HCD Headlines 8-31-2023

Rachael
Aug 31, 2023
5 min read

We made through another beautiful, rainy August! Thanks to everyone for being here with us at HCD and making each day a good one to be alive :)

Labor Day is Monday and our office will be closed. Ever wonder what Labor Day is about? Here you go... History Channel says THIS.

SEPTEMBER SCHEDULE

Thank you to Kolina for keeping track of all the vacation requests that came through for the month of September! Once again we have a lot of moving parts with multiple people being out throughout this next month. Please review the schedule carefully and let Kolina know ASAP if there are any changes. With the doctors being out, please remember, assistants, that if we don't have a vacation request, we will assume that you'll be here in order to get your hours. If you want to work, we do have lots for you to help with :)

SRP POST OP KITS

For our patients that complete SRP treatment, we now have small Peridex bottles you can give them for their home care. They are located... in the back somewhere. You'll have to ask Te... This idea came from a webinar we recently watched. If you have other ideas that will help our patients succeed in their post op care, please let me know and we'll look at either adding or creating post op kits for specific treatments.

CLEANING DENTURES IN HYGIENE

We are using the ADA codes for cleaning dentures and other removable appliances whenever this treatment is completed. There is not a charge connected with it unless otherwise informed by the provider. Here are the codes:

D9931 Clean/inspection of removable appliance (NG, retainer, etc.)
D9932 Cleaning/inspection of maxillary complete denture
D9933 Cleaning/inspection of mandibular complete denture
D9934 Cleaning/inspection of maxillary partial denture
D9935 Cleaning/inspection of mandibular partial denture

Each one will post with a charge. Please write-off as a "courtesy" so patients can see the monetary value for having their appliances thoroughly cleaned and polished. If you are just placing the appliance in the ultrasonic with the tartar removal solution, do not post any of these codes. These are specifically for thorough cleaning and polishing only.

Here is a good reminder how to polish the appliance utilizing the equipment we have in the lab.

HYGIENE SCHEDULE

As we move forward into October with Lori, Jillian, and Guadalupe, we want to make sure our patients can stay on a healthy dental track by being consistent with their hygiene visits. We have placed ads searching for a hygienist either full-time, part-time or fill-in. As we receive support, we will update the schedule to reflect that.

NEW PROTOCOL: Until then, we are going to have all pedo hygiene completed in the doctors' chairs. This will open time in the hygienists' schedules for periodontal patients that must stay on a 3-4 month recall. When we are 48 hours before the day, we can move any hygiene in the doctors' schedules into any hygiene openings for the same time. This will then free up time for emergencies or other doctors' needs.

We are going to let our patients know about Kathleen's plans today. We are also going to start merging schedules, so if you have any questions or concerns, please talk to myself or Kolina.

CREATING NEW HABITS

We are all creatures of habits and routines. This serves us well to provide stability and consistency that we all desire. When it's time to create or follow new routines, it can be especially hard for us to incorporate those new choices into our lives and make them stick. One of my favorite quotes is from Ralph Waldo Emerson:

That which we persist in doing becomes easier, not that the nature of the task has changed, but our ability to do has increased.

Let's take that into consideration when it comes to clinical notes which includes Office Journal notes. For our purpose today, we are going to call them NOTES. NOTES are an absolute necessity for any medical practice to survive and thrive. Not only is a record, but it is also a guideline for what needs to happen next. We're guided to the next step by knowing what the last step was. If there's no record of the last step, there's no way to proceed with 100% accuracy. This leads to substandard care and potentially frustration and upset from every side.

How can we make sure our notes are completed with every necessary piece of information to make the clinical note accurate, precise, and informative for our future selves? Every one of us are at a different level for our NOTES. Maybe we need just a tweak here, or a whole note over there. I can't speak to what you need unless we talk directly. However, I can say it's going to take some focused work on your part to make sure each interaction with the patient is recorded in such a way that you will have successful phone call or appointment the next time you meet.

The 3 R's of Habit Formation: Let's break this down for our needs.

Reminder: I have found it most beneficial to use a visual cue to help me remember to do something. If I wanted to improve my clinical notes, I would write a sticky or have a silly picture near my computer that would trigger the thought to do my clinical note.
Routine: Decide ahead of time when you're going to do the note. For phone calls, I've made it my routine to make a note in the OJ as soon as I start the call. That way the note is completed either by the time I'm off the phone or soon after. With clinical notes, there is typically 5-10 minutes of waiting somewhere in the appointment. When that time becomes available to you, use it to fill out the template. Use the next few minutes available to make the necessary changes and additions so your note is complete.
Reward: Rewards are personal and you can make up your own reward that encourages you to do it again and again. Two rewards that no one can escape when you do your notes are 1) You can feel good leaving at the end of the day knowing you don't have to "remember" anything about today tomorrow, and 2) You can start the day brand new without already being behind! For my reward when I assist, I like to either leave stickies or tell them face-to-face that I've finished my clinical note. Knowing I closed the loop is a big reward for me and encourages me to do it every time.

We will fall out of routine and habits. It's inevitable. I've missed notes myself or left some undone. The important thing is to use it as a learning lesson, a stepping stone to become better in this vital part of HCD's mission. Committed professionals includes being committed to accuracy, meeting or exceeding patient's needs, and quality care. All of these values can be attained through our NOTES. We can make this task easier and second nature as we commit to doing it every day.

Send your team your cue that you're going to use to help you start or continue with your good habits. Enjoy your Labor Day weekend, as well!