As a dentist, every time you treat a patient, there’s a chance you could make an error and then have to deal with the malpractice claim that inevitably follows. The best way to protect your practice is by taking a proactive stance toward dental risk management. Below, we will detail the best risk management practices and how to safeguard your dental practice against liability issues like malpractice suits.
Common Risks and Liability Issues for Dental Professionals
No dentist can provide entirely risk-free treatment for their patients. A malpractice claim can result in serious damage to the reputation and financial health of your dental practice. While these lawsuits aren’t as common in the field of dentistry as in standard healthcare, they still happen. Some common patient allegations of malpractice include:
- Error during dental treatment
- Improper treatment technique
- Poor management of patient care
- Performing the wrong procedure
- Incorrect diagnosis
- Causing injury to the patient
The Key Elements of Effective Dental Risk Management
What are the fundamental principles of a risk management strategy for dental practices?
- Identify potential risks
- Assess the likelihood and severity of potential risks
- Remove risks that are possible to eliminate
- Decrease the impact of any remaining risks via containment processes
- Consider the ultimate consequence of unavoidable risks
When you can identify areas where problems could arise, you may be able to prevent them from occurring or at least mitigate the fallout. Pinpoint those areas where your office needs improvement and maintain strong standards of ethics, patient care, and treatment.
The Importance of Risk Avoidance
Risk avoidance starts with education and wise decision making. It consists of many different factors, but the most important include:
Thorough Documentation and Record Keeping
We can’t stress enough how important it is to maintain a factual, thorough, and detailed record system regarding your patients and their treatment plans. It should contain basic information, like contact numbers, addresses, etc., but it also needs to include:
- Health records and dental history
- Allergies or other health conditions
- Current medications
- Diagnostic tests and reports
- Informed consent documents
- Treatment plans, progress, and outcomes
- Clinical judgments
Don’t waste the time and effort a paper-based filing system requires. Instead, upgrade to a digital system, like Dental Intelligence. Not only does it increase dental production, but our Digital Forms allows for safe, secure storage of patient records. In the event of a malpractice claim, you’ll have the correct information and documentation necessary to support your defense.
Clear Patient Communication
Communicating clearly with patients is vital to understand their evaluations and proposed treatments fully. It also allows you to build a strong rapport and dentist-patient relationship.
Establishing that feeling of trust and friendliness among your patient base creates a comfortable environment where they feel safe. People who trust their dentists are much less likely to sue them. Remember that informed consent is a major aspect of communicating with patients and directly impacts your ability to mitigate and avoid risk.
2-Way Communication makes it easy for you to communicate with patients when they aren’t in the office.
Proper Office Management and Standardization
Standardizing basic office procedures ensures consistency and reduces the chance of variations or mistakes during the workday. We don’t just mean for patients; we’re talking about staff, too.
Common risks in the field of dentistry also include problems like HIPAA violations or breaching patient confidentiality. Develop and enforce office guidelines for patient record keeping, phone manners, communicating with patients, cleaning and sanitizing the office, etc.
Maintaining a Valid Insurance Policy
If you own a dental practice, one of the best ways to protect against potential liability issues is by obtaining comprehensive insurance coverage, such as a business owner’s policy (BOP).
A BOP combines commercial liability and property coverage, including insurance for:
- Workers’ compensation
- Commercial property
- Business income
- General liability
- Medical malpractice
Another option is a claims-made policy, which covers malpractice suits while the policy is valid and in effect. An occurrence policy covers malpractice lawsuits even after the holder’s policy ends (it’s expensive but often worth it).
Advanced Solutions for Dental Practice Management
Running a dental practice is no cakewalk. From factors like dental revenue cycle management and finances and dental risk management and patient retention, most dentists have heavy responsibilities. That’s where we can help. At Dental Intelligence, our end-to-end solution make running your practice easier and more efficient than ever. Schedule a demo today and learn more about our innovative software.
