Care Commit Connect: Case Study
Care Commit Connect
Introduction
Problem Statement
In the United States of America, people have access to best oral care. There are standards and protocols imposed on dental business. Yet, millions of people in America do not get basic dental care or they end up getting over treatment. Private equity firms own most of the dental businesses. Dental business is one of the most profitable businesses. Dental business owners are top 1% earners in United States. Management puts a lot of pressure on dentists to produce more. The primary goal for management and dentists has become finding loopholes with insurance and maximizing production. Unnecessary and over-treatment have become a common practice. Dental treatment is expensive. We serve a low income …show more content…
area and most patients cannot afford it. We have been providing dental services over 30 years. We are in the health care business, and we need to ask ourselves, are we doing justice with the profession? Are we responsible if patients do not receive proper care? What should we do when the patient cannot afford the treatment? How much should we trust patient’s finances?
Outcome and Performance
Currently, staff and doctors get paid based on office production. Indirectly we are encouraging staff and dentists to base patient care on production. Patient care should be the company number one priority. Patients are not comfortable to visit a dental office. One of the main reasons is the cost and overtreatment. We are not a non-for-profit organization. We have to balance between patient care and business. Ideally no patient should leave the practice untreated for any reason. We need to set an example to other business by exercising a morally correct approach and still be able to make it a profitable business. We have fifth generation patients as we have a good business name. We need to work on the company philosophy and take it to the next level and have a global outcome. We sell happiness by enhancing people’s smiles.
Structure
In order to do justice with the profession everyone needs to understand the need of it. What exactly are we doing wrong? Where is this leading the society? We should be ready for a change. There will be a lot of changes in the organization. We can implement the proposed solution conveniently step by step. We adhere to the dental code of ethics. We do not do wrong treatments or do over billing. The professional dental code of ethics does not define moral ethics. We need to create a code of ethics based on the company philosophy. Moral ethics differ from culture to culture. First, we need to incorporate moral virtue. We can achieve this by offering classes and making it mandatory for everyone and we can offer CE credits. Second, we should change the compensation structure for everyone. The compensation should be based on salary rather than commission. The performance evaluation should be based on the number of patients seen and patient satisfaction. Patient charts should be audited every day. We should present an affordable treatment plan to every patient we see. The treatment plan should not address just the patient’s chief complain, rather it should provide a complete solution. Patient care should not be an option; it should be mandatory. Third, we should advertise the company moral philosophy to attract more patients. We can offer free patient consultation. We should have a sliding fee structure for patients who cannot afford expensive dental treatments. Emphasis should be put on patient education; we can set up camps and school visits and take part in the local community affairs. Finally, we should change company hiring policy. We should make community experience a requirement for any position.
Representation of Data
The success of the project can be measured through conducting surveys. Every patient should be encouraged to fill out a survey. Currently, we have approximately 10,000 active patients. Every month we should discuss the practice analysis report. We should do a comparison with last year’s data. When we offer free patient consultation we might be losing some revenue, but there should be a significant increase in comprehensive dental procedure revenue. Overall revenue should increase. When we start seeing more patients, company expense will not increase we can compare previous year’s expense sheet with current. We should have 360 feedback forms every three months, in which every employee should be able appraise other employees. Every patient referral report should be analyzed periodically. We should be able to see the difference in patient count through word of mouth.
Methodology and Findings
Theoretical and Empirical Evidence
Providing health care is a noble profession. Oral health is an essential part of overall health. Dentists are doctors who help patients maintain their oral health. In the United States of America, the healthcare business is one of the most profitable businesses. Government cuts of benefits for adult patients make it difficult for patients with low income to maintain their oral health. There are remarkably few dentists who do not consider oral care as a business. It is the responsibility of dentists to provide comprehensive treatment to patients. Every profession comes with responsibilities. Dentists that chose dentistry as a profession should provide complete care for patients and should be held responsible. It comes down to moral virtues of a dentist to provide a complete solution to patients based on their financial situation which might be compensating fewer. This cannot be taught to a person they have to be caring habitually. It is necessary for a dentist to be morally right in order to care, commit and connect to a patient.
We have to take ownership and responsibility to make the society morally correct. We will have a good name for business. We have to become a role model for the society. This solution will help us attract more patients by providing honest, comprehensive and less expensive treatments. We can approach Federally Qualified Health centers, in order to provide comprehensive services irrespective of the patient’s ability to pay. Some dental offices are integrating with Federal Qualified Health Centers, a few dentists set up dental camps with free consultation periodically and try to educate patients. Many solo practitioners have lowered their fees to be able to see patients with low income. Many offices have tried reducing expense in order to able to see patients at low cost.
Comparison with Other Methods
Some of the other alternate solutions could be integrating with federally qualified health centers which will take a lot of time, allocating budget every year for delivering free treatment to qualified patients, performing mobile dentistry with proposed companies approach and starting in-house insurance programs.
Conclusion and Recommendations
Limit and Scope of System
We can implement the proposed solution at one location; within one, year we should be able to see the difference in the company’s financial report. We have to take ownership and judge the patient’s honesty. Maximizing the location’s capacity will increase revenue and we should be able to cover the cost.
