HCD Headlines 7-7-2026

Rachael
2 days ago
6 min read

July Schedule

We've had some changes that just happened today, so please make sure to review the attached schedule. Moving forward, Kaitlyn will be on DAW's schedule as her 2nd assistant. DCH will also be here July 20-21st. If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know.

Ortho Treatment Protocol

A reminder regarding treatment planning, scheduling, and recording visits for ortho patients. We've noticed a few patients are starting their ortho treatment without notes being made regarding acceptance. A quick recap on what the Appointment Book, Clinical Note, and Ledger should look like for this process:

These codes MUST be posted as they are completed. The notes must be made within the Patient Chart - not the Office Journal! Example:

DAW's team presents the ortho plan to Suzy. She wants to think about it before she accepts the plan. Include code D8660B in Appointment Book if it wasn't already scheduled to review. Patient Chart/Clinical Note: discussion that was held including any questions the patient had. Ledger: Set the appointment/code complete.
Suzy calls back 2 days later. She talks with Ikaika and says she wants to move forward with treatment. Create appointment in Appointment Book for code D8090. Set appointment complete in order to post it on the Ledger. Record the discussion and patient's acceptance in the Patient Chart/Clinical Note.
- This conversation should never be recorded in the Office Journal as we are looking for a chain or LOOP for the patient's ortho care. The loop must always be the same for ease of discovery as needed and to ensure we do not drop the ball for our patients.

You can visit our blog from January for more details.

Side note... This is the same for consultations. Please record your discussions in the Patient Chart/Clinical Note in order to keep the loop accurate.

Timeclock for QB

It's come to my attention that we are missing a few steps in QB Time or Workforce. Moving forward, when you clock in, please add the class that pertains to your position. This small step will help with reports on the backend and save time for myself when doing payroll.

Every team member is assigned to a class within QB. This is yours:

Clinic: Te, Doua, Edmel, Princess, Ikaika, Jane, Kaitlyn
Hygiene: Jillian, Guadalupe, Natalie, Joselyn, Lawrence
Administrative: Shoua, Lauren, Ze, Rachael
- If you are a clinician, but assisting at the front for the FULL day or doing social media outside of regular work hours, it is recorded as Administrative.
Associates: DAW

Please let me know if you need help finding this on your phone. When you clock-in at the computer, it will look like this:

Summer Wellness Plan

We are already moving into the 3rd round of 12 for our Summer Wellness Challenge! It's going fast! In order to keep us all on the same page, here are some requests from our team leaders:

Please submit proof of your score when sending in your numbers. This is a simple screen shot to your Team Leader.
1. Team Leaders, please submit the proof to Princess in order for her to total the numbers accurately.
Turn in all numbers by Wednesday morning. This is similar to what we did last year. Your biweekly totals will run from Wednesday to Tuesday. This will allow us to collect the numbers without too much craziness on Wednesday and present the winners without question on Thursday.

We would like to plan some team outings for the rest of the Saturdays and/or Fridays for July and August. Let's put together some options on Thursday. Once these outings are set, we will keep them regardless if only 2 or 3 people can come. We also need to commit to being on time for each one to avoid confusion regarding who will be there or not.

And, if you have any photos or videos you'd like to share with our patients on social media, please send them to Princess! We are going to share this challenge on our platforms within the next week. Thank you!

Lab Burs

These are the state of our large acrylic burs as recently found by DKM. Yes, they are sterile as they went through the sterilization process, but they are not fully cleaned. Please use the wire brushes at the dirty sink when you're completed OR use the clean wire brush as soon as you open it to remove the "sterile remnants" of previous use.

Timely X-rays & Recording Necessity

As I've submitted claims, I've noticed we do not always have current x-rays for treatment especially when it comes to anterior x-rays. If treatment is diagnosed, we need x-rays on file that are no older than 12 months to support diagnostic decisions. If it is not available and insurance requests those images, the claim will 99% of the time be denied, thus pushing the cost onto the patient.

To avoid this, ALWAYS check for a current (within 12 months), diagnostic x-ray on file. If there isn't one, take one BEFORE you start treatment. Post-op x-rays are unhelpful for sending insurance claims for approval.

Along with this note, we must include in our clinical notes the purpose for taking x-rays, especially for PA's. This was a recent discussion on FB regarding dental insurance. We haven't had insurance companies ask for the specific reasons we're taking x-rays YET, but it is coming. So please make sure your note reflects when x-rays are taken and the purpose for them.

Link Alternate Cases

Our acceptance numbers for treatment have increased lately. This is in part to patients accepting treatment and even more so to your diligence in cleaning up treatment plans. We can review the skill for linking cases in our next team meeting. As for now, here are the ONLY times there should be more than 1 case in the Patient Chart.

Scenario 1: Patient has a LARGE treatment plan that will take more than a year to complete. The patient wants to break it down into phases by year. The DEFAULT plan will include the 1st year and ALL hygiene/exam appointments. Create a 2nd folder, name it Phase 2 or Year 2 and move all treatment to be completed in that year to that folder. Add hygiene/exams in, too, in order to show them the whole picture. DO NOT LINK these cases as they are RECOMMENDED and/or REQUIRED.

The way around this is to just print the visits that they are going to focus on 1st. However, I know there are some patients that need this kind of breakdown in order for them to process it correctly.

Scenario 2: The patient has a missing tooth and has been given 3 options for their treatment. The DEFAULT plan will have the recommended treatment by the doctor. For example, this would be the implant placement. Create a 2nd folder named "Altx UR Bridge" and move all treatment pertaining to the bridge to that folder. Create a 3rd folder named "Altx UR Partial" and move all treatment pertaining to the partial to that folder. LINK the 3 cases with the DEFAULT reflecting as the RECOMMENDED folder out of the 3.

Do not treatment plan hygiene/exams for these folders as the folders are pertaining to a specific treatment option for one tooth.
When the patient decides on which treatment they will do, UNLINK the cases and reject accordingly. Do not keep them linked as it will junk up your Patient Chart.
In this scenario, if the doctor states that doing nothing is also an option, I would move all 3 options into individual alternate treatment folders and link to the DEFAULT plan. Reject as requested by the patient.

Please remember to clean up or audit the chart whenever the patient is in the chair. This includes to inform the doctor during exams about any outstanding watches and alternate treatment plans. If the patient has a tissue graft option from 2016, have a good discussion with the patient as to whether or not it's truly needed and reject or link as needed.

Set completed referral treatment complete including consultations. All reports from specialists are in the Document Center under Correspondence.

These steps will give us a more accurate picture of how we're doing as a team to convert patients to necessary and alternate treatment presented by our providers.

Lastly, this is one of my favorite quotes from our very own Jillian:

Every time you say "YES" to something, you're saying "NO" to something else.

What are you wiling to say YES to knowing that you're also saying NO to something else? Does that make sense? If so, please share your thoughts with your department. See you on Thursday at 7:30 for the team meeting!