Technology Toolkit

The litigious nature of our society is changing the culture of dental care. Too many practitioners have been forced to think less about what is best for the patient and more about how to best guard against legal action. Dental liability protection doesn’t have to interfere with quality care. A good program of documentation provides substantial protection for any practice.

If You Didn’t Write It, It Didn’t Happen
A malpractice action without proper documentation boils down to “he said, she said” and that is not the best method of dental liability protection. This also leads to the problem of fallible human memory. Are you really going to remember details of an incident that occurred months ago, especially an event that didn’t seem exceptional at the time? Proper documentation is absolutely essential to any modern practice.

While a narrative description of a visit or procedure is a good place to start, it’s not the best method of documentation. Many practices find that using standard forms is a better way to record important information. By filling in each box on the form, the staff is prompted to think about and write down every detail.

No documentation is going to be perfect, but the effort to create an accurate and detailed record will count for a lot in court and is a powerful tool for dental liability protection.

Checklists Lead to Better Care
People aren’t perfect and we all forget to do things. This is especially true when something becomes routine. Our minds get bored and wander and then we lose track of what we’ve done and what we haven’t. You leave for work and can’t remember if you locked the back door. You remember locking it, but maybe that was one of the other thousand times you did. This becomes a huge problem when dental care is involved.

Documentation helps regiment activities, providing a checklist that ensures every step of a procedure is carried out. If the hygienist, nurse or dentist can’t remember if something was done a quick look at the checklist provides the answer. If you didn’t write it, it didn’t happen. This attention to detail not only provides dental liability protection but leads to better care for patients and easier dental staff training.

Dental Practice Software Makes It Easier
While pen and paper are still invaluable documentation tools, advances in dental software have taken much of the drudgery and inaccuracy out of the system. Old software applications were clumsy to use and difficult to learn. They were limited in scope and often had to be supplemented with traditional paper charts.

Today’s software makes documentation a snap, in many cases allowing notes to be taken right at the computer while the patient is being seen. Dental applications are designed to be easy to use without a lot of training or confusing commands. The addition of such a system is a valuable investment that will protect a dental practice from legal action and help provide better patient care.