Who writes your treatment notes?
Lunchtime in a dental office should be for relaxing, not writing treatment notes.
Lunchtime should be a time for the dentist to de-stress and maybe even go for a walk to clear their head. But, in many offices it’s quite different.
Frequently, you see the dentist eating their lunch while going through the notes from the morning trying to catch up and fill in the gaps.
“What did I discuss with Mrs Jones?”
“Did I warn the wisdom tooth patient about the chance of numbness?”
“When did I say we would follow up on the big case?”
Here’s my take on this…
The dentist is the worst person to write the notes
The dentist should never make the treatment notes and should touch the computer as seldom as possible.
Here’s why.
To work with optimum efficiency and minimum stress, the dentist’s focus should be laser-like and entirely to diagnosing and treating patients. Anything that breaks that focus reduces efficiency and creates stress.
If the dentist makes the treatment notes they either:
Take a break in the procedure: "Hold everything while I type this into the computer."
Or…
Do it at the end of a procedure when the next patient is waiting and the pressure is on to change over the treatment room.
Or…
Do it at lunchtime, after work or at home (even worse!). By then, their memory has faded and the notes don’t truly represent what happened. Such notes are almost certainly inaccurate and incomplete.
Here’s the right way
The notes within a patient's chart should represent everything that was said and that occurred during the treatment of that patient.
Nothing should be left out and nothing that didn't occur should be added.
The notes are vital from a legal perspective. They are what you will rely on if there are ever problems with treatment.
Treatment notes are super important!
It’s much better to have a well-trained team member type the notes as the discussion with the patient is actually occurring”
Dr recommended crown for 46 because it will be stronger and less likely to break. Pt asked how long will a crown last. Dr said he will be very disappointed if it doesn’t last at least 10 years.
Notes that are made at the time that a discussion occurs are by far the best record of what went on. The nurse listens and immediately types the notes into the computer.
A useful by product of this approach is that the dentist will free up an hour a day that can be devoted to treating patients.
Your team can take excellent notes
One problem I hear dentists raise is that the team cannot do it right.
That's what training is for!
Train your team and coach them until they do it right.
Create fast notes in your computer system so that things you say and do often can be added with a single key stroke.
If you spend a few weeks training the team on proper note taking from then on you will save hours every week.
That’s a huge win.
You become more productive, you get more accurate notes and you get to chill out and unwind at lunchtime.
Of course you need to read and check the notes and make any necessary changes but, with well trained staff, changes are seldom needed.
