Today’s dental care providers must invest in expanding their services and reaching out to other areas. Technology is constantly evolving and practitioners should keep up with adopting new diagnostic and treatment methods. There is also increasing competition among existing and new dental clinics.
An oversupply of practitioners has been reported in some areas across the country. This is not the case in Florida where roughly five million people lack access to dental services. For every single practitioner, there are about 3,000 people who may need dental care at some point. In response, Florida has introduced measures such as introducing dental therapy and inviting dentists out of state. Until then, existing practitioners will still need to improve their services and provide quality dental care to a larger market.
Here are a few tips that can help you accomplish these goals:
Adopt telemedicine
Over the past two years, medical establishments have doubled down on telemedicine. This technology allows practitioners to engage patients remotely. Using their smartphones and other mobile devices, patients can conveniently schedule appointments and ask for advice from their doctors without having to leave their homes. This makes telemedicine a safer and easier means for seniors and patients with pre-existing conditions to access essential healthcare services.
Dentists can also harness the advantages of telemedicine to improve patient experiences. Through a system known as teledentistry, a practitioner can ask questions about a patient’s dental situation as well as their lifestyle choices that may have a significant impact on their oral health. Patients can also send over pictures of their oral x-ray results so dentists can detect serious dental damage that requires minor surgery. This helps save time and reduces the number of in-person visits patients will need to make.
Invest in staff training
The success of your practice relies on a dedicated team of dental assistants and administrative aides. For this reason, you need to invest time and effort in looking for specialists who can work immediately after being onboarded. This is a challenge since Florida is experiencing a workforce shortage in at least 63 out of 67 counties.
With this in mind, practitioners should consider upskilling their workforce. Learning new skills and handling the latest dental tools can improve clinical outcomes. Training current staff members can boost efficiency and increase the demand for essential services. In most cases, the lack of dental specialists could discourage patients from seeking treatment. By investing in continuous education, you can equip your practice with the relevant skills it needs to attract people, especially those with complicated cases.
Take part in local education
Workforce challenges could be one of many factors that have positioned Florida near the bottom of the list of states with the best oral health. Along with a shortage of dentists, citizens are also seeing high dental care costs. Taking all this together, residents may have found enough reason to refuse checkups and treatments. As a result, the Florida Department of Health reported that 45.8% of adults in 2018 had their teeth removed due to gum disease.
While lawmakers are doing their part to address the shortage, you can do yours by informing the public about the importance of guarding their oral health. You can do this using social media. Use Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to publish valuable information about oral diseases. You can also start a YouTube channel where you can publish tutorials for adopting good oral habits. To make the most of your online advocacy, consider getting a South Florida video production company to help you create high-quality content on TikTok and Snapchat.
Come up with new services
Your practice will thrive through innovation since more people are likely to visit your clinic if it offers the services they need. One of the reasons they are unable to seek dental treatment is due to the unavailability of services across areas like orthodontics and pediatric dentistry. Bringing such services closer to the locals in your community can make a difference.
Focus on expanding your services that can cater to uninsured patients. If you service a more affluent area, you can offer cosmetic dental services such as teeth whitening and cosmetic bonding. Diversifying your services provides the community with more options and helps your practice scale.
Despite the underlying problems that the dental industry is facing in Florida, local practitioners can still find valuable opportunities for growing their clinics and helping citizens realize the importance of guarding their oral health. Apply these tips and push your practice front and center.
