Is your dental practice ready for spring? At this time of year, it's human nature to want to make changes. Here are eight ways to spring clean your dental practice that are sure to boost the spirits of both staff and patients.
- Clean out the clutter. Have your administrative staff go through paper documents and weed out anything that's no longer needed. Be sure to use a secure shredding service or a business-grade shredder to dispose of the documents. Wherever possible, scan and digitize your documents instead of relying on paper — they’ll be easier to access quickly that way.
- Take inventory. Go through all of your supplies and take stock. Place orders for things you’re running short of. (Better yet, set up automatic delivery so you never run out of the essentials you need to take care of patients and keep your office running smoothly).
- Clean up your act. Take a good look around your offices, from the reception area to the treatment rooms and restrooms. Does your waiting room need new chairs? Is your carpet worn and stained? Cleanliness is paramount in a dental office, so if yours is looking shabby, repair or replace what’s needed to make your space look spick-and-span. (Check out these tips on how to keep patients happy in your waiting room.)
- Inspect your equipment. Go through all of your equipment, from handpieces and x-ray units to sterilization systems and patient chairs, to make sure everything is in good working order. If not, have the equipment repaired or start budgeting for replacements. Spring is a good time to perform annual maintenance on equipment, too.
- Get your front desk organized. Hold an all-hands meeting to give your front desk staff a refresher on proper procedures. Lighthouse 360 automatically creates a front desk task list and emails it to you every morning to help your team stay on track. Get more ideas to make your front desk more productive.
- Streamline your scheduling. Are no-shows and last-minute cancellations throwing off your practice’s productivity? With the average cost of a dental exam close to $100, two cancellations per day can cost you $1,000 a week, or $52,000 a year. Get your patients on track by using Lighthouse patient communication software to send automatic appointment reminders and get confirmations sent directly to your PMS. Lighthouse’s Cancellation Fill-In feature even detects last-minute cancellations and helps you find patients to fill the empty slot.
- Clean up your marketing act. Is your marketing working as well as it should be? If not, it's time for some changes. Start an email newsletter for your practice. Shake up your social media presence by coming up with new ways to engage with prospects and patients. Lighthouse 360 integrates your website with your Facebook account to save you time and effort.
- Speed up new patient registration. Start new patients off right by storing their records digitally from the get-go. With Lighthouse 360’s Patient Fast Track feature, new patients can register right on their smartphones, and even electronically sign forms on their screens. This saves time and effort for both your staff and your new patients.
As you complete your spring cleaning, remind patients that it’s time to spring clean their smiles. Only one-quarter of Americans are extremely satisfied with the health of their mouth, teeth and gums, according to a recent survey—so there’s plenty of room for improvement. Use Lighthouse patient communication software’s email templates to send patients on your mailing list an email newsletter with tips for maintaining a healthy mouth and a special promotion for teeth whitening treatments.
