S2E10 Dental Compliance: Must haves for the Infection Control Coordinator

Level Up Infection Prevention Podcast

In this episode of the Level of Infection Prevention Podcast, our guest is Duane Tinker, also known as the “Tooth Cop.” He is one of the top compliance experts in the country, has over 20 years as an Emergency Medical Technician and ten years as a Law Enforcement Officer. His unique experiences have given him a unique perspective and a wealth of experience of what to do when it comes to compliance and risk management. Today, he discusses the importance of compliance in a dental practice and what you must do to establish compliance with your business.

What is Compliance in a Dental Practice?

[1:50]

Compliance is about adhering to requirements in many areas that rules and regulations about a dental practice. Duane says that there are many things that we have to comply with and many other regulations and rules that we have to implement and follow in a dental practice. Compliance is about having a series of mechanisms and systems to make sure the way you operate your dental practice is within the rules and regulations. You can incorporate that into your business practice because it’ll protect the practice and your staff from both civil and criminal liability for not complying with regulations.

Creating Compliance in a Dental Practice

[3:30]

Most people glaze over or gag on the word “compliance.” Some people follow the rules, and people struggle with authority. The idea of compliance starts with identifying rules and regulations. People have to comply with and establish compliance that people can oversee. For most dental practices and even corporate dentistry, there are so many different roles that need to be addressed by compliance.

Top Compliance Areas that the ICC needs to Handle

[7:45]

Duane says to focus on things that are immediate threats to the safety and security of your patients and staff, especially to your patient’s health information. When you think about compliance, it can be overwhelming. So you need to develop a plan and figure out the big things you need to focus on. Figure out the most significant risks you face in your practice and take care of those first. Put a system in place, check to ensure it is working and put it on the back burner. Then come back and double-check it later on and move on to the next thing. The whole thing about managing the compliance program is it’s like a marathon. It’s not a race, there’s no finish line, and you will never finish. The whole goal of having a compliance program is to leave the office tomorrow in better shape than you left it today.

Importance of Compliance

[10:50]

One of Duane’s main complaints is that they are swamped on time to comply. He says that you have to prioritize and allocate time to address it. You have to give time and resources to address your compliance concerns because when something happens, that affects the practice negatively, they are 100% preventable. But to prevent them from happening, you have to be dedicated to looking at your systems and identifying where and what you need to make tweaks. Then you make a commitment and follow through with that.

Overcoming the Overwhelmingness of Compliance

[14:05]

Just do the best you can to evaluate your practice periodically. Schedule it throughout the year, looking at different aspects of your practice. You won’t have a general idea of where you are, where you’re going, and what you need to do to comply with your state’s requirements. Make sure to pay registration fees and systematically do that with each of the different risk areas that affect your practice. Do a record on it once a year and involve your whole staff.

[16:00]

You will find many mistakes. Many people use templates and what you need to identify and recognize in that is if your template is complete. Figure out if you are deleting information from a template that doesn’t pertain to a particular situation. Know if your staff is leaving parts of the template blank, not realizing that they need to delete it, or deleting information that doesn’t apply to a given situation.

Addressing Compliance

[25:18]

Sometimes, all it takes is just somebody that cares enough to allow you to discover for yourself that you’re not there. You have great people and a great dental practice, but there are some things that you’re just not ready for. Getting that information and doing something with it in a meaningful way is understanding that it’s not about compliance. Sometimes, it’s about understanding and addressing how to manage your risks. When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. Manage your risks and do the right thing. Take care of yourselves, your practice, run efficiently, and ensure everybody’s safe.

Learn more about Duane Tinker at:

Website: https://dentalcompliance.com/

Facebook: https://facebook.com/dentalcompliance

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ddscompliance