07 Jun The Chaotic Dental Practice
Picture two very similar looking dental practices. Both accountable to a similar set of rules and both serving a similar demographic. Each have updated their websites with “Covid notices” and the staff were all equally qualified to deliver dentistry from 8th June 2020. Everybody had access to the same SOP’s, guidance and training. The patients at either practice have been advised of the new Covid procedures and what impact it will have upon their visit.
Dental Practice One
A patient arrives late for an appointment. The patient is simply told that they can’t be seen, the patient is frustrated and it all becomes rather chaotic. The practice owner is trying to lead and control the situation at an arms length, but by the time multiple levels of PPE have been reversed out of and with desperate attempts to maintain the clinical integrity of the surgery that has been left to fallow for an hour, it’s too late. The patient has left in a storm, doesn’t understand what is happening and has chosen to head away from the chaos.
Dental Practice Two
Half a mile away, a patient arrives late for an appointment. To be accommodated today, the patient has to wait in their car for an hour. The patient recognises that this is not ideal but does understand. The patient is seen later on and subsequently leaves a very complimentary review online.
Which is most likely to reflect the reality in your dental practice?
The scenario is a ‘Covid specific’ one of course, but we’ve seen similar situations prior to lock down. The patient that doesn’t understand the treatment plan presented to them at the desk, the patient that tells the dentist that they will ‘have a think about it’, the phone ringing off the hook whilst staff and patients observe a chaotic reception desk, and the associate with thousands of pounds worth of unbooked and open treatment plans who is relying upon somebody else to do some kind of ‘follow up’…there will be more, and there will be some dental practices where the new rules will ignite chaos and there will be those where there will be none.
What’s your take on this? What has happened and what is different between the two practices in our scenario?
We’ve hosted a Zoom conversation with Dentinal Tubules that uncovers the very different leadership styles that operate in dentistry and also how through preparation and training, training that we call Chaos Training, the same circumstances that can create chaos in one dental practice, can be handled calmly in another.
The Zoom conversation is available to Dentinal Tubules members and to guests, from this link. There are also details of how you can join our live Chaos Training sessions in July. These sessions will be limited to 15 guests;
No Comments