I have been giving out "New patient packs" for just over a year now and I think they are invaluable. Three main reasons why:
1) "Start as you mean to go on.". The new pt pack makes your consultation (or first emergency appt) so much more comprehensive. So if like me you want to be doing more comprehensive dentistry it makes sense to utilise them. 2) Patients often remember less than half of what you tell them. Having the most important ideas and details in written form to take away avoids this hassle. 3) Everybody likes free things. The pack costs very little to put together but has a very high perceived value. There are many ways of presenting your new pt packs. Up till now I have been using A4 folders to hold it all in. Inside are information sheets With a bit of history about me, the way we book appointments, how to contact us in an emergency, my ethos about photography, our pricelist etc. Also included is an OHI postcard (look out for an upcoming post about these as version 3 are being printed currently). And then finally I included various samples of things like interdental brushes, toothpaste etc. As with all of my other shared documents, the template for my new pt pack can be found in my google drive (go to the useful resources page). The folders I currently use can be seen via the link below which seem to be a reasonable balance between quality and price and allow you to include a business card on the front. When it comes to the samples I just try to include whatever I can find for free or minimal cost. My collection of places to source these can be found here: http://www.drchrisharper.co.uk/blog/do-you-want-free-samples
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You may have seen my post last week about a book I read called "How to be a productivity ninja". It has had a big impact on my daily life. I have scrapped my old "To do" lists and replaced them with a 21st century version on the Google Keep app. I organise my time based on the amount of time available and my attention level (there's no point wasting the mentally best part of the day doing scanning!). I am also now much more thorough in my 5 minute daily planning sessions.
And yesterday I had my first "Ninja session". This consisted of 30 minutes with my surgery door closed (a signal to others that I am busy), the radio off and me working through a weekly planning checklist that I have created for myself. It might sound rather OCD but honestly it was so liberating and the resulting organisational euphoria was quite unexpected! You need to do a bit of ground work before you can actually schedule your first ninja session. Predominantly it involves actually deciding what questions you need to ask yourself etc. The book goes into great detail on this and you can also get a good summary on their website http://thinkproductive.co.uk/productivity-ninja-resources/ My checklist is shown in the photo and if you want to download mine as a template it can be found via my google drive (see here: http://www.drchrisharper.co.uk/useful-resources.html). The ninja session goes a bit like this: 1) I start by checking all "inputs" (areas where there may be information about a task I need to do). These all get considered and added into my google keep. 2) Then I review everything on my google keep, checking my current priorities to see if they are still a priority etc. I check the items on which I am waiting for an action by someone else and I find a task I can delegate. 3) Next comes some "Big Picture Thinking" and overall planning. 4) After that I make sure there isn't an upcoming event or date that I need to organise something for. 5) Now it's time to ask myself some tough questions to really think if I need to approach any tasks in a different way. 6) And the final step relates back to another book I reviewed (the 4 disciplines of execution). I am now logging how many pts have photos taken each week and over time comparing that to my turnover as I believe that in a few months time I will be able to show that there is a strong correlation there. By logging the number it is a regular reminder to use my camera more. This is something I will definitely be incorporating into my weekly routine. Why don't you give it a try? I spotted this book at my library and thought it might be worth reading as I have considered whether I would like to be a foundation dentist trainer at some point in my career. I can see how it could be a very rewarding process.
It's a quick read, only a couple of hours overall and not surprisingly doesn't have any massive revelations in it. However it has been useful for me, mainly to make me think about the formal process of mentoring. It is something that should be carefully considered so that the mentee can get the most from it. I think the information in the book is fairly well summarised on these pages here: |
AuthorDr Chris Harper Archives
August 2020
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