The Q- Appointment System: When The Next Appointment is Three Months Away. Dr. James B. Quartey Dental Director Gonzales Community Dental Center 228 St.

Slides:



Advertisements
Similar presentations
The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured
Advertisements

Seniors Oral Health. Seniors Oral Health Introduction Maintaining healthy teeth and gums at any age is an important part of preserving your overall good.
Oral Health Education Ms Nomhle Plank Oral Health Sub-directorate.
Dentistry The Teeth, Gums, and Mouth Wesley S. Mullins, D.D.S. November 23, 2004.
CROC: Taking a Bite Out of Early Childhood Cavities on the Eastern Shore National Primary Oral Health Care Conference December 9-13, 2007 San Diego, CA.
Documenting Standards of Care Hilton Hosannah, DDS Region I Dental Consultant.
The National Primary Oral Health Care Conference San Diego 2007 Welcome Everyone National Network for Oral Health Access (NNOHA) John McFarland DDS John.
Information Technology for the Health Professions, Third Edition Lillian Burke and Barbara Weill Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle.
DENTAL CAREERS. Careers in Dentistry The goal of the dental team is to provide optimal care of the oral cavity for all patients Dental team members can.
 That meant a private dentist could hire a dental therapist to practice in a rural area away from the main office (general supervision)  Increased access.
DentalBlue Something to Smile About Lincoln County Health System.
Church Road Surgery Patient Feedback Questionnaire August 2013.
Information Technology for the Health Professions, 2/e By Lillian Burke and Barbara Weill ©2005 Pearson Education, Inc. Pearson Prentice Hall Upper Saddle.
Health Insurance Chapter 41.
By Phylicia Wilde Dental Health Aide Therapist Mountain Village/ Saint Mary’s Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation.
©UFS Horizon Carpentry Your MetLife Benefit Package.
Why do we need teeth? Chew Talk Appearance  Maintaining healthy teeth and gums at any age is an important part of preserving your overall good health.
Veteran Service Organization ‘Officers Day’ December 3, 2010 Fee Basis.
Integrating Oral Health Care into the Management of Children With HIV Infection: Models of Interdisciplinary Care.
Why do we need teeth? Chew Talk Appearance  Maintaining healthy teeth and gums at any age is an important part of preserving your overall good health.
Chapter 36 Scheduling. Scheduling  Setting appointments for specific times. Is challenging Key to a smooth running office good interpersonal and.
Bursledon Surgery FLU SEASON If you are 65 years or older, have a chronic disease like heart disease, diabetes or have a respiratory or an auto immune.
EaSY Does It: E xpansion of S ervices to your Dental Program’s Y oungest Patients Scott Wolpin, DMD Chief of Dental Services Choptank Community Health.
The Indian Health Service Early Childhood Caries (ECC) Initiative
New Opportunities for Integrating Oral Health into the Medical Setting No Tooth Left Behind… Joyce Starr Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
Texas Health Steps Provider Training Welcome to DentaQuest! We look forward to working with you to make Texas smile. 2.
By Suzi, Kim, and Carly. Offices operate from either privately owned base or large complexes of specialists. One doctor/specialist to a large amount of.
Colorado Oral Health Network & Web-based Resources HRSA HDC National Primary Oral Health Care Conference August 8, 2005 Colleen Lampron, MPH.
A Systemic and Coordinated Approach to Offering Oral Health Care Services to Amish Population with High Incidence of Hemophilia Tamar Diamond D.M.D. Scenic.
Copyright © 2011, 2009, 2003 by Saunders, an imprint of Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 1 Chapter 3 Appointment Scheduling.
Introduction to Appointment Scheduling
Oral Health in Maine: Facts & Figures, August 2005 Judith A. Feinstein, MSPH Director, Maine Oral Health Program ME Center for Disease Control & Prevention.
Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention University of Wisconsin Medical School Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Centers Linking Together to.
1 DA117 Practice Management Appointment Management Systems.
Results From The 2000 Tri-Service Recruit Oral Health Survey Lt Col Gary “Chad” Martin, USAF, DC LTC Bruce B Brehm, USA, DC CDR Thomas M Leiendecker, DC,USN.
DOCUMENTATION OF PATIENT’S RECORD
Overview of Dental Benefits by Delta Dental of California – Salinas Education Center Certificated.
Reaching the Healthy People 2010 Objectives for Rural Children: Facilitators and Barriers for Reaching Healthy People 2010 Goals. Elaine Jurkowski, MSW,
Chapter 12 Recall Systems Copyright © 2011, 2006 Mosby, Inc., an affiliate of Elsevier. All rights reserved.
Community Dental Center The best kept secret in Ann Arbor.
Delivering Better Oral Health version 3
Health Establishments at Local Schools. What is HEALS? HEALS provides school- based primary medical, dental and social services to children. We provide.
Dr Hidayathulla Shaikh.  At the end of the lecture student should be able to –  Define dentist and dental auxiliary  Classify auxiliary  Discuss all.
Doctor, my tooth hurts: The cost of incomplete dental care in the emergency room By Elizabeth E. Davis, Ph.D. Amos S. Deinard, M.D., M.P.H. Eugenie W.
Information Technology in Dentistry Chapter 9. Education Online education for professionals Computer-generated treatment plans for patients Virtual reality.
Dr. Arthur A. Kezian DDS 443 N. Larchmont Blvd Los Angeles, CA (323)
The National Primary Oral Health Care Conference ATLANTA 2005 Welcome Everyone National Network for Oral Health Access (NNOHA) John McFarland DDS John.
By- Florence Dentistry. What is Periodontal disease? ‘Gum’ or periodontal disease has several different levels of progression. Stage I -GingivitsGingivits.
Seniors Are At High Risk For Cavities BeforeAfter.
One of the main dental services offered by an emergency dentist Anchorage AK is the extraction of tooth. Though the main reason of Anchorage tooth extraction.
SPANISH OBSERVATORY FOR ORAL HEALTH First quarter 2015.
Fluoride is a substance found in water as well as numerous types of foods. Even so, the majority of American children don’t consume enough fluoride for.
Root Structure and Supporting Tissue. Permanent teeth-root numbers Incisors and cuspids have 1 root Premolars have 1 root except Max 1 st which has.
Copyright © 2012, 2009, 2005, 2002, 1999, 1995, 1990, 1985, 1980, 1976 by Saunders, an imprint of Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 1.
Introduction to Dental Implant Uppal Dental Care Hayward,CA
SMILE DENTAL CARE SMILE DENTAL CARE TREATMENTS A COMPLETE DENTAL SOLUTION.
Kristine E. Hynes, DDS Oral Health Director
Dental Patient Satisfaction Survey
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
PRACTICE-BASED RESEARCH: CHC vs Private Practice Perspective
General Dentistry in Dubai
Dental Patient Satisfaction Survey
What is Root Canal Root canal treatment is the process of removing the inflamed or infected pulp tissue from within the tooth.
Muskegon Family Care: New Advances in the Treatment of Adult Patients
HEALTH CENTER FUNDAMENTALS
Southeast Lancaster Health Services
Dental Clinic
Cosmetic Dentistry - Dental Crowns & Invisalign Braces
Things to Avoid During a Root Canal Treatment
This presentation uses a free template provided by FPPT.com
Presentation transcript:

The Q- Appointment System: When The Next Appointment is Three Months Away. Dr. James B. Quartey Dental Director Gonzales Community Dental Center 228 St. George Street Gonzales, Texas 78629

Objectives To design an appointment system that takes medical and other “special needs” into consideration when making appointments. Participants will be able to describe the “Q” appointment system. Participants will be able to identify the advantages and disadvantages of the “Q” appointment system. Participants will be able to design and utilize the “Q” appointment system in their practices.

“Q” Appointments: Q is for Quality It is not uncommon for the next available appointment to be three to six months away at community and migrant health centers. This creates a problem for the conscientious dentist or hygienist who knows the optimal treatment for a particular patient will be to see that patient within a month or less. The present appointment system at most community health centers (CHC) is determined by “administration” (i.e., the receptionist gives appointments on a first come first serve basis). Whereas “administrative appointment” system works well in private practice and at CHC’s where appointments are available within a month, they do not serve the patient or the provider well when the next available appointment is routinely a month or more away. The “Q” appointment system is an attempt to correct this problem by reserving one day per week or one week per month, to be filled by the provider based on their patients’ special needs.

SPECIAL NEEDS Cancer Patients Other Major Surgery Candidates Root Canal – early is better Pregnant Women – oral health & pre-term Rampant Caries [or Caries in 3-4 Q] Abscessed Tooth [Antibiotic Resistance] Others (insurance? Travel? Wedding?...)