References
Heath, D., Rosenbaum, J. (2012, June 26). The business behind dental treatment for America’s poorest kids. The Center for Public Integrity. Retrieved from http://www.publicintegrity.org/2012/06/26/9187/business-behind-dental-treatment-america-s-poorest-kids
Heath, D. (2013, January 8). Dollars and Dentists. Retrieved from
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/health-science-technology/dollars-and-dentists/texas-legislator-proposes-crackdown-on-for-profit-dental-chains/
Sanders, B. (2012, February 29). Dental Crisis in America. Retrieved from http://www.sanders.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/DENTALCRISIS.REPORT.pdf
Introduction
Problem Statement
In the United States of America, people have access to best oral care. There are standards and protocols imposed on dental business. Yet, millions of people in America do not get basic dental care or they end up getting over treatment. Private equity firms own most of the dental businesses. Dental business is one of the most profitable businesses. Dental business owners are top 1% earners in United States. Management puts a lot of pressure on dentists to produce more. The primary goal for management and dentists has become finding loopholes with insurance and maximizing production. Unnecessary and over-treatment have become a common practice. Dental treatment is expensive. We serve a low income …show more content…
area and most patients cannot afford it. We have been providing dental services over 30 years. We are in the health care business, and we need to ask ourselves, are we doing justice with the profession? Are we responsible if patients do not receive proper care? What should we do when the patient cannot afford the treatment? How much should we trust patient’s finances?
Outcome and Performance
Currently, staff and doctors get paid based on office production. Indirectly we are encouraging staff and dentists to base patient care on production. Patient care should be the company number one priority. Patients are not comfortable to visit a dental office. One of the main reasons is the cost and overtreatment. We are not a non-for-profit organization. We have to balance between patient care and business. Ideally no patient should leave the practice untreated for any reason. We need to set an example to other business by exercising a morally correct approach and still be able to make it a profitable business. We have fifth generation patients as we have a good business name. We need to work on the company philosophy and take it to the next level and have a global outcome. We sell happiness by enhancing people’s smiles.
Structure
In order to do justice with the profession everyone needs to understand the need of it. What exactly are we doing wrong? Where is this leading the society? We should be ready for a change. There will be a lot of changes in the organization. We can implement the proposed solution conveniently step by step. We adhere to the dental code of ethics. We do not do wrong treatments or do over billing. The professional dental code of ethics does not define moral ethics. We need to create a code of ethics based on the company philosophy. Moral ethics differ from culture to culture. First, we need to incorporate moral virtue. We can achieve this by offering classes and making it mandatory for everyone and we can offer CE credits. Second, we should change the compensation structure for everyone. The compensation should be based on salary rather than commission. The performance evaluation should be based on the number of patients seen and patient satisfaction. Patient charts should be audited every day. We should present an affordable treatment plan to every patient we see. The treatment plan should not address just the patient’s chief complain, rather it should provide a complete solution. Patient care should not be an option; it should be mandatory. Third, we should advertise the company moral philosophy to attract more patients. We can offer free patient consultation. We should have a sliding fee structure for patients who cannot afford expensive dental treatments. Emphasis should be put on patient education; we can set up camps and school visits and take part in the local community affairs. Finally, we should change company hiring policy. We should make community experience a requirement for any position.
Representation of Data
The success of the project can be measured through conducting surveys. Every patient should be encouraged to fill out a survey. Currently, we have approximately 10,000 active patients. Every month we should discuss the practice analysis report. We should do a comparison with last year’s data. When we offer free patient consultation we might be losing some revenue, but there should be a significant increase in comprehensive dental procedure revenue. Overall revenue should increase. When we start seeing more patients, company expense will not increase we can compare previous year’s expense sheet with current. We should have 360 feedback forms every three months, in which every employee should be able appraise other employees. Every patient referral report should be analyzed periodically. We should be able to see the difference in patient count through word of mouth.
Methodology and Findings
Theoretical and Empirical Evidence
Providing health care is a noble profession. Oral health is an essential part of overall health. Dentists are doctors who help patients maintain their oral health. In the United States of America, the healthcare business is one of the most profitable businesses. Government cuts of benefits for adult patients make it difficult for patients with low income to maintain their oral health. There are remarkably few dentists who do not consider oral care as a business. It is the responsibility of dentists to provide comprehensive treatment to patients. Every profession comes with responsibilities. Dentists that chose dentistry as a profession should provide complete care for patients and should be held responsible. It comes down to moral virtues of a dentist to provide a complete solution to patients based on their financial situation which might be compensating fewer. This cannot be taught to a person they have to be caring habitually. It is necessary for a dentist to be morally right in order to care, commit and connect to a patient.
We have to take ownership and responsibility to make the society morally correct. We will have a good name for business. We have to become a role model for the society. This solution will help us attract more patients by providing honest, comprehensive and less expensive treatments. We can approach Federally Qualified Health centers, in order to provide comprehensive services irrespective of the patient’s ability to pay. Some dental offices are integrating with Federal Qualified Health Centers, a few dentists set up dental camps with free consultation periodically and try to educate patients. Many solo practitioners have lowered their fees to be able to see patients with low income. Many offices have tried reducing expense in order to able to see patients at low cost.
Comparison with Other Methods
Some of the other alternate solutions could be integrating with federally qualified health centers which will take a lot of time, allocating budget every year for delivering free treatment to qualified patients, performing mobile dentistry with proposed companies approach and starting in-house insurance programs.
Conclusion and Recommendations
Limit and Scope of System
We can implement the proposed solution at one location; within one, year we should be able to see the difference in the company’s financial report. We have to take ownership and judge the patient’s honesty. Maximizing the location’s capacity will increase revenue and we should be able to cover the cost.
References
Heath, D., Rosenbaum, J. (2012, June 26). The business behind dental treatment for America’s poorest kids. The Center for Public Integrity. Retrieved from http://www.publicintegrity.org/2012/06/26/9187/business-behind-dental-treatment-america-s-poorest-kids
Heath, D. (2013, January 8). Dollars and Dentists. Retrieved from
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/health-science-technology/dollars-and-dentists/texas-legislator-proposes-crackdown-on-for-profit-dental-chains/
Sanders, B. (2012, February 29). Dental Crisis in America. Retrieved from http://www.sanders.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/DENTALCRISIS.REPORT.pdf