Monday, Apr 27, 2015
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CDA Practice Support is designed to help dentists navigate the business side of dentistry with ease as it is chock-full of valuable resources to help them run their practices.
Below are the top five trending CDA Practice Support resources this month in the categories of practice management, employment practices, dental benefit plans and regulatory compliance.
California state law requires all employers with employees who may be exposed to hazardous chemicals (defined in the regulation as any substance or mixture of substances; does not apply to biohazards) to have a hazard communication program and to have a written hazard communication plan. The plan must include a list of all hazardous substances in the workplace; a labeling program for these substances; a current file of safety data sheets for each hazardous substance in the workplace; the methods the employer uses to inform employees of the requirements of the hazard communication standard, the hazards of chemicals and how the employees can protect themselves; and information and training on hazardous substance used by each employee in his or her work area.
Performance Evaluations – A Necessary Component for Employee Management (zip drive)
Dentists wear many hats in their practice. In addition to being in charge of providing clinical care for their patients, they are also the human resources manager. Because employees are a vital part of the success of a practice, it is important to communicate and establish performance expectations. Providing regular evaluations help to ensure the employee’s performance supports the practice goals, therefore enhancing the effectiveness of the practice. This resource includes a sample employee performance evaluation form dentists can use to rate everything from communication skills to clinical skills. It also includes a performance evaluation meeting checklist, which outlines how to prepare, conduct and summarize the evaluation.
Access to Patient Records (Records Release) Request Form
A patient or patient representative may use this form to request access to a patient’s record or to request a copy of the record for another health care provider. A written request in another format presented from the patient or patient representative also may be honored, although dentists may seek clarification from the requestor on the scope of the record to be duplicated and the dentist should be able to verify the request is from the patient or patient representative.
This is a summary of key information and requirements of the Denti-Cal program. It is not meant to replace the detailed information in the Denti-Cal Provider Handbook, but has information on processing a Denti-Cal patient through the dental practice and the Denti-Cal billing process.
Fire and Emergency Action Plan
This plan sets out instructions and procedures for employees to follow in the event of fire or emergency that occurs at the dental practice when employees are present. A written fire and emergency action plan is not required for employers with 10 or fewer employees as long as the employer communicates the plan orally to employees.
CDA Practice Support resources are available to CDA members and can be accessed via the orange tabs on the right side of cda.org/practicesupport.