Gems Inside
p.1. How to Attract New Patients Using Evening Public Seminars p.2. Coaches' Corner
p.4. Happening on Planet Gems p.6. Recently Unearthed on Planet Gems
... continued f rom Page 7
monthly cleaning, and clean the automatic processor and rollers if you are still using film.
27. Assemble new medical history packets.
28. Send recall cards and appointment reminder cards.
29. Inventory supplies.
30. Vacuum, dust, and take out the trash.
31. Change suction traps in operatories and in central suction.
32. Run Purevac through every suction (high speed and saliva ejectors) in every operatory.
treatment that would (should) have been diagnosed and scheduled during the missed recall exams. Help each and every team member see the huge opportunity lost by allowing a single “hole in hygiene” and do everything they can to keep the schedule filled. Even with our best efforts, things happen and there will be downtime. These 38 things can certainly be expanded upon. Note that I put sharpen instruments as No. 38. A good Hygienist should be sharpening instruments as they work. NEVER should someone spend 30 minutes of downtime sharpening. That is just a complete waste of time, and if you’re not sharpening as you work, you’re not working efficiently because you’re working with dull instruments.
Please note that nowhere on this list is reading a magazine with a cup of coffee. When someone is paying you, you should be working unless it’s your lunch hour. Fair is fair. If you’re not, it’s called “theft of time.” Corporations like IBM actually fire employees for “theft of time,” so why should a small-business owner tolerate it? Team members should NEVER be surfing the internet, playing on Facebook, or texting during downtime. As a matter of fact, their cellphones should be off and in their purse or a locker if you provide one, not on their person in the clinical area . It’s just a distraction, and when we are distracted, we don’t provide five-star service to our patients. On lunch hour, they can do what they want, but while they’re on your time, the cellphones have to be put away. The most successful offices all work together as a team to keep the schedule filled, and when it’s not, they all work together to get EVERYTHING else done. No duty in the dental office is beneath any team member because as team members, we are all equal.
33. Clean alginate trays that might be soaking in alginate remover.
34. Restock Doctor’s bur blocks. (Have a photo available of the bur block so everyone knows what the doctor likes on the block.) 35. Make up new patient charts. If you add poly pockets to your charts, affix them so the charts are ready to use.
36. Clean the refrigerator in the staff room.
37. Clean the microwave in the staff room.
38. Sharpen instruments.
These are 38 possible things that your Hygienist could and SHOULD be doing during downtime. Remember that the schedule for today is the priority, followed by tomorrow’s schedule. We can’t make money, pay bills, and pay staff salaries if there is not a patient in the chair. If there is just one hole in hygiene per day, you’re losing $50,000–$60,000 in hygiene fees, plus another $160,000 or more in
“Just one hole in hygiene per day, and you lose $50,000– $60,000 in hygiene fees, plus another $160,000 or more in treatment that would (should) have been diagnosed and scheduled.”
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