Episode 627: MUST Have for Growing Offices

Tiff takes the mic solo in this episode to talk about why online paperwork is a must-do for your practice. She reviews the benefits of automation, an option for outsourcing, what questions to ask yourself to begin the transition, and more.

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Transcript:

0:00:05.9 Kiera Dent: Hey everyone, welcome to the Dental A Team podcast. I'm your host Kiera Dent, and I have this crazy idea that maybe I could combine a doctor and a team member's perspective, because let's face it, dentistry can be a challenging profession with those two perspectives. I've been a dental assistant, treatment coordinator, scheduler, biller, office manager, regional manager, practice owner, and I have a team of traveling consultants where we have traveled over 165 different offices coaching teams. Yep, we don't just understand you, we are you. Our mission is to positively impact the world of dental, and I believe that this podcast is the greatest way I can help elevate teams, grow VIP experiences, reduce stress, and create A team. Welcome to the Dental A Team podcast.

0:00:51.5 KD: Hello Dental A Team listeners, this is Kiera and you guys, you are in for the best treat of your life, consultant takeover. That's right. Get ready, they are dropping some dynamite. Our consulting team is incredible guys, and we are so blessed and so fortunate to have them sharing tips and tricks with you today. And as always, thanks for listening.

0:01:11.1 Tiffany: Hello Dental A Team listeners, this is Tiffany and you are here on the Dental A Team consultant takeover where the traveling Dental A Team consultants take over the mic and we share tips and tricks from hundreds of offices nationwide. And today I am doing another solo podcast. Like I said before, if you haven't listened to it already, you're going to hear it now. If you've heard it, listen to it again. I love doing solo podcasts. I think I could probably talk to myself all day long. While I say that until, I do as many podcasts as Kiera does, then I might go a little bit psycho. But I'm here, I've only got a couple, doing some solos here for you guys. I thought it might be really, really smart. We kind of are talking about the digital age. It's a piece that we're all moving into, I think more than ever in this coming year than we have before. I think COVID, 2020 pushed us into a ton of spaces and spectrums that we really weren't in yet as far as the digital age. And I think that it just keeps progressing.

0:02:09.4 Tiffany: And I think our clients and our patients are coming to really require it. And one of those pieces is something that I remember when I was in practice, I loathed, I hated it because it never worked. My system didn't work correctly. It didn't intake it correctly. I hated searching for it. And I seriously just would hand people the paper or do it with them because it was easier. So online paperwork, I loathed it because it wasn't working yet, because we didn't have the systems and the processes and honest and truly, I don't think enough people were doing online paperwork back then. Okay. I say back then I've been doing consulting for like five and a half years now. So way back when five and a half years ago, I just don't think enough people were utilizing it as a product within their practice. And so the suppliers, right? The people that we were using to host our online paperwork or to do it so that it automatically uploaded into our Dentrix. They really weren't putting a lot of effort and thought into how we're going to make it actually work. So I just don't know that it ever really truly worked really easily for a lot of places.

0:03:22.5 Tiffany: Now fast forward, and there are so many programs that actually do it for you. Hey, Modento is a fantastic one. I know we talk about them a lot, but really, and truly they keep innovating. They keep coming up with new things that work really, really well. And this is one of those pieces. And I know there's a lot of website hosters out there, a lot of different carriers, a lot of different iOS systems that, or OS systems, excuse me, OS systems that will do this. And they'll work with your phones, with your iPads, with your Androids, with anything that you've got, just tablets, all of those pieces. And they'll actually shoot the paperwork straight over to your online platform. So you could have Dentrix, you could have Open Dental or Eaglesoft or whatever, and the patients are actually sent their paperwork ahead of time or directed to your website to snag it. They fill it out and it's automatically uploaded so that you've got it right then and there.

0:04:19.7 KD: Hello, Dental A Team listeners, this is Kiera and you guys, how was your 2022? I want you to look back and tell me, was it the year of years? Or was it a really hard year? Did you crush it? Or did it crush you? This is the time guys, for end of year Dental A Team platinum is welcoming you where we will physically fly to your practice. We will come and we will elevate your dreams and make them into a reality. And guys, space is limited and prices are going up. This is not a sales pitch. This is not something where I'm trying to scare you into it. I'm just facing the reality of inflation is here. Flights are expensive and I want to see as many people as we possibly can and serve as many as we can. So if you want to be part of our elite group of people, there are limited spaces because our consultants can only see as many. We are taking on 10 new platinum offices by the end of the year and that's it. That's all we have space for. So if you want to be one of the elite 10, come join us.

0:05:21.1 KD: Be a part of our top notch elite doctor community. Be a part of our office manager and hygiene and front office communities, get your operations manual done and live the life that you've only been dreaming of today. Email me [email protected] and make 2023 truly a year that's unforgettable. We are a complete tax write off and like I said, we are only taking 10 offices. So don't get left behind. Be one of those 10 and I cannot wait to give you the biggest warmest welcome to completely and utterly changing your life for good. Welcome to the Dental A Team. I can't wait for you to join us. [email protected] cheers to 2023 and making you your best self yet.

