Improving Dental Practice Efficiency (+ Common Efficiency Obstacles)

Occam’s Razor, or a version of it, states “when you have two competing theories that make exactly the same predictions, the simpler one is the better.” When it comes to improving dental practice efficiency and productivity, some might assert that more hands make light work. 

When staffing shortages make it difficult to bring in all the hands you need, the simpler option is to invest in existing technology tools and software that not only improve efficiency but also boost care, productivity and revenue. The simplest solution is usually the best, but as Occam’s Razor also suggests, it’s the one we most often overlook.

Quick Links

• Benefits of a More Efficient Dental Practice
• 4 Common Obstacles to Dental Practice Efficiency
• Improving Your Dental Practice Efficiency

Benefits of a More Efficient Dental Practice

One of the best aspects of improving efficiency in your dental practice is that efficiency affects everyone, from the business office to the dental chair.

Your patients receive better service and care, including:

• More attention from your staff
• Better scheduling and reduced wait times
• Improved care and outcomes
• Better communication and understanding of services and needs

Your team can make better use of their time and realize:

• Enhanced client communication
• Reduced phone time with partners and providers
• Less stress
• More time for tasks related to patient care and scheduling needed follow up

Your business can expect:

• Improved revenue and cash flow
• Improved patient experience 
• Better staff utilization

There are few aspects of your dental practice that won’t benefit when you choose to implement the tools to help you improve efficiency.

4 Common Obstacles to Dental Practice Efficiency

When dental practices struggle to improve efficiency,  it might simply be a case of chicken or the egg.

The lack of efficiency means it’s difficult to make changes, and the lack of innovation limits efficiency. There are four significant hurdles that dental professionals face that hurt their operations, including:

1. Staffing shortages

Despite best efforts, staffing shortages remain. When coupled with other inefficiencies that leave your team tied up on the phone, working with outdated computer systems, or juggling multiple responsibilities or time-consuming tasks, staffing shortages are exacerbated, leading to more inefficiency.

2. Outdated systems

From legacy computer systems to outdated manual procedures, significant time is spent on everything from scheduling to handling insurance verifications. Similarly, when specific tasks are tied to desktops or specific computers within an office, time is lost as staff needs to complete work away from patient areas or other necessary tasks.

3. Poor time management

Understanding how to factor in the time an appointment will take, from the time your team spends with a patient to the time it takes to complete a procedure, is essential. A failure to manage schedules and account for procedural times can delay other tasks and push back appointments.

4. Failure to automate

Automation is often the first place to look when it comes to finding ways to improve the efficiency of your dental practice. From automated emails and appointment reminders to automated insurance verifications to ePrescription tools that include integrated alerts for interactions - automating daily tasks can save tens of hours a week.

Improving Your Dental Practice Efficiency

Clearly, widespread staff shortages are beyond the control of a dentist/owner or practice manager. Further, the goal of improving efficiency is often to make improvements and reap rewards without adding to overhead costs. 

So, while adding more staff would seem like a viable solution to the issues facing many practices today, the ROI is significantly less than automating administrative processes and procedures with the available dental practice software solutions on the market.

Additionally, new staff (whether one or more) would still run into the same friction points your existing team experiences. However, a digital transformation of your dental practice would ideally include automating tasks and relying upon cloud-based software to improve efficiency, increase productivity, and free up human resources.  It will actually cost you less than hiring additional staff.

Cloud-based software enables your staff to perform tasks on the fly, rather than being tied to desktop computers or offices. That means teams can make appointments before the patient leaves the chair, dentists can write electronic prescriptions from anywhere outside the office, and insurance verifications can be run in a weekly batch rather than verifying insurance one patient at a time.

Cloud-based solutions can also enhance your security stance, helping to protect your practice data from cybercriminals and ensuring HIPAA-compliant interactions with clients, partners, and pharmacists. Further, these tools can streamline practice processes by integrating seamlessly with existing practice management software.

Simply by using existing technology tools, you can save your team a full week’s worth of work time and effort, increasing your efficiency, boosting practice productivity, and improving patient experience.

If you’re ready to see how the iCoreConnect suite of software solutions create efficiency to build your business and support your team, book a demo today!