Patient Safety Awareness Week, a campaign of the National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF), is March 13-19, 2016. The goal of the program is to increase awareness of patient safety among healthcare professionals and the general public. What can your office do to support a safety-first experience?
As an eye care provider, you are very knowledgeable about diseases, diagnoses, and treatments. Your patients, however, may never have even heard of the names of eye diseases before. To patients, the names may sound quite scary. Vision literacy allows your patients to stay informed and ensure they fully understand their options. Keep in mind the following tips for providing your patients with vision literacy.
Topics: provider tips, vision
As a dentist, you know your role in some people’s lives is the stuff of nightmares. Over a million Americans suffer from odontophobia, a fear of the dentist, and more than half avoid dental care because of it. In previous decades, people who had a fear of dental work or simply didn’t have access to care would resort to home remedies to curb their pain, such as using clove oil to soothe an achy tooth. Occasionally, people would attempt tooth extractions in extreme circumstances. These days, what was once a “case by case” issue has become a widespread phenomenon, largely due to the broad reach of the internet. Searching Google or YouTube for “DIY Dentist” yields literally thousands of articles, websites and videos all promising to help users “fix” their teeth without the aid of a dentist. The trend seems to have initially risen to popularity overseas in Great Britain, however more and more Americans are resorting to these risky methods. Here are three popular, but dangerous, DIY dentistry trends:
Topics: trends, DIY Dentistry, do it yourself, fear of the dentist
While new technology can be costly, there is no denying that its impact on patient retention is a positive. Whether a piece of tech saves you time, increases the comfort level of odontophobic patients or yields the best results compared to traditional methods, investing in some of the following devices and tools can lead to big business in the long run!
Topics: dental technology, trends, 2016
OSHA is in the process of updating their guidelines. Here’s a quick overview of what’s on the table for improvements to keep your office safety compliant:
Topics: Dental Information, OSHA, Safety
Being an ethical dentist is not only the right thing to do; in the long run, it is also the most lucrative thing to do! Patients are more likely to return to your practice when they feel comfortable with and trust you and your staff. But, before you can ask a patient to trust you, you have to be trustWORTHY. Here are some tips on establishing trust with your patients and promoting excellent doctor-patient relationships.
Topics: ethics, doctor-patient relationships, trust
The biggest challenge you may face as a dentist is patient retention. Although it is vital to the success of your practice and an important part of whole body health, many people dislike undergoing dental treatments and oral health often falls by the wayside.
Topics: patient retention, Five tips on improving patient retention, doctor-patient relationships
Topics: alleviate stress, Handling stress, Exercise
As a dental provider, it's important to have as much of an all-inclusive policy as possible regarding patients. It's good to try to help all of those who need it. The problem that dentists run into when trying to accommodate everyone, however, is financial availability and insurance. In order to help everyone, patients who don't have insurance need to be accepted, as well as those who do have access to it. The question is does accepting insurance hurt or help your practice?
