When is the right time to start a family? When is the right time to buy a house? Eighteen months ago, you were ready to build your dream dental practice. Who would have ever predicted - a Pandemic? No one, actually! Covid-19 has thrown a big monkey wrench into your business plan. Business-as-usual is no longer an option - especially when considering personal protective equipment (PPE). 

By now, many dental practices have re-opened or will be soon. The laundry list of preparations for this day, no doubt, was long. Without real guidance, dentists are erring on the side of caution to be as prepared as they can - and feeling the burden in their wallet. We can all agree that Personal Protective Equipment or PPE is extremely hard to find. Once you find it, you’re paying for it - big time. It has been estimated the PPE required for patient care will cost approximately $24 per dental visit. 

Hey, guess what? The ADA is going to bat for you. They have created a PPE code: CDT D1999 - unspecified preventative procedure. I’ve seen some practices charging $10-$25 per visit, they collect the fee up front and submit to insurance only to get denied. Sound reasonable? Maybe to you! My mother in law had a crown prep just before the mandatory shut down.  She had to surrender her mandibular partial for crown fabrication. Three months later when the practice opened back up, of course, nothing fit. It was explained to her how this happened and she was very understanding. When she scheduled her next appointment at checkout, she was required to pay a $25 co-pay for PPE - and will be required to pay it again at her next visit. She did not expect the fee in the first place and has to pay for it again? Well, that did not go over very well…..

Ironically, my-mother in-law is probably the biggest proponent for personal protective equipment - especially right now. You see, my father-in-law, is recovering from lung cancer and is currently receiving immunotherapy. To say they are scared “s***less” about this COVID stuff would be the understatement of the year. They went out on their own and purchased masks and face shields to protect themselves from the things they cannot control - the environment around them. They will celebrate 45 years of marriage on June 17th. 

Preparedness

What do you consider the cost of doing business? Let’s just step away from justifying the added costs of a post-COVID dental practice by charging your patients a PPE fee.  

“What other option do I have?”

Here Are Four Things You Can Do Now:

1. Raise Your Fees. But you must know your numbers first.  What is your current production per hour number?  Nationally, the average production per hour number is $432. Remember, don’t be the cheapest dentist in town; be the best dentist in town. Start attaching a fee for Nitrous.

2. Simplify Your Inventory. In order to manage the inventory you have, you must be able to see it - all of it.  Make a small investment in some tilt bins, Megatubs and Consumables bins. Get one week’s worth of the supplies required for 90% of the dentistry you do out of drawers and into tubs and bins that you can see and reach. Stock every operatory the same way with the same materials! Get everything else out of the op. Make those side cabinets invisible!
   Find one space in your practice where everything else can go. Take everything out of a box and into a clear container. Tip out bins work great!  Label it!  I want to see your inventory costs go down 1-3%.

   Stock your operatories once a week.

   Order once a month.

3. Put Your Best Foot Forward and Eliminate Errors. Checklists are essential. Make sure you have written a simple system for every process in your practice. If you currently have systems and checklists, now is a great time to review and make improvements to them. Check out my blog, Going Kondo

4. Conserve your PPE. I’ve been scouring Facebook posts and seeing that many dentists cannot find the right PPE. Once you find the equipment that you need to protect you and your dental team, you’re going to pay a heftier price! If it costs you an estimated $24 in PPE for every patient visit, then let’s maximize each appointment.  

SET UP YOUR OPERATORIES TO ACCOMMODATE ANY TYPE OF DENTISTRY, IN ANY OPERATORY, AT ANY TIME, ANYWHERE

 By completing a “simpler system for inventory” (step number 1), your operatories are set up to accommodate any type of dentistry, anytime, anywhere, and you have saved yourself both costs in personal protective equipment and also room turn around time. The days of moving patients into a procedure specific operatory are over! The days of, “we can get you back in a few days” are over.    

While we may not be not labeled “the frontline”, we are healthcare providers. It makes more sense to charge a fee for infection control, not PPE. There are many things you can do. I’ve given you four of them. Don’t go another decade before increasing your fees. For dentists, the gorilla of all pandemics is one that is airborne and transmitted through aerosols. COVID-19 will change our profession forever. You are going to lose patients if you charge them a PPE fee, PERIOD! Your patients need to feel safe in your environment but shouldn’t be financially responsible to pay for you to feel safe.  

You will bounce back!