Some good news yesterday. No, not just the stimulus package, which hopefully will get through Congress and be signed today. Did you hear about the projection model that all of this shutdown was based upon? How the projections of demise were so large that all of this shutdown was required? And now the creator of that projection model has said, “Oops.” The projection model is way too high, not even close to what’s really happening out there. I guarantee you this. We’ll look at lot more carefully at projection models in the future.
Busy day yesterday. I hope it’s busy for you too. I know that the busyness that we’re talking about may be non-income-producing, but, and I’ll quote Hubbard, “Production is the basis of morale.”
So, what production are we doing? And how can you do some production as well?
First is the schedule. Yup, the schedule each day gives us something to look forward to, challenges to overcome, deadlines to meet. And whether we’re seeing patients or not, the schedule creates our day. The schedule can include exercise, doing a video meeting with your loved ones, having that morning cup of coffee, and doing some of the things for your practice that I’ about to talk about.
At 7:15 AM every weekday morning, we have a Zoom staff meeting. To have a successful staff meeting, you have to have an agenda. It doesn’t have to be complex. But it does have to have some meaning, some direction, some direction that you create. And, of course, you give your staff members opportunities to create as well. Yesterday, Danyel came up with a great idea. While we are calling and rescheduling our patients, we ask them if we can help them. Can we pick up some groceries for them? After all, many of our patients are older and might need the help. Every patient was appreciative of the offer. None took us up on it. That’s okay. We’re there for them. That’s what counts.
What else can you put on the schedule? How about hand writing letters to your patients and mailing them. (yes, the old way, with stationery and a stamp) It doesn’t have to be detailed. You know something about each patient. You can make the letter brief and add a personal note. If you don’t remember, check your case notes. There might be something there. And if you don’t have something personal, that’s fine. Just a letter will brighten someone’s day. Your staff can participate in the letter writing as well. Ours is.
What else? I know I’m repeating myself on some of this. Make a video and send it to your patients, A couple of minutes is all that is necessary. Did you get a Constant Contact account? You don’t even have to do that. One of our members is communicating through Lighthouse 360. We can communicate directly through Dentrix. Find the tools that you already have and use them.
We are in reset button mode right now. We’ve been doing so many things on automatic for so long. Now’s the time to look at every procedure, every system, every aspiration to do something different in your practice, and put the plan in motion to do it.
What about emergencies? You can choose to see them. You can contact your referring dentists and your patients through social media or other forms of communication and let them know that you are there for them and for the community if you choose to provide emergency care. If you want others in your community to know that you’re seeing emergencies, Gilleard Dental Marketing is helping doctors set up a landing page and Google advertising.
Dr. Robert Pick gave a very engaging and entertaining presentation on what he’s doing in his practice. To look at it, click here:https://youtu.be/g4zizAp97-8
You are a specialist. You are at the top of dentistry. And you are at the top of your community. People respect you. They want to hear from you. They want your help. Some might even want to help you.
We will get through this and flourish.