system, which is designed to integrate with individual patient records. As soon as a patient calls, a pop-up window appears on a computer screen with notes about the patient, including history, prescriptions, account balance, and next appointment. This information is displayed before our front desk answers the phone. The automatic access to this information enables us to have informed conversations with patients while addressing their needs as quickly as possible.

This program allows us to be more knowledgeable and helpful to our patients. Conversations deepen from generalized information to personalized discussions relating to a patient's treatment at our office. The system also gives us alerts to critical matters such as missed appointments and what premedications patients need. Put simply, it helps us keep track of every aspect of our patients' accounts and records. The great thing about OfficeSuite Dental is that we have used Dentrix for patient notes and charts since 2000, so there was no new process or software to learn. Features such as voicemail to email also make it easy for my team to work from home when needed, which could otherwise be difficult in practice settings like ours.

While our practice uses OfficeSuite Dental to communicate externally, we use BlueNote Communicator (BlueNote Software), our office paging system, to communicate internally. The paging system signals me, the hygienists, and the front desk without interrupting patients during face time. Every employee and every action has its own assigned sound, so we can communicate in real-time, and patients never have to listen to pages for tasks such as delivering an anesthetic. We find this solution provides more seamless interaction for the team and also provides a more calming and relaxed environment for the patients. The front desk can signal the dental hygienist that the next patient has arrived, or I can signal someone to let them know I need radiographs -- all with a nondisruptive alert. Each of us recognizes our assigned sound and each of the basic action sounds that signal the task requested. This enables us to communicate with each other without ever looking away from a patient.

A few of our patients have commented that they find the sounds pleasant, but most importantly, they appreciate uninterrupted care during visits. It is important to me that patients feel as if they are getting the time and attention they deserve. With the various sounds, they hardly notice we are multitasking, and the team has the discretion to explain what is necessary and bypass what is not, which is a better use of everyone's time.

Communicating with external suppliers more efficiently also has saved our team members time and resources. We use a tag system from Burkhart Dental Supply that ensures any time a supply of a product gets low, we can pull the product tag in preparation for our representative's bimonthly visit and it gets refilled. This system eliminates the burden of keeping track of supplies. It also saves us time and money as our contract guarantees that we get the lowest price possible, so we never need to spend time or effort comparison shopping. The convenience with the tagging system goes far beyond ease and convenience for our team. Since we began using the Burkhart system, we are never out of anything we may need for patients. They are never given a secondary brand or switched to something unfamiliar. Consistency is key, and our patients know what they can expect from us.

Aside from new tools and technologies, my dental industry peers are one of the best time-tested resources for improving my practice and meeting challenges head-on. I am part of a group known as the Yakima Prosthodontic Study Club in my town of Yakima, WA. We meet monthly and talk through our most interesting and challenging cases. We share various opinions and approaches to learn from one another.

To stay current on industry advances, I also read dental industry publications regularly and am constantly investigating ways to better serve my patients and improve efficiency and convenience for my team. I know it is important to have a future-forward practice while still providing that family feel that is essential to the success of any small dental or medical office -- and these technologies have helped me do just that.

David R. Brown, DDS, is the owner of Dr. Brown Dental, located in Yakima, WA.

The comments and observations expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the opinions of DrBicuspid.com, nor should they be construed as an endorsement or admonishment of any particular idea, vendor, or organization.