Post by thebreakfastclub on May 28, 2020 17:20:07 GMT -5
I just had a visit for placement of a crown yesterday, which took about an hour. Both the dentist and assistant were in PPE but I was not billed for it.
Post by ilikedonuts on May 28, 2020 18:17:00 GMT -5
Hmm my husband and I both had appointments last week and nothing was mentioned about an extra cost for PPE. I’d be fine paying $10 though if needed. I’d hope they’d tell us in advance though.
I haven't read the whole thread yet but I did see sarahsays reply. I own and run my orthodontic practice and I do all the ordering. I am not implementing a fee yet. I feel a bit conflicted that colleagues are doing so but I can't say how one should or should not run their practice. My PPE use is also a bit less than your typical general or pediatric dentist because of the types of procedures we do don't demand the highest level of PPE all day like a general dentist might need. I'm going to use the list Susie posted to give the difference in costs.
The things that they're doing that cost money include: - I assume an IR thermometer, because they're checking patients' and parents' temps at arrival I had to buy one of these because my state has decided I need to take the temperature of every patient and write it in their chart. $100 I have opinions about the efficacy of taking temps, but I'm not about to be brought down by the results of a $100 piece of equipment that my state says needs to be part of the legal record.
- Hand santizer all over the place I used to buy 2 of the giant pump bottles they sell at Walmart and it would last me more than a year. Mostly just the clinical staff used it. Now the admin staff is also using it and I'm squirting it into nearly every patients' hands also. I found 8 oz bottles of Purell for $7 each. I feel lucky because that's the good stuff that doesn't dry out my hands.
- appointments spaced out more (so presumably fewer of them) Yes, we are having to do this. I'm worried I will have to pay more in staff costs to accommodate getting everyone seen due to the backlog in patients and because we can't run all of our chairs at an efficient fast pace like we did in February. Payroll is a huge expense compared to PPE.
- sanitizing reception and treatment area between patients I haven't found that the cost of the usual sanitizing stuff I used has increased but we are having to sanitize more surfaces more often like the waiting room that we typically only cleaned when it would get visibly dirty. I did buy all these individual plastic barriers for parts of the treatment chair that we previously used to just wipe down. The barriers have to be changed between each patient. That's an added cost for me but I feel I should absorb this because I could have done it before, I just didn't because it's a lost of added plastic waste being generated. Some doctors have bought hypochlorous foggers to disinfect the whole office. I didn't even know what that was until now.
- PPE for all team members My admin team members are now wearing masks. As well as some other team members who didn't regularly wear masks before. Increased mask usage overall. I used to buy no-name Level 1 masks for under $2 for a box of 50. Those same boxes are now around $30. Level 2 & 3 are higher, upto $50/box, if you can find them. The mask shortage is real. Many doctors are buying disposable gowns and hair covers. The gown are also impossible to find. They used to be maybe $40 for a box of 50. Now they're like $4 per gown. Most doctors never wore face shields. I did wear one a long time ago so I ordered my preferred visor-style shield back in February for all of my clinical staff before things got really bad. 4 kits for 4 visor style face shields was about $300 but these are reusable and can be cleaned between patients. They should last us a long time (many months) before we have to change just the shield part. I have never ordered N95s before. They used to be $1/mask. I again got lucky and was able to buy 20 N95s for $150 so $7.50 per mask. The ones I got aren't even a name brand mask like 3M but they are on all the FDA/OSHA/CDC lists. The mask issue is a huge problem actually. For example, one issue is that the FDA approved KN95s in early April but in May they recalled most of them. In the interim, many practitioners had purchased thousands of KN95s in anticipation of serving their patients. You couldn't buy KN95s unless you bought them in bulk by the thousands straight from a Chinese connection and they were like $4 per mask. Now those masks have been deemed worthless.
- added acrylic windows to all check-in and check-out stations, as well as barriers to our open bay area. This really should not be a huge cost, but it is an annoying cost for offices that added the barriers. Say at minimum $1000 to put up cheap shower curtain barriers for a 2000 sq ft office, definitely more costly if they went fancier. I haven't added them yet to my open bay. I've instead spaced employees and patients around and we have gotten rid of the front desk for now. If this becomes a permanent thing, I will invest installing nice barriers that match my decor and fit my tight space.
- medical grade HEPA filters & UV air scrubbers throughout the office I did not buy these but many offices are. At the moment there are no real studies showing they make any appreciable difference in decreasing spread of germs. A lot of dentists said they are buying them because it gives the patients and staff the perception that "you're doing something." These machines are not cheap, then can run from like $400 if you got one at Costco (can't get them there anymore, all sold out) to thousands of dollars for pricer systems.
Post by wanderingback on May 28, 2020 19:46:48 GMT -5
My healthcare facility obviously isn’t charging for PPE because we serve mostly underserved patients who fall well below the poverty line. But no of course insurance isn’t reimbursing us for PPE. In fact, we we had to shut down a lot of our centers and are concerned about the financial viability of our centers due to decrease reimbursements during the pandemic. I have no clue how much PPE is costing but I’m sure it is expensive and we’ve certainly furloughed and laid off people due to the pandemic.
So I have no problem with places charging for PPE. If you truly can’t afford the charge then I recommend you speak with the facility about it to see if they’ll work with you.
I was just to the dentist on Tuesday. They provided me hand sanitizer, gloves and a mask to wear. They did not charge me for it. The assistant told me that her friend works from a different dentist and they charge $30 for PPE and the patients aren't happy about it. I wouldn't be either. She told me that it costs no where near that, especially since they are buying it in bulk.
I am ok paying for it, but anything over $10 seems excessive.
Post by lovelyshoes on May 29, 2020 7:28:05 GMT -5
It sucks that the cost of it is high now, but I don’t think everything should be passed on to the patients/customers. I haven’t seen anything from our dentists, but I will be pissed if it’s over $10, especially at the orthodontist where we are every 5 weeks.