“We Already Do That”

Maximizing the potential of your hygiene team by spotting opportunities

By Heidi Arndt

Having a top-notch hygiene team is a wonderful thing, but assuming everything is being taken care of is a big mistake many practices make.

“We already do that,” is a common phrase heard in dental practices across the country. Have you heard this from your hygiene team? This phrase may send some people to believe it, while others may need facts to prove if it is legitimate or not.

The real challenge is how to get the team to see the opportunities that exist, even when they say they have everything perfected. There are two foundational steps you need to take to enter into a conversation of opportunity. Without these steps, you will continue to get hit with – “We already do that”, and never able to tap into the ultimate potential of your hygiene team.

Data-driven
First off, you need to have data. If you are not measuring and tracking the performance of your hygiene team through tangible data, you will never be able to understand what gaps exist within your hygiene department. Your data can comprise of performance-based information, also known as KPIs. These KPIs must include a wide range of information, so you can look at all aspects of your hygiene department. The most important statistics are:

1. Schedule Utilization: How well is your hygiene schedule utilized? In other words, how much open time do you have in your hygiene schedule? Set a goal, and measure your success based on that goal.
2. Mix of Services: In order for your team to be productive and provide comprehensive care, you need to look at the mix of services they are billing out. Are they providing services above and beyond the standard prophy? A few statistics you will want to measure is the periodontal percentage, and the fluoride per patient. These two areas cover the two key cornerstones of dental hygiene care – Periodontal & Prevention.
3. Treatment Acceptance: Your hygiene team may hit you with the comment: “We recommend treatment, but the patients never come back.” Again, is this a smoke screen comment? You can easily find out by tracking the treatment plans made in hygiene and the success of those patients coming back for the recommended treatment.

In addition to looking at statistics, you need to dig deeper by looking into the patient records. Each month you should sit down and do a record audit on your hygiene team. The record audit should include looking at 8-10 patients per RDH. During this record audit you will look at the following items and can identify specific examples of where your team is succeeding or falling short.

1. Radiographs: Are all radiographs up to date and consistent with the protocols of your group?
2. Has a caries risk assessment been completed on the patient? If so, were the appropriate therapies provided and concurrent with your protocol?
3. Was a comprehensive periodontal assessment completed and consistent with your protocol? If there were signs of disease, did the team make the appropriate recommendations for treatment?

If you want to improve the performance of your hygiene team, then you will need to look further than their feedback. Digging deeper into the details will help you identify the gaps that exist that may be fueling your lagging revenue numbers. These details are the items you should focus on in your conversations with the team. Your hygiene team may believe they are doing everything they should, but when they see the “real” data they will firmly agree in the opportunities that exist within the practice. These steps are crucial in the development and the mentoring of your hygiene team, and will help you create strong providers within your group.