COVID-19 RESOURCES FOR DENTISTS
COVID-19 Practice Protection and Stability Recommendations
As we enter into unprecedented experiences in the coming days, many are asking questions that run the spectrum of running your practice and keeping your business, and team members healthy. Below are specific areas of focus and resources for some of the most frequently asked questions and the areas of your business that they affect.
Patient Communication and Marketing
Use this time to continuously educate your patients and support them through it. Use your platforms as a resource for education and encouragement. Be a provider of information from reliable resources and be a provider of encouragement and mentor them on what they can do and what you are doing to keep them safe. Stay present – be a sound, helpful voice in the noise. Your patients need that in the midst of the confusion. Be something they can count on and trust! Don’t be afraid to use your patient communication software to reach out and educate your patient family.
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Tips to keep your oral health in check: 1) reduce stress, 2) reduce damaging beverages, 3) exercise, 4) rest, 5) brush, floss & rinse!
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For your health and safety, we are suspending all non-emergency appointments at this time. Count on us to be in touch to reschedule your valuable appointments!
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Show your love for the healthcare workers, businesses and organizations in our community who deserve some recognition by tagging them in the comments!
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We are only a phone call away! We are happy to answer any of your dental questions or concerns as we all find our way through COVID-19
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For the safety of our patients and team, we are closing temporarily. Count on us to stay in contact as we begin to reopen and reschedule your valuable appointments.
New!
Planning for the Future
It can be easy to view circumstances as a snapshot rather than a filmstrip. The bad news is that there is a lot of uncertainty around the duration of our current circumstances. The good news is that, in time, these circumstances will go away.
In the words of our founder, Cathy Jameson "Those who stabilize now will soar later."
The resources in this section are intended to help you in preparing for this unique opportunity to build an incredible comeback strategy.
Systems and Training
Brainstorm as a team the various scenarios that you may need to work through: team members quarantined with COVID-19, reduced schedules and procedures, frequently asked questions from patients, filling broken appointments and no-shows, rescheduling appointments, putting patients minds at ease, etc. It’s important that you begin working together now on what those verbal skills would be and practice those verbal skills as a team so that you have clear answers and statements and you are comfortable in stating them.
As you do your best to determine the best steps forward in your unique situation for this unique scenario, remember to ask yourself – what is the best decision for myself, for my team and for my patients based upon the information I have been given combined with my mission and purpose? Often in times of potential panic, we allow emotion to overcome logic and do not think clearly and healthily.
It is important to do the best that you can to remain as calm as possible, reach out to advisors and mentors that can help you to think clearly, to focus your attention on those areas that you currently have control over, stay focused on those proactive steps that you can take now, focus your attention toward preparedness, open communication, processes and protocols and use your energy to create plans of action that will help you in varying future scenarios.
The moment we can do something about is right now. What are the most important and best decisions that you can make right now? What information do you need to make educated decisions? Who do you need to clearly communicate with regarding those decisions? Who can you reach out to as a support, a resource and to give you strength as you carry your practice through?
Do what you can with what you can. Let your team help you. Communicate, communicate, communicate. Reach out for help when you need it. Remember, everyone is in this together and only together will we all get through this!
Facilities
Take the usual and customary measures that you have always taken and amplify them above and beyond to keep yourself, your team and your patients safe.
Technology
Make sure you have access to ways to communicate with your patients from away from the practice. If you have patient communication software and you want to make sure you have access should you need it, reach out to your company and clarify your capabilities and how to appropriately access it from other locations. Most do this, but you may want to make sure you have clearance from an app, a computer or phone outside of your practice before the time comes that you might need it. Weave, SolutionReach, RevenueWell and others all have this capability.
Financial
Now is the time to begin working through scenarios and options that you as the business owner can or may have to execute for continuation should you be limited in time in the practice. Having a clear understanding of your current cash flow, projections for the upcoming months and so on will give you the information necessary to determine next steps on what you can afford – and not afford to do.
Making plans now for varying scenarios will help you make the decision as quickly as possible and communicate it effectively. This may entail options of fewer days open, lowering salaries across the board, determining how to pay your bills and salaries if from home, lowering your own personal salary, lines of credit, and so on. Reach out to your Human Resources company as well as your financial planners and accounts to help determine your options. Remember, your decisions also have to fit within the employment laws and regulations of your state which is why having a great HR firm in your corner is so important. Work with your bank and creditors to see how they will work with you on payments.
Remember, better to have plans ready for execution than to find yourself up against a wall with no clear path forward.
COVID-19 Updates
Here are the most trusted resources on the internet related to the advancement of the Coronavirus and COVID-19. These include general resources as well as industry-specific resources.
Team - HR
Now is the time to refine and clarify your procedures and protocol to follow should members of your team are impacted by COVID-19 either personally or by people close to them. Clarify sick leave, you need to work with an HR specialist that understands your requirements as a business. If you need one, we recommend Cedr Solutions and Bent Ericksen and Associates. Then brainstorm as a team how you can continue to support the practice with limitations to childcare or team out of the office on enforced sick leave, etc. Put this information in writing, go over it as a team, answer any questions and commit to following it for your health, the health of your team and the health of your patients.
Should the time come that you must make the decision to restrict care and availability. Determine with your financial advisors and discuss as a team how you will continue to support and how much work will continue to be done. Transparency will be important and open communication as a team problem solving and brainstorming together. As Simon Sinek says, determine together a way forward in a scenario where “a small discomfort for many is better than a great discomfort for a few”. This is the epitome of social distancing and may have to also be considered for your business’s survival. We are expecting some legislation to help with some of this, and we expect the government to take more steps in the near future.
Inventory
The limited resources dental practices are experiencing due to COVID-19 are becoming problematic. Determine as a team the capacity of care that you can provide with the available resources you have on hand. Keep a very intentional focus on your inventory and monitor your schedule accordingly.
If you use a different supplier. Reach out directly to your rep or visit their website to get up-to-date information.
