Your dental practice has undoubtedly felt the impact of COVID-19.
But when the dust settles from the crisis, and you begin to adapt to the new normal, people will begin to think about their oral care. Think about everyone who has put off receiving cleanings, checkups, and fillings due to shutdowns!
While you shouldn’t struggle too much to book patients, there might be hiccups along the way. Below are some helpful strategies that can help you bounce back and even thrive in a post-coronavirus world.
How Should You Prepare to Re-Open Your Dental Practice?
As we mentioned a moment ago, there’s likely going to be a backlog of patients needing dental care after emergency shutdowns come to an end. It’s been months, and people have neglected their oral health for too long.
Dental experts have pointed out that before the pandemic, there was a struggle in finding available, quality staff. Now, with time on your side, you can assemble a high-level team capable of efficiently managing the abundance of appointments that will flood your practice.
If you reopen without the personnel to keep things running smoothly, you may stumble out of the gate.
Prepare Your Staff For A New Reality
Now, you might be thinking: “But how can I get my staff ready for a post-COVID practice?”
The answer to this question is straightforward: communication.
A mistake of many practice owners has been a failure to keep in touch with furloughed staff, who would naturally fear the worst. Merely making a phone-call to your temporarily laid-off team members and updating them on where things stand could go a long way….even if it’s to tell them you’re not sure where things stand just yet.
Now, with rumblings about re-openings becoming more frequent, communication is more critical than ever. You can go over game plans, let everyone know about safety/sanitation expectations, and discuss how teamwork can help your practice make up for the lost time.
What to Expect In The Days and Weeks Prior to Re-opening
Frankly, your practice should expect some road bumps before re-opening.
Given the nature of this pandemic, and how scared everybody is, there’s going to be hesitation with dental practices. After all, even though most practitioners keep safe and adhere to strict cleanliness standards, there will always be concerns about the transfer of germs.
Furthermore, there will be worries about having enough personal protective equipment, such as gowns, gloves, booties, caps, and masks. These materials have been diverted to hospitals, and it might be challenging to ensure practices are equipped to stay safe and healthy.
The government should be providing your province, city, town, or region with expectations or guidelines of post-COVID standards and practices. Customers will also likely have an array of questions about what measures are in place to keep them safe.
Be understanding and empathetic with these questions, as well as transparent about what you know and don’t know.
Lastly, expect some hesitation from past patients who usually schedule maintenance checkups and cleanings. Many people are going to be out of work and without dental insurance, unable to afford your services.
So, when you’re trying to schedule appointments right before you re-open, some of your regulars might not be booking with you.
Whether you offer patients workarounds, such as the option to pay in installments, or you lower your prices is up to you. It might make sense to raise prices to make up for any potential loss in business due to the increased unemployment rate.
Your Practice Can Thrive in a Post COVID-19 World
Those in the dental industry have chosen one of the most practical fields of work in the world. No matter the state of the economy, people need their wisdom teeth taken out, cavities filled, and their teeth cleaned.
You’ve built a strong enough client-base to work around any COVID-related issues to successfully bounce back when the shutdown has reached its end. It’s what you do now, proactively, that will help you navigate the murky waters that will exist during life after COVID-19!