To some people, “time-out” implies “sporting event.” To others, it means “parenting strategy."
Time-outs have been used in medicine for several years. In surgery with the surgical team, time-outs verify such areas as:
Patient’s name
Date of birth
Consent form had been signed
Drug allergies
The kind of surgery being performed
In our practice, we use time-outs as a planned pause before the start of treatment to focus on safety and patient communication.
Planned Time-Outs in Dentistry
Fortunately, in dentistry, we don’t often deal with the life-or-death issues that hospitals face. But mistakes cost us time, add to our stress and sometimes cause us to achieve less-than-desired results.
That’s where the time-out comes in.
The most natural time for a time-out for our procedures is before someone picks up a needle for injection, including local anesthesia or the start of an IV sedation.
Here’s an example of the time-out I recommend before local anesthesia.
Talk over time-outs at your next team training session. And if you come to see my presentation at the Summit, you will learn more reasons why time-outs are a great tool to implement in your practice. Plus, I would love to hear your ideas on this topic.
If you haven’t already registered for the Summit, I am pleased to offer you some incentive to do it today. Here’s $200 off your registration! Just enter code BLOG when you register.
I can’t wait to see you in November at the Summit in Orlando.