Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

For more information or to place an order please call 0800 169 9692 email sales.uk.csd@carestream.com or visit www.carestreamdental.co.uk © Carestream Dental Ltd., 2012. features of r4 R4 Mobile Direct link to PIN pad Patient Check-in Kiosk Care Pathways Communicator Steritrak E-Forms Patient Journey on-line appointment Booking Text Message and Email reminders Clinical Notes Appointment Book Digital X-Ray Managed Service Practice Accounts Give your patients the freedom to book their own appointments • From a Laptop • From an iPad • From a Smartphone R4PracticeManagementSoftware GIVES YOU MORE Online Patient Appointment Booking allows patients to book appointments online, whenever they want to, or need to, even out of normal surgery hours. While this makes it very convenient for your patients, you still have complete control over who can make the bookings, the types they can book, with who and when. A quick glance will tell you when an appointment has been made so that you are able to accept, refuse or adjust any request. This gives your patients greater accessibility to you and your colleagues with increased feelings of inclusivity and you’ll have fewer missed appointments. F or several years I have been approached by other practice manag- ers, some new to the profes- sion, some not, some having the qualification and others without little or no academic training. I don’t mind an- swering any questions they may have and I will share the knowledge I have gained over my 40 years in the pro- fession with anyone. However, what does concern me is how many contacts I have from colleagues who tell me they know very little about the job and in some areas don’t even know where to start. This I find frightening. How can a manager be expected to lead a team of nurses who are enforced to be qualified, or working towards a qualifica- tion, having not had any aca- demic training themselves? In these days of governing bodies’ expectations of qual- ity, how can this be allowed to happen? It is time that we as a profession look at this role and see where it can be im- proved. Currently, the estimated figure of qualified practice managers stands at 20 per cent, which is appalling. I’m not saying that you should only lead a practice if you have management qualifications in dentistry, but what I am say- ing is I feel there should be a tiered level of training that all managers should be en- forced to study; specifically if they wish to manage a dental practice. Legislation With legislation forever changing, I would imagine that managing a dental prac- tice without any knowledge of dentistry would be quite dif- ficult to come to grips with. Managing a bank is one thing, but managing a dental prac- tice is another thing entirely! I therefore believe we need a minimum level of compulso- ry academic training for those involved in the admin side of our profession. Learning the princi- ples is the basis of a good manager and this will help with the daily running of the practice, whilst helping trans- form the stress and worrying of “if you’re doing it right”! The manager should be confident that the protocols and procedures they put into place are correct. Managing a dental practice Jane Armitage discusses management qualifications ‘How can a man- ager be expected to lead a team of nurs- es who are enforced to be qualified, or working towards a qualification, hav- ing not had any academic training themselves? ’ May 7-13, 201224 United Kingdom EditionDCPs