Trait #4 -Rock Star Hygienists Connect the Dots to Increase Treatment Enrollment
Like I’ve shared with you before, being prepared is critical to creating a successful hygiene appointment. It’s a lot of pressure to have to think on your feet when you’re racing the clock; the patient is in your chair and you’re trying to use your risk assessment, communication and time management skills all at once. Knowing as much as you can about your patient before they ever sit in your chair will make your life so much easier.
The next step is putting that information together and formulating how you can talk to this patient so you’re making it personal and relevant to them.
I worked with Philips Sonicare last year to create a DVD all about making a recommendation Personal, Specific and Easy for patients so they will follow through on your recommendation, whether it’s for a power brush or a crown. You can ask your Sonicare rep for a copy.
Let me give you an example:
Just yesterday I was with a new patient. She had several crowns that were very well done and many very large old metal fillings that were cracked and apparent recurrent decay under those fillings. She had a history of Fosamax use and that she is apprehensive when having dental care and that she’d like to have sedation.
We’ve now collected a few pieces of information:
1-She has teeth that are at risk of further decay and breakdown
2-She has a history of Fosamax use and is now on Actonel
3-She is apprehensive and interested in sedation
Now you wouldn’t just be educating her about the need to replace old dentistry but rather you would connecting the dots for her:
“Ms. Jane, you can see in the photo here that you have several teeth are black around these large, old fillings. This usually indicates that there is new decay under the fillings. In these situations, Doctor very often recommends a crown to strengthen this tooth after the decay is removed. Doctor will confirm this when she does the exam and reviews the x-rays.
This is not an emergency situation but if you do nothing, over time the decay will progress inside of the tooth and increase your chances for root canal treatment or even losing the tooth.
Because you have a history of Fosamax use, you are at risk for complications and losing bone in your jaw if you ever need to have a tooth removed. It is a low risk but I think that makes a strong case for being proactive with your care and not waiting until you have pain or the tooth is so decayed that it needs to be removed. And since you’re apprehensive, I believe Doc can take care of this entire upper right section at one time while you’re sedated.“
You’ve now connected the dots so Jane understands WHY you ask her about her medical history. You’ve made it personal to her needs, very specific as to what you think Doctor will recommend and the photos make it easy to see the tooth is not healthy. Of course this would apply to your recommendation for perio therapy as well as homecare products or adult fluoride as well.
Connecting the dots for your patients will make enrollment easier because they will understand how the treatment benefits THEM. And, they will see you as the healthcare professional you are.
Stay Inspired,
Rachel
Trait #3- “The Do-Whatever-It-Takes-Hard-Worker”
January 26th, 2012
Trait #3- “The Do-Whatever-It-Takes-Hard-Worker”
The most successful hygienists we encounter are ones that understand the commitment of pitching in. The idea that some duties in the dental office are below them and are, “not my job” doesn’t exist for the rock star hygienist. Rock stars are willing to do whatever it takes to keep the hygiene department AS WELL AS THE ENTIRE OFFICE on top of its game.
This may mean taking more CE than is required. It may mean calling past due patients on your down time, making confirmation calls, sending recall cards, taking impressions, researching new products on your own time, etc. Not only does this keep your schedule productive but it creates goodwill amongst your boss and co-workers. When you scratch their backs, they’ll scratch yours.
Doctors, want to eliminate the “it’s not my job” mindset? Try leading by example:
Our most successful doctor-leaders lead by example. For example, if a doctor takes the bare-minimum amount of CE, how can they expect their hygienist to take additional CE?
Here are 2 steps to implement right away to encourage trait #3 in your team….
1) Even if you have your hygiene on some type of commission, include them in the team bonus. You may need to adjust the commission rate but it is crucial to have everyone playing on the same team and supporting each other.
2) Encourage and expect ALL team members to do whatever it takes- and intentionally express this in your next team mtg. Identify the most important things to do with downtime…here’s a hint…patient service and team support come first.
Trait #2 – Rock Star Hygienist are always prepared before they seat their patients
January 19th, 2012
Trait #2 – Rock Star Hygienist are always prepared before they seat their patients. If you’re a Rock Star Hygienist, this means you have learned everything possible about the patient before they enter your operatory so you have a very clear plan of action for each patient.
Sometimes things change. If you have planned to re-present treatment in the upper right but the patient shows up with a broken #30, we obviously need to address the problem immediately.
Having a clear system or checklist you use to review charts and prepare for patients is a key component to time management, patient confidence, self-confidence, enrollment success and ideal patient care. In fact, the shift to paperless charts makes this even more important. When information isn’t literally in your hands, it can easily be overlooked.
