There is this misconception that adding obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) therapy to the dental practice is very difficult. The truth is that it simply doesn’t have to be that way.
For me the key has been getting my TEAM involved and motivated. There are many moving parts to successful sleep apnea implementation. That’s why I have developed a clear 4 step workflow for successful implementation.
What I keep hearing from dentists is that they are struggling to get this going in their practice after taking difference classes. Honestly, what is holding most of them back is these classes have not been TEAM driven.
This frustration and feedback from these dentists has led me to develop what I call the Sleep Apnea SUPER Weekend.
Super weekend is an immersive hands-on experience focused on each team members role in each of the 4 steps to the workflow.
What’s even more important, is that each of these areas is led by one of my office team members. That’s right – team members sharing with team members. Nothing says it’s possible than hearing from your own people who are living it every single day!
Awareness
Awareness begins at the front office, but the brunt of it falls to the hygiene department. We walk through what signs to look for and the verbiage that we use to create awareness in the hygiene department.
We step your team through going from awareness to the next step – diagnosis.
Diagnosis
Let me be ABSOLUTELY clear – obstructive sleep apnea CAN NOT be diagnosed by a dentist. The dental practice serves to assist your patient in getting diagnosed by a sleep physican. This is accomplished through a sleep study. Depending on your comfort level and state laws – a sleep study can be administered throug a dental practice. Alternatively, you can contract with a 3rd party service for the home sleep test or refer your patient directly to a sleep lab.
In the SUPER weekend workshop each attendee will perform a single night HST on themselves (for learning purposes only). The results will be reviewed as a group and we will walk you through ideal language used to review results with your patient.
For me these exercises are the most eye opening portion of the workshop. It really opens your eyes to how much impact you can have on your patients and how much our culture feels that being tired is normal.
Financials & Medical Insurance
One thing I have learned the hard way and through the ‘school of hard knocks’ is that medical insurance plays a large role in sleep apnea therapy. In fact, it’s likely the single step that holds practices back from achieving great success.
That’s why at the SUPER weekend workshop we have dedicated HANDS-ON breakouts for front office team members to learn the nuances of utilizing medical insurance. Whether you plan on medical billing directly or utilizing a third party service – this training is paramount. My experience has shown me that simply turning it over to a third party without understanding it myself will limit your results.
We will also introduce and guide you through our in-office payment plan system that is used to make it easier for patients to say yes to their patient portion.
Treatment
We finally answer which appliance to use! There are many appliances out there and they are all good – certainly some better than others.
In all seriousness, at the SUPER weekend workshop we will HANDS-ON walk you and your team through each step of the treatment process. This includes the treatment position bite, quality impressions, appliance delivery, titration, physician communication letters, and follow up testing.
I’m not going to lie. I am UNBELIEVABLY proud of this workshop and my team. In this workshop we get to show your team what is possible and we see team members leave empowered because they see themselves in my team member. Not just another dental speaker telling them what they should be doing!
If you are serious about getting sleep apnea thriving in your practice and realize that getting your team on board is the missing key – then don’t miss out on the Sleep SUPER Weekend workshop. It’s money and time well spent.
