Cory Pinegar, CEO of Call Force, gives us an inside look on the increased call volume he’s been experiencing for patients needing emergency dental care, and some strategies on how to handle them.
“We are seeing an insane amount of emergency calls every single day. People are calling every dentist in the area because they’re not able to get ahold of anyone”
Cory mentioned that his team at Call Force has seen a huge spike in call traffic due to practices closing their doors. Many of the calls he’s been fielding are patients looking for anyone at all that can be there for them in their time of need.
According to the ADA, more than 2 million people in the U.S. visit the ER for dental related emergencies each year.
That means for every 3 weeks we're on quarantine for COVID-19 over 100,000 patients will experience a dental emergency that would lead them to the ER. This doesn’t even include the emergency dental visits already being redirected to dental practices; this is only those patients that go straight to the ER. So the point is… hospitals need dentists right now.
“Most of the emergencies that we’re running into are very true dental emergencies where there is significant bleeding, significant swelling, 8 out of 10 on the pain level… we do need to keep these patients out of the emergency room.”
There is a great need, but there are many reasons for why a practice might be struggling to stay open to meet the emergency dental care needs.
Community Backlash
Many practices that are keeping their doors open for emergencies are receiving judgement from other practices that have closed their doors completely (for financial or social distancing reasons). The sooner we can band together as a dental community to serve the greater good of this health crisis, the stronger our fight will become against the corona outbreak. Even if your doors are closed, there are still ways you can support other dental practices in your community working to serve the emergency needs of the community.
Maintaining PPE
Keeping your doors open for emergencies requires the right amount of Personal Protective Equipment to do so safely and effectively. The ADA has put out a comprehensive Q&A for practices looking to maintain emergency visits, that is invaluable to those offices.
Financial Burdens
Emergency dental visits may not be the most compensating, and so it takes some strategic planning to make that work financially. Although it does bring cash flow, we must reposition our thinking on why we are doing this. We remain open for these patients not to make a profit, but to make a difference.