Here’s a quick checklist for reviewing charts and preparing for your patients each and every day.
Daily Patient Chart Review
* Perio Status and date of last perio exam
* Review notes from last recare and treatment visit
* Date of last x-rays
* Outstanding treatment plan items
* Medications and medical conditions
* Intra-oral photos of outstanding treatment or need for new photos
* Patient preferences-likes ultrasonic, prefers Prophy Jet, sensitivity
* Recare status of their family members
* Have they recently referred other patients
* Personal notes or events
* Date of last oral cancer screening
* Notes from specialists
* Homecare notes
* Biteguard or other appliances
Ideally, any needed x-rays would be in the appointment view but if not, you now know if they need x-rays before you seat the patient and you can have the sensor and holder set up and ready to go. You can also have the greeter give the patient a new health history if it’s time for an update. You can have the Prophy Jet full of powder and have a tip handy. If they have incomplete treatment, you know you’ll need to take a new photo so you can have the camera close by and plugged in.
All these steps save you valuable time and energy and make you look good in front of your patient. But if you’re a Rock Star Hygienist…you already knew that.
Trait #1- Rock Star Hygienists love setting and achieving goals
January 12th, 2012
Trait #1- They love setting and achieving goals! Rock star hygienists are committed to achieving and even EXCEEDING goals. The rock star hygienist thrives on a sense of accomplishment. This type of team member responds well to the idea of being rewarded with team bonus based on goal achievement.
Want to bring out the rock star in YOUR hygienist? Try setting S.M.A.R.T. goals. This means rather than, “OK team, we need to start doing more fluoride.” You structure the goal to be: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely. Take a look at the fluoride example reworked into a S.M.A.R.T format:
“Starting Monday, implement a strong risk-based fluoride program to bring our current adult fluoride percentage up from 3% currently to 25% in the next 3 months.”
Here’s a detailed breakdown of SMART goal setting.
Specific: A specific goal has a much greater chance of being accomplished than a general goal. You want to take fluoride from 3% to 25%.
Measurable: Establish measurable criteria for tracking progress toward the attainment of each goal you set.
When you measure your progress, you stay on track. Incremental goals are a great way to keep your team moving forward. So if you started at 3% of adults receiving fluoride, your goal at the end of the first month might be 10%, then 20%, then 25%.
Attainable: Attainable goals should be set so that you have to “stretch” a little bit in order to achieve it. “Stretching” doesn’t mean setting unrealistic goals. Increasing fluoride to 25% is realistic. It’s a lot higher than 3% but you’re not saying, I expect us to do fluoride on 100% of our adult patients.
Relevant: To be relevant, a goal must represent an objective that you are emotionally committed to. Your hygiene team is more likely to be on board and move forward if they have a strong ‘why’. So for fluoride, what is the compelling reason for recommending it to patients with mod-high cavity risk? Less decay and fewer restorations? Current restorations lasting longer?
Timely: Without a timeline keeping you committed, a goal easily falls off your radar. You’re goal is to increase fluoride to 25% within 3 months.
The rock star hygienist also thrives on earning a reward once he/she achieves the goal. Remember, we all like to have a sense of accomplishment in our professional lives – make the reward something meaningful! Maybe it’s a ½ day of paid vacation per quarter or a cash team bonus or a fun team lunch at a special restaurant.
Next week, I’ll reveal Trait #2. See you then!
Seamless or Scrambling?
January 5th, 2012
Over Christmas I watched the 80’s cult classic, “Sixteen Candles.” I’ve seen it dozens of times, as I’m sure many of you reading this e-zine have! I love the scene where the entire family is rushing out the door trying to pile into the family sedan en route to Jenny’s wedding. I get sweaty palms every time I watch that scene. The chaos and disorganization stresses me out but I can’t help but laugh at the craziness. I don’t do well with clutter, both personally and professionally. How about you?
2012’s e-zine theme is all about getting your house in order. It’s difficult to move patients forward in their treatment in an organized, seamless fashion if your practice “house” is in disarray. It’s a challenge to keep your team accountable and on task if you, as the doctor-leader, are scrambling to keep your head above water. Each week, we will be detailing some of the best-kept secrets of the most successful dental professionals in the business. Here’s to your house being in order in 2012!
Scroll down to watch this week’s video to get you pumped up about a year of getting your house in order….
By the way, this is a picture of my all time FAVORITE scene in the movie.