Standards or Expectation? “The optimum waiting period between appointments or to get a new patient appointment would be less than 6-8 weeks. Emergency patients should be see within 24 hours.” Dr. Jay R. Anderson, Chief Dental Officer, Clinical Quality Improvement Branch, BPHC, HRSA

“Practically speaking, not every patient can get a permanent restoration the day of the RCT. I recommend to patients to get a permanent restoration ASAP, but I feel somewhat comfortable if they have to wait a month.” Dr. Ken Tilashalski, Professor, Department of Diagnostic Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of Alabama at Birmingham

The last day of the week or the last week of every month will be reserved for specific appointments authorized by the dentist. This is to allow the dentist to bring back those patients that had been seen earlier in the month and need follow up appointments as soon as possible. If these slots are not filled up a week before the date, then they revert to “administrative appointment” slots and the receptionist will fill them up “as usual”.

These reserved appointment dates may be used for root canal therapy, surgical extraction, and patients who have several decayed teeth or urgent needs (e.g., extractions before surgery; children, diabetics or pregnant women with abscessed teeth).

It may also be used as a “buffer” to re- schedule patients who have to be cancelled for unforeseen reasons such as a provider calling in sick, employee meetings, or incremental weather, etc.

Patients who have waited three months for an appointment and are cancelled and re- schedule for another appointment three months away may forget the appointment or become discouraged from seeking routine dental care and resort to visiting the dentist only for emergency care.

How it works 1.Each dentist is given a “blank” appointment form on the 15th of preceding month to fill up and give to the receptionist on the 15th of the following month. The blank appointment form already has the time slots printed on it, and three columns for the patient’s name, chart number and type of appointment/treatment.

2. On the 15th of the month, the receptionist collects the completed forms and enters the appointments in the computer. The receptionist fills up any empty slots. [works best for clinic sites with 2 or more dentists.]

3. To avoid any confusion, those dates should be blocked until opened up by the assigned/authorized receptionist. Only one person, per clinic site, should be assigned/authorized to enter these completed forms and open up the blocked slots. After the slots are open, any other person may fill them up.

NOTE: Toothache (TA) and exam slots will still be filled by the receptionist and not by the dentist/hygienist.

Advantages: 1. Persons who need immediate attention, per the dentist’s clinical judgment, do not have to wait for months for the next available appointment [e.g. Need dental treatment before major surgery; have rampant caries and need to be stabilized; patient with cellulites; need RCT; diabetic and/or pregnant patients; need pulp cap].

2. If for any reason, a dentist cannot show up for work or the clinic has to be closed, patients can be rescheduled within a month. 3.Fewer dissatisfied patients.

4. Fewer broken appointments. The closer the appointment the less likely for patients to forget about it. [About one-fourth of appointments will be in a month or less.]

5.Reduces the disease prevalence/germ load (i.e. number of persons with untreated decayed teeth). Since dental caries and periodontal disease are transmittable diseases, this will reduce the number of “carriers” and benefit the community(?).

6.More treatment plans will be completed and at a faster pace (especially for RCT patients). 7.Greater job satisfaction for providers. [Have some direct control over appointments and see more treatment plans completed.]

Disadvantages: 1.Will take longer to get a routine appointment, since open appointments will be reduced. (However, the proportion will not be equal to the number of reduced slots, since some of these patients will be receiving the reserved appointments.) 2.Some dissatisfied patients, because of longer wait for routine appointments.

Software Requirement: A computer system that allows the dental director or an assigned/authorized receptionist to block out the last or first week of every month, and open those appointments as needed.

SIZE MATTERS 1 dentist-clinic – “Q” system a must 2 dentists-clinic – should have system 3 dentists-clinic – may have system 4 dentists-clinic – “Q” not needed, but …

Conclusion: The Q- Appointment System allows the provider to determine which patient has a medical necessity to override administrative appointments. It also provides a buffer for unforeseen circumstances such as absence of the provider for any reason or incremental weather.

Root Canals Torabinejad, Ung & Kettering JOE 1990;16: used root canals obturated with lateral compaction and placed a bacterial mixture over the exposed gutta percha (to simulate bacteria in saliva on a tooth with no restoration). They reported complete bacterial penetration (Staph epidermidis) to the apex in 19 days in 50% of the cases.