Dr. Jennifer Zelmer, Executive Vice President of Canada Health Infoway, spoke with Dr. John O’Keefe about electronic health records and their impact on dentistry. Dr. Zelmer received her PhD and her MA in economics from McMaster University and her B.Sc. in health information science from the University of Victoria. In addition to her role at Canada Health Infoway, she is the Editor-in-Chief of Healthcare Policy and is an Adjunct Faculty member at the University of Victoria, School of Health Information Science. Jennifer also serves on a range of health-related advisory committees and boards. Prior to joining Canada Health Infoway, she held a ...

Dr. Sheila Raja, Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatric Dentistry at the University of Chicago Illinois, reviewed the prolific feedback that we had received for the communication scenario, posted on April 2nd, 2015. She spoke with Dr. John O’Keefe about the importance of communication in the dental office and she shared some valuable strategies that dentists could use, if ever they find themselves in this situation.  Dr. Raja is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Assistant Professor and the Director of Clinical Behavioral Sciences. She is a highly sought after speaker and has given invited talks at the U.S. federal and national ...

This summary is based on the article published in the Journal of the American Dental Association: Dentist-patient communication techniques used in the United States. The results of a national survey (May 2011) Gary Rozier, DDS, MPH Alice M. Horowitz, PhD Gary Podschun, BA Context Communication between dental care providers and patients long has been recognized as an important part of providing dental care.1-4 Good dentist-patient communication has a number of potential positive outcomes, including reduced patient anxiety; increased patient satisfaction, motivation and adherence to healthy behaviors; and better oral health outcomes. Conversely, inadequate or negative dentist-patient communication can create barriers ...

This resource is courtesy of the American Dental Association, published in their latest JADA edition (February 2015): Five tips for leading your team. Roger P. Levin, DDS 1. Establish a professional work environment Employees typically emulate their leader’s behavior, whether positive or negative. Responsible leaders, though, recognize that they must consistently be the kind of staff member they are asking others to be. Rather than chastising individuals for thinking or behaving a certain way, the leader should coach them on how to overcome a particular frustration. 2. Express empathy When a team member is struggling, a little compassion makes it easier to ...

This post is largely adapted from the PennWell’s Dental Group CE information pamphlet: 10 Top Management Tools for a Successful Practice Download the Powerpoint Presentation (PDF) Download the Pamphlet (PDF) Watch the Video     This information was reproduced with permission from the PennWell’s Dental Group. This information is provided as a clinical support tool and does not warrant continuing education credit.    

This post is largely adapted from the PennWell’s Dental Group CE information pamphlet: The Business of Dentistry This informatio is also available in PDF Download the original pamphlet (PDF) When you elected to own your own practice, you hopefully made a conscious decision to assume all the responsibilities that come with ownership. You can’t act like an associate when you are an owner. If the aspects of ownership are unclear to you then get clear and get clear fast. As an owner, you are taking responsibility for the oral health of your patients, the livelihood of your staff and the ...

By Dr. Bernie Dolansky Dr. Bernard Dolansky B.A, DDS, MS, Cert.Endo is past President of the Ottawa Dental Society, the Ontario Dental Association, the Canadian Dental Association, and the Dentistry Canada Fund. As a partner at Tier Three Brokerage, he uses his experience to assist dentists with transition planning; practice purchase and sale; evaluations; associateships; retirement planning; and partnership arrangements.   If we start from the premise that most dentists will only buy or sell a practice once in their careers, then an interesting question arises. Lets substitute “buy or sell a practice with “construct a three unit bridge” and make ...

Dear colleagues, Here is a sampling of news items that came across our desks at CDA in the past week. We invite you to send us leads to news stories worth sharing that have come across your desk in the past week and we look forward to hearing from you (jokeefe@cda-adc.ca or 1-800-267-6354 ext. 2297). Best wishes, John Canadian dentistry news Op-Ed by Dean Paul Allison in Montreal Gazette: Canadians have a duty to increase access to dental care. Roughly one-quarter of Canadians cannot afford basic dental care. Thirty-four per cent of those in the poorest income group, compared with ...