Friday, April 20, 2018

Practice Rescue - Part One: Ways Employees Hijack your business culture



Hijack #1 Employees taking away aspects of Patient Interaction they do not believe “you are capable of doing.”

What does it mean to be “hijacked” by the employees in your practice?  Have you ever spent time discussing treatment with a patient, only to notice details later were changed without your knowledge? 

Often, Dentists will tell me that they feel excluded from the details of the daily routine and the daily events in their own business simply because the employees make decisions without the owner’s knowledge.  They also say when they ask questions regarding financial reports or why someone didn’t schedule treatment, team members respond blasé or make them feel they are terrible for asking.

One-way employees “hijack” the dentist is by changing treatment plans and making financial decisions per what they feel is best for the patient based off assuming they know this patient’s financial and personal need.  This is especially common in newer ownership where the team may view the new dentist as inexperienced or doesn’t “know” the patients as the previous owner or the experienced team members. 

The problem with this mentality, is employees will make the choice to “give a discount” or change treatment per what “has always been done” and therefore leaving the dentists’ specific treatment plan devalued and giving the confused patient the impression the dentist is only looking to line the pocket book.

One example is seen in the dental hygiene department.  A long-time patient is seen with perio pocketing depths and heme that is consistent stage 2 Periodontal disease that the new Dentist believes needs to be addressed.  When the new dentists shares the concern with the hygienist, he/she is met with the hygienist response of “it’s always been that way, and Dr. Previous-owner always watched those areas, and besides long-time patient doesn’t have the money for periodontal therapy, so I just do a prophy and hope for the best.”

The new dentist is unsure how to respond, as questions loom through his/her mind; Where is the patient education on how this condition affects the entire health of the patient?  How can I legally treat a patient with a prophy, when that is not the accurate condition?  “Why is my hygienist making the treatment decision for the patient?”

Employees hijack your business culture by not supporting your treatment plans.


By:  Corey Jameson-Kuehl



No comments:

Post a Comment