Prepare your practice for staff absences with Dentally

We continue to support you and your practice whilst you prepare for a worst-case scenario of 25% staff absence in the face of the increasing levels of the COVID-19 Omicron variant and the challenge this presents. We can help you to get the best out of Dentally to improve your practice processes and minimise the effects of staff and patient isolation periods on your business.

With Dentally, you can rest assured that you and your practice managers will have all of the necessary tools to keep on top of absences within the practice due to isolation - whether that be staff sickness/ 7 or 10 days isolation periods or patient isolation leading to cancellations. 

Staff Isolation

As a dental practice, is it likely that at some points during the current Omicron challenge, team members will have to self-isolate. 

As a business, this can seem like a daunting thought with cancellations, rearrangements and potentially unhappy patients. 

Dentally can help - your team can easily manage diaries, keep patients up to date and reschedule appointments as efficiently as possible. Assisted by several tools within Dentally, designed to take the stress out of daily practice life, you can be confident that your practice is prepared to deal with unexpected absences. 

Don’t forget that with Dentally, if your team need to work remotely because they have to self isolate but are still able to work as they are symptom-free or because they are looking after a relative at home - they can! We’ll be covering remote working with Dentally in our next blog, focussing on helping practice staff members handle isolation.

Communicate with patients 

Dentally allows you to contact your patients through core communication methods, so you can easily reach them by their preferred method of correspondence. Whether they prefer email or SMS - calls or postal mail - with Dentally you can get in contact with all of your patients.  Keep your patients updated about staff absence, remind them of your practice procedures for social distancing and safety or encourage them to rebook appointments for a later date or with a different practitioner as quickly as possible with our cloud-enabled practice management software. 

Read more about patient communications with Dentally in our blog post here. 

If you keep your patients updated and in the loop, they will be far more understanding than if you don’t. So stay connected with your patients to ensure you retain them in the future and to provide the best possible care to those that need it.

Late cancellations

Another problem the practice may encounter when dealing with the ongoing challenges of Omicron is that your patients may have to isolate themselves too, therefore having to cancel appointments at very short notice.

With late cancellations leaving gaps in your diary, having practice management software in place that can support you and help you fill these gaps is essential. 

The Dentally diary is easy to use and simple to understand - helping you effectively identify gaps in your practitioners day. By using Dentally's features such as the Appointments Report and Recalls, you can fill these appointment times with people who could be overdue for vital oral care, who are not self-isolating. 

It is important during this time that you prepare for more than one practitioner to be absent at once as a result of Omicron - the worst-case scenario. Times of absence can be blocked out in the Dentally calendar so practitioners having to isolate will not accidentally receive new appointments during their isolation period. 

At Dentally, we know that you need supportive practice management software, especially during challenging times. With our easy to understand diary, Appointment Reports and Recalls - you can rest assured that we are here to help you successfully run your business - constantly adapting and evolving with continuous industry changes. Speak to our team now at hello@dentally.co to find out more.