Dental Policy and Process Integration

All Dental Practices need solid foundations that underpin their operation which is achieved by the implementation of well considered operational Policy and Procedures.  These must be clear, concise, legally correct and easy to follow. All too often we find businesses operating on custom and practice with evidence of poor compliance, resulting in avoidable risk and loss.  As a consequence, they are also exposed to otherwise aviodable legal and financial impacts.  

Practice owners have a clear duty of care to ensure that all aspects of their business are managed to the highest standards and their environment is safe for all those who enter their premises or use their services.  Far from being a cumbersome or negative process the introduction or update of Policy and Procedures presents a positive opportunity to instil legal and operational compliance, accountability, best practice and of course a first class patient experience.

There are a number of organisations offering off-the-shelf procedural packages, but these tend to be of a generic nature and are not tailored to the individual needs of a business.  It is therefore essential that Policy and Procedures match all aspects of the operation, with revision and issue controls, also reflecting the brand of the Practice. 

Having implemented your procedural package it is then vitally important that they are accessible to all members of the team. This can be achieved by producing hard copies which are then made available or, if an appropriate IT infrastructure is in place, they could be published on the internal network. It goes without saying that the process will need to be carefully managed and an appropriate person should be appointed to control this process.