As a Dental Practice Management Consultant, I spend my days in dental offices and when I am speaking with dental offices on our follow up calls, I can hear their phones ringing and ringing. I can tell you that their phones are ringing with patients calling to schedule an appointment. The client offices that I am working in each month have patients seated in every dental chair and during all of the 8 hours they are open to see patients. Good news for them!
Is your schedule full? Are you chairs filled with patients who ask to schedule and pay for their treatment? The answer is “Yes”, isn’t it?
Read and implement these tips so you can catch the wave to your next level of success, today!
Here are 5 tips to have a full schedule in your dental office and patients who want to pay:
These tips will have your chairs filled with patients ready to schedule and pay for treatment.
1. System to Get Patients to “YES” and Schedule and Pay for their Dental Treatment
– Have one employee be responsible for scheduling treatment, following up when patients do not schedule their treatment
– This one employee (team member) is also responsible for meeting the daily goals of practice
– Another employee is responsible for the insurance payments and follow-up calls for patients who have an outstanding balance of even 30 Days
2. Make time to Discuss Treatment
– Larger dental treatment plans, the ones that include more than a couple of simple restorations and/or the treatment plan is over $2,000, need to be discussed in privacy, not the dental chair
– Some patients may need more than a few minutes to discuss treatment and in this scenario, schedule a special dental consultation to privately discuss the patients treatment, flexible payment options, etc.
3. Always plan to pre-schedule no less than 98% of all future hygiene and cosmetic, restorative treatment
– If a patient must leave your dental office without a next appointment, let them know that you will be calling in 48 hours (Or an appropriate time) to follow up
– Add value to why it is mandatory for patients to schedule their dental care
4. Have an automated system to follow up with all overdue hygiene patients and unscheduled doctor treatment plans
– Currently our clients are utilizing Solutionreach to keep their patients walking in the front door of their office
– Our clients using Solutionreach are also able to get patients to more efficiently pay for treatment due to their relationship with Care Credit. (Just click the link and ask to find out more about this new payment solution)
5. Enthusiasm
– People who enjoy what they do and have an attitude of gratitude and show up with an enthusiastic attitude are most likely the offices who will be most successful.
– People (your patients) will be happy coming to a place where there are happy people!
Conclusion
All of the clients of Dental Practice Solutions have increased practice production this year by no less than 34% by simply utilizing a few of the latest innovative systems like Solutionreach and also other customized systems and methodologies that communicate value with patients and much more.
These simple steps will maximize your schedule utilizing every team member and every treatment room today, revitalize and create sustainability for future productivity in your dental office.
Did you glean any new information from these five tips? I would enjoy hearing from you and learning about what you are doing to keep your chairs full with patients who want to schedule and pay.
ABOUT DEBBIE
Debbie is Founder of Dental Practice Solutions, a global consulting and coaching business known as the leader in creating very profitable and sustainable dental hygiene departments.
Debbie is also known as one of Dentistry Today’s Top Consultants for the past 9 years. She speaks about dental hygiene department profitability and services to create sustainable dental practices throughout the world.
You can grab her 7 day Dental Hygiene Profits Program here to see what it is like to work with her. GRAB YOUR NO COST 7 DAY DENTAL HYGIENE PROFITS PROGRAM
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