Atlanta-based Benevis has perfected a model of care that is benefiting every role in the office.
The DSO's assisted hygiene delivery model allows dental assistants to handle routine tasks such as patient check-ins, radiographs, updating medical records and escorting patients in and out of the office. This work reduces the administrative load on hygienists and allows them to provide efficient, high-quality care while helping the DSO increase accessibility.
Jane Whang, DDS, the regional director of clinical for Benevis, recently spoke with Becker's about how the company's hygiene model benefits its employees and patients.
Editor's note: Responses were lightly edited for length and clarity.
Question: How long has Benevis been using this assisted hygiene model?
Dr. Jane Whang: Since the beginning. I think that because we see a high volume of patients, it made sense to use this model because we do work differently than a private office and we do serve a different population, a targeted population where there is unpredictability and high volume, so it made sense for us to use this model.
Q: Benevis focuses on serving patients under Medicaid and within underserved communities. How important is this model for serving these populations?
JW: This is one of the many reasons why we were able to do it. Medicaid patients, especially the children, need to be seen, [and] a lot of private offices want to do it, but it's challenging due to the unpredictability of show rates, which hovers around 50%. [This] is a challenge when you're a solo practitioner, but in our model where we have many offices, practitioners and also hygienists who are able to just focus on their position and their role specialty, I think we're able to carry on this model successfully so that we can continue to provide that care for a population that are often underserved. Even when Medicaid reimbursement rates are increased, it doesn't [help as much.] It happened actually in Virginia, where they made this huge increase and we thought, "Oh, that's great. The patients will have more options for practitioners," but it actually didn't happen, unfortunately, because the challenges of serving the population still remain the same, regardless of reimbursement rate. It doesn't offset the challenges.
Q: Did Benevis create this model?
JW: I don't think it's a Benevis-created model, but I like to say we have perfected it. It's a culture we've created at every office where that's the given [and] that's how we see patients. It also allows hygienists to feel more valued with their position because now they're being hired as hygienists. In a lot of dental practice models, they are acting as dental assistants, part sales, part front desk and part hygienist. In our model, they're truly used for the reason they went to school, which is to provide hygiene services for our patients. As a result, they're also able to spend quality time with our patients. A lot of times, because of the volume of patients we see, [it] gives a misconception that hygienists are not able to spend as much time with the patients but they are because of this model. When they are focusing on that, they're able to talk to the patients about oral hygiene and the follow-up care they need, and I think that makes a big difference.
Q: Can you tell me more about some of the reasons it might be more challenging for a private practice to pull something like this off?
JW: If the show rate is 50% when you're scheduling the patients, [and] when you have patients who don't show up at certain time slots, it makes a big difference. And then when we say 50%, it doesn't mean they evenly distribute themselves to come in at the nine o'clock hour and the 10 o'clock hour. It could be 100% show rate at the nine o'clock hour and 0% show rate at the next hour. With this model where the assistants are able to start taking radiographs for the patients so that the hygienist can start doing their tasks, you're able to kind of divide and conquer. So, it's okay, regardless of how the show rate distributes itself.
Q: Is this a big talking point for Benevis when you're trying to recruit more hygienists, and does it affect your retainment?
JW: Definitely. The fact that we also even have a director of hygiene, I think that's important. That's how we value hygienists. She actually even has hygiene leads in different districts to make sure the hygienists themselves are treated as professionals. We all know that it's a reality with COVID. We have a shortage of hygienists where they retired, but they haven't opened up additional hygiene schools, so we are still graduating the same number of hygienists, but there are less hygienists to begin with as a baseline. First of all, we want to keep the hygienists we have so that they feel valued and they remain with us because I know that that's a better experience for our patients, too.
I often say that, as a dentist, they only see me very briefly because I'm doing an exam, or they see me when they need treatment. But hygienists are the ones who they see consistently every six months. That relationship is so important. My goal is that I want the patient to return for their follow-up care. I want them to care about their oral hygiene, so it's important for me that the hygienists are able to forge that relationship with their patients. There's been some data about how, nowadays, dentists have to do more of the hygiene tasks because of the lack of hygienists. With this model, we're able to utilize them to their full capacity and still be able to do what we do consistently without having to make any compromises or efficiencies.
Q: Do you think we could possibly see this model being implemented more in the industry?
JW: I think it definitely can be, and it should be. I think it would help with the supply shortage of hygienists that we have. Out of necessity, it may carry on more, and it may be implemented more and more as we see offices progress. I know that even with the idea of coronal polishers, that's something that's been stressed a lot more because of the shortage of hygienists. We have to adapt, right? Because the patient care doesn't decrease, it's still the same, so we have to do what we can to care for them.