Do you have the feeling that everything is not going well in your practice? Again and again does the team encounter the same pitfalls? Take a very conscious look at the causes! A meticulous inventory over a few weeks is worthwhile to find out where your practice loses the most time. Until then, we have five steps here, which in any case will result in better time efficiency.



1. routine
Routine gives you and your team a time advantage. This applies to all actions inside and outside the treatment room. From the immediate preparation for treatment (prepare instruments, access patient file) to instrument preparation in the steri room. If everyone on the team knows when to do something, unplanned delays are reduced and your schedule can be better met. However, this requires clear work instructions. Written and accessible to everyone. It is best to use available templates,  hygiene plan and make sure that your employees are well informed.

2. Digitization
Welcome to the 21st century! Why don't you transfer your private usage habits from digital technologies into your everyday work? That would simplify things a lot and save valuable time. Here are a few prime examples for the dental practice: In the best case, the digital documentation offers you fully automatic and seamless traceability, which in case of doubt can protect you from recourse claims. The advantages over analogue documentation? No confusing paperwork that takes up valuable storage space in the archive. The data can be called up again faster via PC or tablet and the various practical tasks can be meaningfully linked with suitable software systems.

3. Communication
"Speaking people can be helped," says the vernacular and he is right! Regardless of whether with the patient, staff or the dental laboratory - open and direct communication saves misunderstandings and thus also time. Communication, however, includes listening as much as speaking. So listen to your employees. For example, if there are problems in work processes that you have nothing to do with in day-to-day business, your team will most likely know better where the rabbit is in the pepper. Find a solution together! And otherwise, respectful and honest teamwork is very important for the efficiency of practice.

4. Qualification
What good are good structures and clear communication if your employees are not able to carry out certain tasks? Not only should you keep yourself up to date on the subject, you should also send your practice team regularly for team training or - even more efficiently - give you the opportunity to take part in online training. In the best case, each team member is supported individually according to his strengths. After all, in times of extreme skill shortages, you can be grateful if you have a working practice team. Because only through further training of employees can a practice develop forward. The higher the know-how of each individual, the smoother and more time-efficient processes run. Especially if, as a practice manager, you can also hand over tasks. Entrust the right employees to the right tasks (of course, always within the legal delegation framework) and you yourself become more relaxed and can do your work with less time pressure.
5. Outsourcing
However, it is not always possible to develop all the necessary skills within your own workforce. For this, there have been service providers on the market for years, who provide you with good support, especially when it comes to mastering the business hurdles. Administrative tasks in particular are not only annoying, they also take up a lot of time. So why not just outsource and let the professionals do it? Whether billing, the entire practice management, factoring or appointment management - thanks to digital processes, many of these work steps can now be outsourced in terms of personnel and space. But it is also important here: Everything has to function from the point of view of data protection (which in turn can be easily outsourced). And of course, the investment at the end of the day should pay off for your practice. It is advisable to calculate in advance exactly how much time you will save by outsourcing and whether you will recover the costs incurred during this time or, in the best case, even achieve an additional profit.

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