How you can reassess dental practice communication policies for 2025

Dec 10, 2024

Soon, 2024 will be history. I hope it's a good history for all of you.

Estela Vargas, CRDH.

What can we learn from history? One thing that is certain is that history can repeat itself if we don't take measures to change our course. As the new year approaches, we must see what should be improved, how to improve, and what will be achieved.

When was the last time you updated your office policy manual? Office policies are essential in creating structure and agreement with the organization's missions and goals. Policies guide day-to-day operations to ensure consistency and efficiency in achieving the practice's objectives.

One of the most critical systems in your policy is patient communication. We all know this is ever-changing, especially with the influence of digital communication and social media.

Communication with patients has evolved dramatically over the last few decades, but it remains challenging. Is what you do to communicate with your patients working for you? How do you know? Do you use available technology to track your results? How do you know what to change or what to keep the same? Does your practice set communication goals?

These goals can range from increasing new patient numbers to improving patient satisfaction and retention, expanding services and treatment acceptance, or upgrading technology. By specifying objectives and ensuring that everyone is on the same page and motivated, the team can work cohesively toward common targets. Evaluating your goals should be part of your year-end planning.

Our technology, such as contact management software, has advanced, and using phone calls to contact patients about appointments, billing, and insurance issues has become rare. If your patients have opted in to receive email or texts as their preferred method of communication, then you abide by their wishes. Phones are the last contact method if the patient does not respond to texts or emails.

Is personal contact more reliable than digital communication? Many patients don't want to receive phone calls but prefer to receive a text message; others wish to receive an email. Your practice and HIPAA policies must indicate these methods of communication and what the patient has opted in to receive.

How we communicate with our patients can improve our practice history. COVID-19 left us masked and far apart, and the internet and social media have rewritten how people communicate without being physically present. In dentistry, we must be face to face or face to mouth with our patients; this won't change.

What has changed is that we have less physical or personal communication with patients before they are seated in the chair. We must close that gap by building an instant rapport and common ground with patients.

Good patient communication usually results in a full schedule. Holes in the hygiene schedule are generally quickly filled, new patient numbers are growing, production goals are consistent, and collections are equal. We see this success in practices that do the following:

Teamwork to establish a common ground with patients, including fostering rapport and trust from the first contact, whether in person or on the telephone
Providing easy-to-understand explanations while avoiding jargon, speaking too fast, and oversimplifying procedures, which can leave patients fearful
Listening while giving our full attention to the person speaking. Working on the computer without making eye contact with the individual does not establish empathy for patient concerns
Maintaining transparency and giving patients all of the information they need to make a fact-based decision
Educating patients based on their proven dental intelligence. Using a cookie-cutter approach can leave many patients wanting more information

We must know certain things to set up patients' dental records and establish successful insurance billing. These elements don't connect us to the patient unless we show an interest in them. One of the most important ways to connect with a patient is through their health history.

The health history form

Everybody hates filling out forms. Accept that and then move to help your patients understand why it's necessary.

Don't minimize the importance of a complete, detailed health and dental history. When patients are asked to fill out forms or update records, they may balk or complain because they don't understand the relevance of the information to getting their teeth cleaned. It's up to the dental team to explain the significance of this critical task.

Online forms are much more acceptable to patients because they can fill them out without feeling rushed and have more information available. Patients often need to remember their current prescriptions and dosages when they are in the office. They may also need to remember to bring their glasses for reading. These two factors cause incomplete or inaccurate reporting of necessary medications that affect dental care.

How to make updating health history forms more acceptable to patients

Have a medical history form they can complete before their appointment that is accessible from your website or contact software.
The form should have room for patients to list all of their medications and a place to list the dosage and what the prescription treats.
Some patients may be embarrassed to list all their medications, so it is necessary to carefully check their health history for any listed ailments indicating a medication.

Ask the patient, "What do you take?" When the list includes vitamins and over-the-counter products, ask them, "Why do you take it?" The patient needs to know why they are taking medication, because the dental team does not have the answer to that question.

Assuming they are taking it for a specific reason is not wise. "Did you take the medication today?" Many patients will report that they take a medication but skip a dose once or even several days.

Electronic and digital communication systems

Many practices rely heavily on digital forms of communication. Artificial intelligence, electronic health records, practice management systems, digital workflows, and 3D printing are emerging and evolving forms of communication and technology affecting communication within the practice.

The ADA's communication rules for social media

The same rules regarding discrimination, privacy, or employment policies in the "real world" also apply to the online (social media) world.
The trend is to favor free speech and open discourse. Indeed, policies that can be construed to prohibit employees from discussing the terms and conditions of employment with each other are illegal under the National Labor Relations Act. Accordingly, avoid creating policies or making employment decisions that might discourage legally permissible discussions regarding working conditions, hours, and wages.
Social media law is an evolving field; what is written here will likely change dramatically, so keep abreast of the latest developments.
Do not post copyrighted or trademarked content without permission from the content owner or a citation, as appropriate.
Do not disclose any of the practice's confidential or proprietary information.
Do not post information about a patient, employee, or another individual, including a testimonial, photograph, radiograph, or even a name, without the appropriate written consent, authorization, waiver, and release signed by the patient (or the patient's guardian).
All postings on your social media sites should be monitored for compliance by a designated individual in your practice. Remember that you could be liable if your practice has a policy to monitor media sites and fails to do so (or fails to act on information discovered through monitoring). Inappropriate, derogatory, or disparaging postings should be removed at your discretion -- err on the side of caution.
Maintain final approval on postings, even if you designate an employee to monitor and manage social media. Employees shouldn't speak on the practice's behalf unless you have authorized them to do so.

Note: These rules can be found here.

We must embrace change and new technology to grow and thrive in our digital world.

Editor's note: References available upon request.

Estela Vargas, CRDH, is the founder and CEO of Remote Sourcing, a dental insurance billing and revenue recovery service. She is a graduate of Miami Dade College's dental hygiene program. Vargas' extensive background in the clinical arena of dentistry is coupled with her experience as a practice administrator and business executive.

The comments and observations expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the opinions of DrBicuspid.com, nor should they be construed as an endorsement or admonishment of any particular idea, vendor, or organization.