YOUR PRACTICE IS TEMPORARILY CLOSED? NOW IT’S THE TIME TO SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS

With the COVID-19 pandemic causing unprecedented disruption to everyday life around the globe, there is a lot of uncertainty around what happens next and what to do to stay proactive and prepared. Within the world of dentistry, you might be wondering what to do now that the Health Authorities and other professional associations, have recommended practices suspend elective procedures to limit the potential for disease transmission.

While this situation is certainly a challenge, that doesn’t mean there aren’t silver linings. With patients and procedures temporarily on hold, there are ways to focus on staying productive and proactive. This is a challenging moment for everyone, and while you may not be able to come into the office, we’re here to help you make the most of this time so you can continue to be the best in practice when practices reopen.

Here are five things to focus on during this time: 

1) Stay connected with your colleagues and peers
Many dental professionals are social by nature, and that can make it especially difficult to adjust to social distancing and self-isolation. However, just because you’re at home doesn’t mean you can’t stay in touch with your colleagues and peers. Consider setting up routine video check-ins with your teammates to provide companionship and make sure everyone is adapting alright. Video conferencing services like Zoom or GoToMeeting  make it easy for everyone in the office to keep in touch.
 
2) Catch up on webinars
This is a precious time to get caught up on the latest trends and education in the industry, so you don’t have to worry about it when the regular hustle and bustle of daily practice returns. Our free on-demand webinars provide continuing education on a variety of topics – from infection prevention to specific procedures to technology and product innovations.

3) Review your infection prevention protocols
Each practice should “develop and maintain written infection prevention policies and procedures appropriate for the services provided by the facility and based on evidence-based guidelines, regulations or standards.” Now, more than ever, it’s critical to ensure your practice’s infection prevention protocols are up-to-date and in compliance.

4) Do some spring cleaning and maintenance
If you can still work from your practice for emergency cases, now it’s a great time to give your office that deep cleaning that would otherwise be difficult to accomplish with daily patient routines and might be especially difficult when practices are back in full swing and patients are making up for their missed visits. 



Additionally, you may want to use this time for other organization and maintenance projects. Instrument maintenance, for instance, can be difficult to stay on top of during regular practice activities. Use this Instrument Check-Up brochure to audit your instruments to find out what may be causing you trouble.
 
5) Take steps to better organize your practice
With elective procedures on hold, now it’s an ideal time to take a holistic, big-picture look at practice procedures. Compliance, infection prevention, and related topics like waterline filtration and instrument reprocessing (link here) will be even more top-of-mind for both patients and practitioners moving forward and it’s important to make sure you come back prepared.



One easy way to get started is to contact your Hu-Friedy representative to schedule a time for a virtual office visit. Consultations focus on reviewing process and efficiency and include a review of instrument set-ups as well as recommendations for next steps. Hu-Friedy representatives can walk through best practices to help you setting-up your practice for success.

Additionally, if you are not already using an Instrument Management System IMS (link here) in your practice, now might be the time to consider this safe, compliant, and efficient system for organizing and reprocessing instruments.

CRAFT YOUR STORY
By staying proactive and productive now, you’re going to be in better shape for when elective procedures begin again. Better yet, you’ll be able to share with your patients – especially those who are hesitant about infection risks – how much you did, going above and beyond to maintain their safety. Referencing things such as this to market your practice will be an important part of returning to normalcy, and we’ll be back with advice about getting this message out and preparing for practices to reopen. Until then, we’re here to help you make the most of this time so you can continue to be the best in practice moving forward.
 

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