Dentists worldwide are utilizing various technologies which help facilitate teledentistry during this health crisis.
Resources cite that although providers can only do limited exams and treatment planning or virtual consultations, teledentistry maintains patient relations, which is a vital aspect of owning a practice. Teledentistry also provides a way for dentists to work during the worldwide health emergency, but can also be used to enhance the daily operations of your practice under normal circumstances.
Visuals Made Virtual
A huge part of treatment planning with patients is visually presenting the problem, and also showing the solution to keep patients fully informed. For instance, you might show your patient the x-ray of their decay, or walk through the details of a specific procedure using intraoral pictures of their problem area.
Brant Herman, CEO of MouthWatch LLC, writes on Dental Economics points out that virtual treatment planning works well with visuals, as he argues patients understand images better than words alone. Additionally, Herman brings up the point that family members often are the final deciding factor before a patient undergoes a specific treatment. To counter familial disagreement (which is often due to misunderstanding the importance of the treatment), virtual images and videos can be kept on file and saved by the patient for family members’ understanding.
Using Procedure Codes for Your Time
There is a section of procedure codes in the Ontario fee guide that is often overlooked, but can be effectively utilized at a time like this, especially if you are engaging with patients via teledentistry. Patti DiGrangi, RDH, speaks to this in a video addressing the impact of COVID-19 on the dental industry. DiGrangi brings up a few codes that are typically ignored, such as consultation with a medical professional, case management, and oral hygiene instruction.
Maintaining procedure codes and documentation is a priority if you are engaging with patients via virtual means. You can use your dental software at home to make chart notes of virtual meetings between yourself and your patients so when you return to the office, everything is in order, files are easily accessible, and treatment can quickly begin.
