The Practicon Viewpoint by Ann Page Griffin

TRY A CIP (CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM), A WINNER FOR YOUR OFFICE

Busy, sometimes-disorganized office? Low morale among staff? Stressed-out dentist who wants to make everything good for staff as well as for patients?

Sound familiar?

If any one of those phrases describes how things can be in your office, consider implementing a CIP—Continuous Improvement Program. With every team member participating, this can improve all aspects of your practice. Many businesses, companies, and industrial plants use a similar concept to encourage employee participation in developing ways to improve.

The concept works equally well in dental offices. With a CIP, business leaders can listen to their staff members, the front-line employees who often know better than the “boss” what needs to be done to enhance services or goods produced in the business/office.

CIP Suggestion Form

Name:______________________________________ Date:______________

This idea improves:
▢ Patient service/satisfaction
▢ Treatment procedures/effectiveness
▢ Office efficiency/cost savings
▢ Production or collections
▢ Teamwork/staff relations/staff training
▢ Office appearance/organization/safety

Idea:___________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

Who/ how to implement idea:_______________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

Date completed:__________________________________

The Rules of a CIP:

• Team members complete a CIP form for each idea they want to submit. More than one person may co-author an idea.
• Forms are collected by one team member or deposited into a central location to be discussed at a team meeting.
• If preferable, the author’s name(s) can be omitted until after the idea is discussed and a decision made whether to implement the idea.
• If the idea is implemented, the originator(s) of the idea will receive a point.
• Ideas are reviewed and discussed during staff meetings.
• If the consensus is that the idea will be effective, resulting in an improvement to some aspect of the practice, the person(s) involved in implementation is assigned the task with a date for completion.
• When the idea is in effect, a point is awarded, recorded on a large wall board in the staff area so the entire team can appreciate and applaud efforts.
• Rewards can be given in two ways:
1. When a team member accumulates points for 5 ideas, he or she receives a reward, either monetary or a nice gift.
2. Some teams set an annual goal of 100% participation. If every team member submits and implements at least one idea during the year, everyone on staff receives a similar, nice reward at year’s end, either a gift of money or a significant item that should appeal to everyone—a sport watch, a mini-iPad, a B-B-Q grill, a car emergency/safety kit, etc.