A major concern I see in practices I have been in is doctor interruption. It seems prevalent in most practices, and a huge concern in many. When is it appropriate to interrupt the doctor and how can we avoid it?
When a dentist is in with a patient, it should be uninterrupted time to focus on that patient. This is the reason we make appointments for patients, so they get the dentist’s full attention and the dentist can focus on the procedure they are performing. When there are interruptions from the team during this one-on-one time, the patient in the chair does not feel like the most important person in the building (as they should), and the dentist gets sidetracked with something other than the treatment and patient at-hand. This should not happen unless it is an emergent situation within the practice.
On rare occasions, it may not be completely inappropriate to interrupt the dentist, but it should be kept to a minimum. A situation I recently witnessed in an office was so far beyond acceptable it had to be addressed with the team at the end of the day. There was a sedation patient in the chair having a long and complicated case completed by the dentist. Managing a sedation patient always takes full focus in addition to the details of a complicated case. During this procedure, the dentist and/or assistant was interrupted at minimum 5 times. This is incredibly frustrating for both the dentist and the assistant. Shifting your focus to answer questions that are not urgent should never happen in this situation. More than one team member interrupted during this procedure and not one of the questions needed to be answered in a timeframe that warranted interrupting the dentist while working (“What do I need to put on the lab slip?”, “The lab is on the phone with a question.”, “Can you call in an antibiotic”?” are some questions that were asked during the interruption). What it did end up doing was putting more stress and pressure on the dentist to stop and refocus multiple times in a very difficult procedure. In these type situations, it should be understood by the entire team that there are to be no interruptions while the dentist is working in long, complicated cases, unless there is a true emergency happening within the office.
How can we avoid these types of interruptions? I am so glad you asked! Empower your team to make decisions, discuss concerns or issues regarding patients for the day in the morning huddle, do a chart review for the patients you are seeing today and ask any questions ahead of time. Basically, be prepared for your day! Also, when you as a team member have a question for the dentist, ask yourself “Is it crucial I get this answer now?” or “Can this answer wait until the doctor finishes this long, difficult procedure?”. Most often, it can wait. It is so easy to tell your patient you will ask Doctor as soon as he/she finishes this long procedure and call them with the answer. Most patients will understand and appreciate the fact you are not unnecessarily interrupting the doctor with another patient. They would appreciate the same type of focus and respect of their time with the dentist as well!
A word of advice, anytime you are faced with a decision in the practice, you should ask yourself two questions. “Is it best for the patient?”, and “Is it best for the practice?”. If the answer is “yes” to both of these questions, you are making a solid decision. Each team member should be trained and empowered to have the autonomy to make decisions within the practice. When the team is trained and feels confident to make good decisions, it should in most cases limit the interruptions for the dentist throughout the day. If a team member does not feel confident to make a decision on their own, make a note of the situation and discuss it with the dentist or another team member when it is appropriate to do so. Learn from each situation you felt unable to handle! Build your knowledge and your confidence every day!
Naturally, if there is a true emergency with another patient or team member in the practice, interrupt the doctor. But otherwise, use your best judgement, make a decision and handle the situation on your own!
