News

One of the key Ah-Ha Moments that arises out of my one-day workshops is the prime importance of the role that the Ultimate Dental Handover plays in the whole process of treatment acceptance as well as patient retention.

I see practices pounding the keypads of their phones dialing patient after patient attempting to re-activate them into an appointment, when the need for this would be greatly reduced if only those practices honed their skills and concentrated on the importance of creating perfect Ultimate Dental Handovers.

The reason that patients cancel appointments, defer treatment and heaven forbid, leave without an appointment being made for them is simply that the Dental Office has not taken the time to make sure that the patient has these three words indelibly stamped in their brain:

CLEAR. NEXT. STEP.

Patients are not scheduling, and even worse, they are cancelling primarily because our offices are not spending the correct amount of time with them that is needed to ensure they understand the what, why, how and when about the dental treatment they require.

Children spell “LOVE”, T. I. M. E.

And our patients spell “CONNECTION” exactly the same way.

How can we ever expect our patients to fully appreciate the gravity and importance of the treatment that they require if we are rushing around them?

Clicking off handpieces and suction tips.
Clanging around with instruments and trays.
Opening and closing drawers and cupboards.

How can they receive and accept the information about their next visit and all of its importance when the clinical team are in such a hurry to tear down and turn over the treatment room?

And when we transfer the patient to the Front Office, are we taking the required amount of time to perform a perfect Ultimate Handover, or are we rushing this important process?

Is the Dentist doing the Handover, but really, he just wants to get back down the back to his next patient?
Is the Dental Assistant dropping the patient off up front, knowing that down back there’s a room to tear down, and instruments to scrub and bag?

And when we get the patient to the front, is the Front Office ready and waiting to receive the patient in the correct manner?

Are they with another patient?
Are they on the phone?
Are they up to their elbows in paperwork and book keeping?

The success of the Ultimate Dental Handover is determined by the availability of manpower and resources.

And here’s the kicker….

Do you have adequate resources and manpower to allow your office to create consistent Ultimate Dental Handovers?

One attendee at my last workshop put it so simply:

“Tripping over pennies and failing to pick up the pounds.”

Are you trying to save pennies on salaries while thousands of pounds worth of Dental Treatment are leaking out of your office on a daily, weekly and monthly basis?

Sure, you’re saving money on payroll, but here’s what else is happening:

• Large amounts of diagnosed treatment not being scheduled.

• Patients cancelling and not returning.

• Patients leaving without appointments for necessary treatment.

All because our Office is failing to invest in the human resources needed to allow us to create the perfect Ultimate Dental Handover time after time after time.

Patients need to know, what treatment they need next, what that appointment involves, what will happen if that treatment is delayed at all, and how urgent that need for treatment is.

And to do this takes time…

We need to invest in the time upfront, so that we see the return on that investment in scheduled bookings in our appointment book. That get kept.

And that’s it, in a nutshell.

The Ultimate Patient Experience is a simple to build complete Customer Service system in itself that I developed that allowed me to create an extraordinary dental office in an ordinary Sydney suburb. If you’d like to know more, ask me about my free special report.

Email me at david@theupe.com

Did you like this blog article? If you did then hit the share buttons below and share it with your friends and colleagues. Share it via email, Facebook and twitter!!