0:06:07.4 Tiffany: I think some of the pros of this, major pro, is that it locks in your appointment. I know if I get sent the paperwork ahead of time, and I take the time to fill out the paperwork. I'm much more likely to actually show up at the place that I scheduled the appointment because I'm going to be honest with you, I don't want to fill out paperwork again, right? We all hate it. We all hate filling out paperwork. I'm not going to do it again if I've already done it for somewhere that's ready to see me. So it helps lock in your appointments, confirms them for your new patients. It saves time in the practice, right? Because, let's be honest, everyone schedules their appointments, on the hour, on the half hour, whatever, and we still have to get the paperwork from the patients when they come in. So if we schedule an appointment at 10 AM and the patient arrives at 10 AM, we've got 90 minutes blocked out on hygiene schedule for a new patient exam, x-rays and cleaning hopefully 30 minutes of that dedicated to filling out paperwork. Our hygienists are pulling their hair out, trying to get everything done in an hour because they've lost so much time just from the patient's arrival.

0:07:12.3 Tiffany: And I don't know how many times we say it arrive 15 minutes prior to your appointment. There's still going to be so many patients that arrive at the appointment time. Multiple reasons for that, most importantly, online confirmations are going at the time the appointment is scheduled. So every reminder that they're getting is saying their appointment time. We're begging them to come early, but then we're contradicting with an appointment time reminder by text and email that says the actual appointment time. So we're kind of battling this back and forth. If the paperwork is online, if they can access it, or if it's texted over to them, they've already got it, we don't have to worry about it, and our hygienists are super happy. Number one reason right there.

0:07:50.6 Tiffany: Some other things that you can do with your paperwork online, you can put your health history updates, your HIPAA updates, your financial policy updates, all of those things that we're spending time in the practice getting updated every year can be added to either an auto email or text or straight on your website and you can direct your patients there. I prefer, and this is coming from consultant, team member and patient standpoint, I prefer the links that take you directly to an online platform to fill it out.

0:08:23.4 Tiffany: As a consultant, I just think it's easier all the way around. I think it's dumb to do it any other way. That's my no BS consultant. As a team member, it's way easier than getting emailed paperwork and our handed printed paperwork and trying to decipher it, doesn't save us a ton of time. And number three, as a patient, I don't have a printer. I don't know if I'm the only one here. I know we all are most of us. We all have at some point at least worked from home on some level. And many of us have a lot of work from home jobs. Like I work from home when I'm doing my coaching calls, my Zoom calls, when I'm not on the road, but I don't have a printer. And I don't have easy access to a printer. And I know there's no way that I'm the only one crazy millennial, whatever you want to call me, I don't have a printer.

0:09:14.7 Tiffany: And so if you're emailing me paperwork for me to have to print, to fill out, I'm not going to do it. And I'm going to come into the practice and I'm going to tell you that I need a, what is it? A clipboard and a pen to do it in person. So probably just don't do that. It can't just be me. So I think putting the paperwork online in a, in a online format that they can fill out kind of like a questionnaire. Like, when we come see you guys ahead of time, you guys get those questionnaires from us, right? So you get your consultant sends in the questionnaire that says like, what are your job duties? Could change something? What would it be? What are your expectations of me for this visit?

0:09:56.2 Tiffany: Similar to that, you should have your patient paperwork. So whether it's your new patient paperwork, whether it's your updates, all of that should be digital and put on there. So action item for today, figure out where's your paperwork right now. How are your patients getting their paperwork and how long is it taking them to get that returned to you? So if it's digital, is it taking... Are they getting a response quickly? Are they getting it back to them when they need it? The team members, I mean. If it's by paper, how are they getting that? Are we sending it to them ahead of time? Are we giving it to them when they walk into the office? Are we emailing it to them? And what can we do to streamline that process? So how are they getting it? How long is it taking them? And is there something we can do to streamline that process?

0:10:39.0 Tiffany: Fourth piece would be if you decide... You're not... If you're not digital yet and you decide to go digital paperwork, how are you going to do it? Are you going to use an outsource company like Modento? Are you going to use your website to host it? Are you going to use Dentrix's platform or OpenDentals platform? They all work really well. What are you going to do? So where are you at now? How long does it take? How can you streamline that? And if you're choosing to go online, how are you going to implement that? Who are you going to use? Okay. I think you guys get it. Online paperwork is a must. Okay. Digital age. We are far into the digital age. Let's catch up. All right. That wraps up the Dental A Team Podcast Consultant Takeover. Let us know what you think.

0:11:25.2 Tiffany: Honestly and truly, we love hearing from our listeners. It really means a lot to us. So drop us a five star review or email us over at [email protected]. Thanks so much for listening and we'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.

0:11:39.3 KD: And that wraps it up for another episode of the Dental A Team Podcast. Thank you so much for listening and we'll talk to you next time.