When my good friend started working in the hygiene assistant office, she said she was ready to be overloaded. Thought to see 15 patients a day? How is this even possible? We both realized that offices in which Medicaid patients needed to increase the burden of patients to cover their expenses, but never knew how they did it. None of us have ever considered this an alternative to traditional dental practices.
Hygiene assistance programs (AH) are possible and productive. My good friend has been doing this for almost 5 years.
For a smoothly executed AH program, the hygiene and hygiene assistant should work as a team that is relative to each other. Looking ahead to the schedule and sharing procedures are key. It is the responsibility of the assistants to keep track of the schedule and consolidate the procedures. This is the key to success. The assistant will give priority to the sitting patient, taking blood pressure, analyzing the medical history and taking x-rays. While the hygienist is with the patient, the assistant cleans the operators, helps to more deeply record the depth of sensing, helps the sealants or sterilizes the instruments. Both sides come earlier to set up trays and operators. Knowing exactly what needs to be done at each meeting, the schedule will go more smoothly. This limits the time when the hygienist actually needs patients to clean or scale. Many times the hygienist discovers that they follow the instructions of the hygiene helper about which patient they will see further, and allow them to appear online on the assistant team. My friend and her assistant are a great team, they can shake their responsibilities so that you can simultaneously monitor two patients back.
With a hygiene assistant, RDH can move from the development of one operational, to two operators. Patient time is reduced because the assistant performs unhygienic duties. Because of this, patients can be listed faster and less time waiting in the front or in the operating room. The only time my friend had ever heard the complaint was that the patient was waiting to be redeemed to see the dentist, and did not understand why all the other patients kept coming back while they made her wait.
The cash flow then almost doubles due to the fact that there are additional patients with hygiene, but the doctor no longer pays two hygienists ... he still pays one! Assistant wages are more than compensated for as a healthy day’s contribution of hundreds of dollars for practice, not to mention the amount of treatment that is diagnosed on the same day. If the patient cancels or does not show, this is not a huge dilemma, because there are already several other patients on this day. It also helps increase salaries for all employees, so all practice is beneficial.
Now I know what you're asking, “How does the dentist do an exam for each patient?” He doesn't. Legally, patients should only see the dentist every 12 months so that the hygienist can perform hygienic procedures on them. When a hygienist enters the operating room, her assistant already has an x-ray displayed on the screen, and the hygienist checks any suspicious areas as she performs cleaning. If the patient has to pass an exam, if the patient has suspicious areas or complaints of any symptoms, then the hygienist has an assistant who puts the dentist on hold to do the exam when she finishes. A dentist never sees every patient with hygiene.
From what my friend told me, she had some great helpers who knew what was missing in the tray before she even asked for it, and she had other helpers who she had to track down every time they they needed. If the hygienist is not involved in the hiring process of an assistant, then the dentist or office manager, who must work closely with the hygienist, to make sure that the two work together effectively. In order not to put hygienists on a pedestal, a hygienist must make sure that they work honestly and respectably with an assistant. Do not expect the impossible, and do not be afraid to pick up the slack when you are not with the patient, but your assistant is overloaded with dirty tools!
Good hunting!