"Sixteen Candles" copyright 1984 Universal Pictures
Stay Inspired,
Stacy
Have you spent your entire career trying to fix things?
Of course! As dentists you spend 4 years of dental school learning to fix faulty restorations or fix broken partials. Then, in your career, you continue to perfect the fixing.
As an office manager, you spend your days sweating over fixing holes in the schedule or fixing the collections problem, right?
As hygienists, you spend hours trying to fix patients’ home care behaviors.
But what about YOU? Have you ever taken a step back to look at getting YOUR house in order?
The video talks about getting your internal house in order as priority #1. Then, once your house is in order, you can only then work on “fixing” everything else!
It all depends on you…
January 2nd, 2012
I hope you’re enjoying a wonderful holiday season. Here at our house, we celebrate Christmas and this year was so much fun. Andrew is just big enough that he really enjoyed the celebration. He and Anna love to color together so they are really enjoying their new pint-size table and chairs. Now if I can just figure out how to keep him coloring on the PAPER!
As Stacy and I have been preparing and planning for next year, two themes have been showing up in our professional lives and client work. I’ve done a short video below to share those with you and give you a few things to think about as we move into 2012.
Stay Inspired,
Rachel
Three Hottest Trends for 2012
December 9th, 2011
If you’re like me, you’re trying to balance finishing the year strong at work AND preparing for a fun holiday season. I have to tell you that our Christmas tree doesn’t look much different than it did here on the lot. It’s been with us about 5 days and we’ve managed to get the lights on but that’s about it. 
I guess I’ve succumbed to my Mother’s suggestion that we skip the breakable ornaments this year. You can probably tell from this photo that Andrew moves a mile a minute. He’s already destroyed two ornaments and any hopes of a beautifully decorated tree with all my ‘vintage’ ornaments are going to have to wait until next year (or the next).
Anyway, check out the call we’re doing next week with international hygiene leader, researcher, writer and speaker Maria Perno Goldie. If you’ve ever read a hygiene journal, you’ve heard her name. Stacy, Maria and I are each going to highlight a hot new trend in treatment technology that you’ll want to pay close attention to in 2012. Let’s get the New Year started right with new concepts that can truly affect our patients’ treatment outcomes.
Stay Inspired,
Rachel
“Hottest Product Trends for 2012″
with Rachel Wall, RDH, BS and Stacy McCauley, RDH, MS and special guest Maria Perno Goldie, RDH, BA, MS
We field questions from dentists and hygienists almost weekly about product recommendations. Practitioners count on us to carefully assess the research so we can give them the “skinny” on which products they should be recommending to patients and why.
As a special treat for our Mastermind members, we are thrilled to announce a special guest joining us on the call. Don’t miss the chance to hear international researcher, speaker, author, editor, and DH clinician, Maria Perno Goldie, RDH, BA, MS. What a way to end 2011!
- Probiotics and their potential role in perio treatment
- pH stabilizing products and their influence on fluoride and ACP uptake
- Xylitol’s use and recommendations for caries control as well as emerging research related to xylitol and perio
If you’re not a member of the Hygiene Profits Mastermind, click here to learn more and join!
The one clinical hygiene instrument that can make or break your success
December 1st, 2011
You may remember a few weeks back when I featured a client of ours, Dr. Holmes in Houston. I’m back here today to celebrate their success and help them refine their restorative co-diagnosis and hygiene-doctor exam process. We’ll be posting a video soon so you can see hear about their results first-hand.
One of the items we observe when we’re in office with a client is their instrument set-up. While every hygienist has his/her preferences, there are a few key instruments that MUST be in every kit. The 2-minute video below will let you know the first thing we look for in the kit and how it can affect your treatment success and tissue response after SRP.
Stay Inspired,
Rachel
Every hygiene instrument kit, whether used for a prophy or perio therapy, MUST have a sub-gingival explorer. So often, the ONLY explorer on the hygiene tray is a shepherd’s hook explorer. This tool is NOT designed for subg exploring and calculus detection.
While I learned to use the pig tail explorer in hygiene school 20 yrs ago, my subg explorer of choice is the EXD 11/12 also known as the ODU 11/12 explorer. Having (and properly using) this explorer in every hygiene kit will improve your diagnostic abilities and the tissue response your patients achieve after perio therapy. If residual calculus is not detected and removed, it will affect the success of your treatment. I’ll post another video soon about how to properly adapt this explorer.
