Where Are You Rusty in Your Dental Practice?

Talking with the Toothcop

I recently realized it’s been so long since I’ve played my guitar that the strings have started to rust. It’s sad and embarrassing to realize I’ve let something I love that’s important to me get forgotten. But it made me question: Where do you have rusty strings in your dental practice? Where are you not putting in the energy and effort into things that you should be? Have you let the things that are important to you go to the wayside? In this episode of Talking with the Toothcop, our goal is to bring you back to your current reality.

Outline of This Episode

• [0:22] Where do you have rusty strings?
• [2:23] You have to sweat the little things
• [6:22] Take a moment for self-reflection
• [8:26] Get on my schedule for a chat!

Where are your rusty strings?

We’ve had a lot of distractions with the pandemic. Because of this, I’ve seen a lot of “rusty strings” in dental practices. People are forgetting to do a step-wedge test for their x-ray machines. They’re forgetting medical emergency training and preparedness. Many people are just going through the motions.

In every sedation inspection that I’ve done recently, everyone has had grossly expired equipment. These people are filling out their checklists but not really paying attention—which defeats the purpose of the checklist! Some of these things expired pre-pandemic.

You have to sweat the little things

Think about everything that happened in the last year. All of your energy and focus may have gone into keeping your practice afloat. It begs the question—is there something you can do to prepare for the next pandemic?

When a crisis happens you focus on priority #1. With COVID, it was infection control. But you still have to focus on step-wedge testing and check for expired drugs. You still have to do your OSHA and HIPAA training. These things are basic and don’t require much effort to do. But all of the focus was on the pandemic.

Maybe this won’t happen again in our lifetime, but other things will happen. You need to focus on the things that you still need to be doing and don’t forget the little things, or they will morph into bigger problems. It’s always the little things that fall through the cracks.

Take a moment for self-reflection: mental checklist

Take a moment to think through where you’re at right now. Did you do your HIPAA security risk assessment? Have you done your OSHA training? Have you done emergency training? What are the things you need to be doing regularly? Are you on top of everything? What are the things that you’re missing? Figure it out and get back on track.

We aren’t bringing this up to shame anyone. But it’s easy to get caught up in the moment, and it’s important to take a breath and realign. Take a mental inventory, make a list of what you need to catch up on, and execute.

Are you stressed and don’t know where to start? Head on over to DentalCompliance.com and get on my schedule for a complimentary consultation. Just fill out a simple form, and Andrea will get you on my schedule for 30 minutes of my undivided attention. Then you can ask all of the questions you want.

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