Many dentists and clients we work with are overwhelmed with the number of dental office manuals their practice needs and the type of manuals that are required. Not only by our associations and colleges, but also to help with the everyday flow of their departments.
Let’s review those manuals that are essential to running your practice.
HR Manual or Office Policy Manual for Dental Offices
In most cases, an HR Manual or Office Policy Manual will capture the mission statement for the practice as well as act as a guide for office policies. Some of these policies may include time-off requests, vacation pay, the office schedule, benefits, overtime and sick notice. When creating this manual, we think of any and all questions that may arise from employees and answer those questions in the manual. This manual can be used as part of the on-boarding process for new dental office employees.
Department Manuals
Although manuals for each department are not mandatory, they help with the organizational side of operating a dental practice. We create manuals for the dental assisting team, the dental hygiene team and the dental administration team. They include daily tasks for each department along with policies and protocols. You can be as detailed as you want. Some clients create instructions and set-up photos for specific procedures.
Radiology Manual
In this manual we include anything and everything to do with radiology, such as equipment guides, dosimetry reports, quality assurance and maintenance records. This information is required by the CDSA.
Infection Prevention and Control Manual (IPC)
Since the most recent changes to the IPC standards in 2023, we’re finding that our client’s manuals are needing a complete update to capture all of the new requirements. During this process, we not only create a new manual for the office but offer in-office refreshers for the team to ensure the new requirements are being met or exceeded.
Occupational Health and Safety Manual (OHS) for Dental Clinics
The OHS manual is created separately from the IPC manual as there is enough information and processes to dedicate an entire manual to that subject alone. We include an office wide risk assessment of biological, chemical, physical and psychological hazards. We assist in creating emergency response plans, workplace violence policies and procedures.
At Tayden Consulting, we understand that this process can be an overwhelming undertaking. We’re here to help dentists with the creation and updating of their manuals so they can concentrate on what’s important…Dentistry!
Our team of Dental Consultants, at Tayden Consulting Inc., specialize in providing, hands-on, on-site coaching on how to create the optimal experience for your patients.
Contact us today for a free consultation! We look forward to meeting you.