So Much to be Thankful For
November 24th, 2011
It’s hard to believe Thanksgiving is here. 2011 has been an incredibly busy year for Inspired Hygiene. We’re so thankful for all of the wonderful growth we’ve experienced this year and couldn’t be prouder of our private coaching clients and Mastermind members. We are incredibly thankful for your confidence in the Inspired Hygiene team! Without Stacy, Margo and Diane, what we’ve accomplished this year would not have been possible.
And then above all, we’re thankful for all our families. Without their support, we would not be able to do what we love so much…learn, teach and share…on the road and on the web. So, in this week of giving thanks, take time to “unplug” from work and focus on family. Scroll down to read about work-life balance…
We wish you and yours a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Stay Inspired,
Rachel
The toughest day…
I recently read an article where a CEO was being interviewed about work-life balance. He said that one of the toughest days of his life was when he overheard his 5 year old son say, ‘I don’t think my daddy likes me very much. He’s always tired when I’m around and I always have to be quiet because he is working when he is on his cell phone.” That CEO learned quickly that he was investing more time in work than he was in his relationship with his son. And in the end, the people we love deserve the greatest gift we can give them: the respect and power of our attention.
Being fully present means carving out time when you are home with the family. What does this mean for you? It’s highly unlikely that your practice will cease to exist if you turn your phone off during family dinnertime or for 20 minutes while you’re driving your kids to school. You’ll get so much personal satisfaction out of those focused moments. Then, when it’s time to focus on work, you can be fully present there as well.
We’d love to hear from you about how you’ve made changes in your life to achieve work-life balance! Become a “fan” of our Facebook page and tell us your story. Here’s the link www.Facebook.com/InspiredHygiene
Is it time to get back in the kitchen?
November 17th, 2011
About 4 years ago the culinary bug bit me. I had been a modest home cook for years but something clicked and made me want to step up my game in the kitchen. Thank you Food Network!
Recently, I took some cooking classes at the local gourmet food store. Even though I thought I knew how to chop and dice, they taught me ways to do it with more efficiency and precision. Even though I had already been using some of the techniques they taught in their techniques class, they taught us how to implement these techniques in a way to get a remarkably better outcome. For me, cooking classes didn’t teach me how to cook; they taught me how to do it better. In a sense, they recalibrated me to a new level of culinary excellence. And now, cooking is a family affair. Here I am with my trusty sous chef, Logan McCauley!
Scroll down to see how a calibration session with one of our private coaching clients yielded efficiency, precision, better outcomes and excellence!
Stay Inspired,
Stacy
Calibrate to Dominate!
A few weeks ago, we shared with you one of the many success stories we’ve had with our private coaching clients this year. Dr. Kimber Holmes’ office in Texas doubled their perio percentage and increased hygiene production by over $20k/month in only 2 months time!
Remember my example in my note this week about cooking class? I didn’t go to cooking class to learn how to cook; I went because I wanted to do it better.
Many of our private coaching clients talk about wanting more consistency in their hygiene department. Have you ever wanted …
- consistency in how perio is diagnosed between you and your entire hygiene team?
- clear protocols for when/how to enroll patients in periodontal therapy?
- consistent messaging so every patient hears a consistent message related to diagnosis and treatment planning?
- consistent results in patient care and productivity?
If you said, “yes” to any of these, it boils down to a matter of calibration. When we calibrate a team during our in-office training, the goal is to get everyone ON THE SAME PAGE. We know one thing for sure…. when we calibrate teams so that everyone is on the same page the following occurs:
- When a doctor’s confidence in his/her team goes up, the stress level a doctor feels goes down.
- When teams are calibrated and are clear on protocols, the team feels empowered to practice to a higher standard of care
- When a patient receives treatment from a calibrated, consistent doctor and team, the results yield HEALTHIER PATIENTS and a more PROFITABLE PRACTICE
Here we are working with Dr. Holmes’ fantastic hygiene team. We knew this team knew how to “cook“. We simply re-calibrated the team so they could perform even better, breaking through to their fullest potential.
One final thought…Doctors, stop and think about where you and your team are in the calibration spectrum? Are you performing at your fullest potential or is it time to get back in the kitchen?
Here’s a recipe for how you and your team can calibrate your periodontal assessment:
- Choose a patient (friend, family, coworker) who has 5mm or deeper pockets
- Individually, using the same probe, have each hygienist and doctor measure the same quadrant
- Bring your measurements together and see how they compare. Review technique together to unify your angulations, interpretation of the measurements and the walking of the probe around the circumference of the tooth
There are so many systems in your practice that benefit from calibration. From determining when a patient goes from prophy to perio treatment, to how you confirm appointments. Until everyone is on the same page…. your results may be inconsistent.
