A private office for an RDH

Q:  I am interested in speaking with others or finding out how to start up a private office for an RDH.  When I would reach out on forums I would get a following tag instead of suggestions, so I didn’t think others were doing it other than working as an independent contractor within an office which is what I have now.  I am only seeing one client and it is not feasible to do 1 day a week.  Anyway, if there is someone doing Myo within their practice, I would love to speak with them or if you have any information for me I would love it.  We are doing sleep appliances here so I would like to focus on that group.    Thanks

A:  I think you have to “take the bull by the horns” here….  What I mean is that you have to decide what would work best for you and head that direction. Once you make some of the following decisions in your mind, go to Myo Masters, our private graduates’ Facebook group to help you proceed from there.  You will find friendly, helpful advice from our grads around the world.

But first, consider the following:

If the dentist is amenable to it, perhaps you can rent a room on an “off day” and use the location you are in for the time being.  The advantages in that are the following:

You can screen all new (and current patients) for myo in two minutes or so in your current dentist’s office if he/she is ok with that.  The ideal, however, would be to do a deep screening on every patient and include myo into their OSA regimen automatically.  If you have a good relationship with your DDS, then you have to sit and write out possible plans.  If you do not have that kind of relationship, forget doing myo in your office as you have to work as a team….he/she must refer the patients for your quick eval/screening and let them know how wonderful you are and how happy he is to have you there.

I believe, however, that your preference is to go into a private practice on your own.  In that case, you will need the space, a table and chairs, (do not to do it in dental chair).  You need a small cabinet to keep your tools.

You can’t wait to follow someone else.  Each situation is different and, in your case, you might decide one thing about payment whereas others in different settings do something that would not be acceptable in your setting or location.  There is no specific way to set up a private office for an RDH; the successful ones decide what feels right and go that direction, learning things and making mistakes along the way.  Don’t think there is a perfect answer; you make it happen with the decisions you choose and change as necessary.

As you see, no pat answers, but you are trained and able to help others; you have to make the moves to do it….the success will follow!