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Your Downtime Office Checklist For Your Team

by | Mar 21, 2020 | Dental Practice Management, Office

Many of us have had no choice but to shut the doors of our dental practices due to COVID-19. We understand that it’s an unsettling time, but do not let your nerves or the unknown get the best of you. There are still plenty of opportunities to keep not only yourself but your practice and team busy. 

At YAPI, our team has compiled a checklist that you can start implementing today. In fact, we have so many ideas to share with you we are going to send you a series of blog posts over the next week! 

Not only will these tasks on this checklist keep you and your team occupied, but they will also help keep your practice running smoothly. We anticipate that by the end of this checklist, you will be more hopeful and better prepared once your practice can open it’s doors back up full-time. 

 

Keep Your Teammates Occupied 

We know that a tight-knit team means everything. During this time, you want to do everything you possibly can to keep your team strong and together. While we understand there may be financial strains, and some teammates may not be able to work full-time, do what you can to create unity, all while still being mindful of social distancing. 

 

 ✔ Rotate Your Team

Chances are you have the practice partially open for emergencies. It’s a good idea to have your Office Manager on-site, as they can still help run and facilitate practice necessities. Take this opportunity to rotate other team members. Follow policy for your area on the number of people allowed per facility, but try allowing selected teammates to come into the practice on certain days. This will help to maintain a sense of normalcy for all of your team members. 

 

 ✔ Conduct Virtual Huddles and Still Hold Meetings

You can still hold morning huddles as well as other team meetings through video chat. Look into Google Hangouts, Zoom Meetings, or Skype. Your teammates will appreciate seeing familiar faces and engaging in conversation. This is a great time to review together SOPs, your employee handbook, and other protocols that you never have time for. This will help you streamline your practice once things go back to normal. 

 

 ✔ Reach Out To Your Patients 

Task your team with doing things such as taking a few moments to send a personalized note to your patients, letting them know that you are thinking of them. This gesture will go a long way to create loyalty and trust among them. At this time, reaching them via email or a personalized text message would be most appropriate. If you use YAPI, you can even send a personalized text with an emoji. Look over our YAPI Emoji Guide.

 

 ✔ Improve Your Software Knowledge

A wise man once said, without knowledge, action is useless. Take this time for you and your staff to get better equipped with your software. Make sure everyone is comfortable with your PMS. If you use other software such as YAPI, call our Customer Success team and take advantage of additional training at no charge. YAPI offers a lot of functionality you may not fully utilize, like uploading and sending custom newsletters and creating custom canned responses for patient texts. We are here to help! 

 

 ✔ Reach Out To The Community

In times such as these, we need to establish unity and come together as a society. Have a team member stay active with your practice’s social media by reaching out to your local community and keeping people updated on how your practice is handling the situation. Be creative on Instagram and take this as an opportunity to repost and share other’s posts from your local community. Focusing on the greater good during this time will let your community know that you are there for them. This is a time when sharing stories of kindness and generosity are the most important. 

 

 ✔ Do An Office Declutter

Now is the perfect time to declutter. Go through and shred old charts and data that are no longer needed. It may also be a good time to think about transitioning the office to a paperless environment. A paperless office will be much easier and cleaner to maintain and will significantly reduce tasks such as data entry. You will also have easier access to your records off-site, not just for emergencies, but while you are away on vacation or need to look over records on a weekend. Once you reopen your doors, your practice will run much more smoothly as you play catch up with your patients. 

 

Enjoying your read so far? Great! Start implementing these tips and stay tuned for Part 2, coming very soon! 

In the meantime, check out these related articles about COVID-19. 

 

 

 

COVID-19 HelpCenter Resources for YAPI Users (Must be logged in to access)