Small innovations are sometimes the most important. Just ask Jeffrey Karp, a researcher and professor at the Harvard Medical School.
Karp and his team are working on an innovative means to make the removal of bandages less painful. Certainly when a healthy person removes a Band-Aid there may be a few seconds of discomfort, but when someone with fragile skin removes bandages, it could be traumatic. According to an article in Mental Floss magazine, elderly patients and premature newborns are among the groups most susceptible to serious irritations and permanent scaring.
While medical tape is typically an adhesive affixed to a backing, Karp and his research team are working on a middle layer that is anti-adhesive. The middle layer combines with the backing to form a sandwich around the adhesive, making it painless to remove.
Something as small as having better adhesives can create a much better outcome for patients, and the innovation was championed by medical teams trying to find a better way to provide care.
While you may not find small innovations that are quite as dramatic in your dental practice, you can still discover ways to fine-tune patient care, customer service, or front office systems by considering how to do things even better.
By fostering an environment that supports innovation, you can make your practice even stronger. And you just never know when a small idea will translate into significant improvement.