“Green 80, Green 80, Hut-Hut.” The Dental Office Morning Huddle.

“Green 80, Green 80, Hut-Hut.” The Dental Office Morning Huddle.

 

Morning Huddle with auxiliary and reception staff

Insurance work-sheet

Just like football, the Morning Huddle, no not the daily email in your inbox from the ADA, but the one you perform every day before you start your work. Yes that one, It is an essential part of every organized practitioners day.

The morning huddle is simply a physical review of your patient schedule and the tasks necessary to help complete the schedule. It’s necessary for a productive and smooth day and when you have a team assisting in the process it’s necessary for all the team members to know the plan. Generals in the military huddle together with their soldiers, physicians and nurses they do it at the start of their shift, it’s part of performing rounds, and dentists do it in their offices. Some hospital physicians will walk around together as a team to examine and complete simple tasks like wound inspection and wound-care, at bedside. Nurses often sit at a table to report to the next nurse on the shift. It’s certainly something as practitioners we need to utilize to maintain efficiency in our work environment.

Early on in private practice I instituted the morning huddle.  It helped me and my team accomplish the tasks for the day with the least amount of disruption. It’s a form a planning and we all know the saying “If you fail to plan then you plan to fail”. Having a plan and sharing it with your team is important because it helps you accomplish the goals set out for the day. Avoiding snags in the daily schedule, allowing everyone the smoothest workday possible, makes for a nicer work environment. This means I need to be fully organized in my own thoughts and knowledge before the huddle. During the huddle we review the gathered information the staff collected to schedule and prepare the patient for their visit and I have the practice management software open to the schedule.

The Morning Huddle functions like this:

·      Allow 20-30 minutes for the morning huddle, it gives us time to review protocols and processes the staff need a refresher on. I will review new regulations and laws that impact the way we provide care. We also review how to handle difficult situations they have encountered with patients, patient’s family and insurance company representatives or vendors.

·      Reviewing the type of appointment created by the reception staff which is based on the information they obtained from the patient.

·      Obtaining positive medical history information that will impact the patients appointment and ultimately their treatment.  

·      Receptionist alerts the clinical staff to prepare and insure that all necessary supplies are available.

·      Receptionist works with the patient insurance work sheet at hand for reference and utilizes this to apprise the patient and the team of the patient’s financial responsibilities. Minimizing surprises for everyone and keeping patients satisfied. People prefer to be prepared and informed and we want them to know that we are committed to obtaining the most accurate information we can from their insurance carrier. Infrequently, for one reason or another financial surprises occur, mainly due to staff being misinformed by the patient or their insurance carrier representative.

·      Obtain outpatient test results such as pre-op blood work, pathology results, microbiology, radiology reports and other test results.

·      Assuring the staff relay complete and accurate pre-operative instructions, particularly because many patients need a personalized and individualized approach.

 

Patient Insurance worksheet

Financial Policies form

Utilizing this practice management protocol hasn’t completely eliminated surprises throughout the day but it does significantly reduce them. Any policy or procedure we can implement in our work-day that allows for an efficient and smooth and harmonious experience will keep everyone happier.  

The Girldoc😉