Clackamas Dental Consultant | Dental Practice Solutions

Enhancing Case Acceptance for Improved Cosmetic Dentistry: A Proven Approach

By: Debbie Seidel

August 28, 2023

Cosmetic dentistry has witnessed remarkable advancements in recent years, empowering dentists to offer patients a dazzling smile transformation. However, even with these advancements, the challenge of case acceptance remains. Effectively conveying the value of cosmetic treatments and addressing patients’ desires requires a strategic approach.

In this blog post, we will delve into two crucial steps that can significantly elevate case acceptance rates: understanding patients’ smile aspirations and providing comprehensive information. Additionally, we’ll explore how offering an eBook on Creating a Celebrity Smile can be a powerful tool for engaging patients.

Step 1: Understand Your Patients’ Smile Aspirations

A cornerstone of successful case acceptance in cosmetic dentistry is understanding the unique desires of each patient. Dental professionals must go beyond the technicalities and tap into patients’ emotional connections to their smiles. Here’s how to effectively achieve this:

Active Listening: During consultations, allocate ample time for patients to express their thoughts and expectations. Dental hygienists and dentists must actively listen and ask open-ended questions to gain insights into what aspects of their smiles bother them and what they envision as their ideal smiles. Ask each patient how they want their smile to look like.
Visual Aids: Utilize visual aids such as smile portfolios, before-and-after photos, and digital smile simulations. These tools help patients visualize the potential outcomes of various treatments and enable them to articulate their preferences more clearly.
Empathy: Show genuine empathy towards patients’ concerns. Recognize the emotional impact their smile issues might be having on their self-esteem and overall confidence. This empathetic approach fosters trust and establishes a stronger dentist-patient rapport.

Step 2: Provide Comprehensive Information

Transparent communication is paramount in fostering patient trust and driving case acceptance. Dentists should ensure that patients are well-informed about the treatment process, benefits, and expected outcomes. Here’s how to achieve this:

Clear Explanation: Break down complex dental terminology into simple language that patients can understand. Clearly explain the recommended procedures, detailing the steps involved, potential discomfort, and recovery periods. Say phrases like, “Gum disease” vs. Periodontal disease, “Bleeding” vs. nothing at all. Say, “Preventive Care Appointment” or “Hygiene Appointment” vs. Cleaning, etc.
Visual Aids (Again): Visual aids aren’t just valuable in understanding patients’ desires; they are equally important in explaining treatment procedures. Presenting treatment plans visually can demystify the process and make patients more comfortable with their decisions.
Case Studies: Share real-life case studies of patients who have undergone similar cosmetic treatments. Highlight the transformations and positive experiences of these patients to demonstrate the tangible benefits of the proposed treatments.
Financial Transparency: Discuss the cost of treatments upfront, including any potential payment plans or financing options. Patients are more likely to commit to a treatment plan when they have a clear understanding of the financial aspects.

Step 3: Understand Your Patient Desires

The 1st step is to understand what your patients smile desires. Ask them open ended questions.

Use a smile evaluation and/or smile simulation which will greatly enhance patient engagement and case acceptance.

I created an eBook titled “Increase Cosmetic Cases and Grow Your Dental Practice” and this can serve as a powerful tool to increase case acceptance. Many dentists come to me asking to increase the number of cosmetic cases. If this sounds like you, I created this eBook and it speaks to this ONE THING which has proven over many years to increase cosmetic cases, grows new patient numbers and keeps patients returning to your dental office.

What you can expect to learn reading this eBook (link to Ebook below):

Informed Decision-Making: This eBook can dives into the world of cosmetic dentistry, explaining different treatment options, potential challenges, and how to more easily get patients to want cosmetic dental services. You will learn how to simplify this process. No need to overthink cosmetic case acceptance. This ONE THING will make it much easier for patients to want a smile upgrade.
Expert Authority: Discover how to build credibility in your community for patient searching for a brighter smile. Get more patients to call your office and when they do meet you, instill confidence in the patients seeking cosmetic treatments.
The Strategy: This ONE THING that will keep patients returning to your dental office. This One Thing will grow New Patient Numbers. This ONE THING will create raving fans and keep patients returning to your office.

Conclusion

Achieving higher case acceptance rates in cosmetic dentistry requires a dual approach: understanding patients’ smile aspirations and providing comprehensive, transparent information. By actively listening to patients’ desires, utilizing visual aids, and empathizing with their concerns, dentists can foster trust and rapport.

Clear, motivational communication, visual aids, smile simulations, showing case studies, and offering financial transparency, all contribute to well-informed decision-making on the patients’ end.

By combining these steps, dentists can navigate the intricate landscape of cosmetic dentistry case acceptance successfully, ultimately helping patients achieve the smiles they’ve always dreamed of.

Grab this eBook and learn this ONE THING that will have more cosmetic cases scheduled. Once you start to read the eBook, over the next 30 days I will be sharing various tools to support your case acceptance and schedule more value per patient appointment. LINK TO EBOOK

eBook LINK

Resource about Communication and Motivational Interviewing.

Check the YOUTUBE Videos about Motivational Interviewing.

One example of motivational interviewing (Communication to motivate your patient) is this video.

Maximizing Dental Hygiene Department Production: Key Strategies

By: Debbie Seidel

August 22, 2023

Maintaining a successful dental practice involves more than just delivering quality dental care; it also requires effective management and a keen understanding of the industry’s evolving trends. In today’s competitive healthcare landscape, dentists are constantly seeking ways to boost production and enhance various systems, and services especially in your dental hygiene department.

As our dental profession evolves, the dental hygiene department becomes more and more important to patient care and your dental practice growth. In this blog, we will delve into the topic that will elevate your dental hygiene department’s productivity and overall success.

The Digital Revolution in Dental Hygiene

The advent of digital technology has transformed many aspects of dentistry, and the dental hygiene department is no exception. Dentists are increasingly exploring digital tools such as iTero, etc., to streamline operations and improve patient care.

One of the key areas where digital innovation is making a significant impact is patient communication and education.

Incorporating interactive tools like digital scans, intra-oral cameras, and educational videos can empower patients to take charge of their oral health. Making the patient part of their treatment plan and the discovery about what is happening in their mouth makes case acceptance much easier.

Through technology and various tools you can educate patient you boost patient engagement and the ability to “want the care they need.” This will also help you get patients to continue returning to your office.

A high-level of patient engagement builds trust and trust means patients are more likely to accept your care and return for future appointments.

Telehealth and Virtual Consultations

Another emerging trend that dentists are exploring to enhance their dental hygiene department is tele-health consultations. This innovative approach allows dental hygienists to connect with patients remotely, providing consultations, answering questions, and offering guidance on oral health routines.

Tele-health can be a great way to meet potential new patients and hygienists can offer post-op care to their patients more easily.

Consider using tele-health to meet new patients, especially patients who may be fearful about going to a dental appointment. You can also do a dental exam to assess a patients smile, maybe assess their shade when patients are interested in teeth whitening services.

Check out the Smile Club which will allow you to virtually assess a patients shade and they can now come by your office, register for the Smile Club, hopefully feel more comfortable to schedule a new patient appointment. The Smile Club uses Celebrity Smiles teeth whitening and patients leave with their whitening kit that same day.

There are no impressions, trays to make, etc, etc. Your ROI can be huge when you use tele-health for cosmetic dentistry initial exams.

Tele-health allows you to reach a wider audience, ultimately boosting production by catering to different patient preferences.

Data-Driven Analytics

Data driven analytics is rapidly transforming our dental profession is no different. Dentists are recognizing the value of data-driven decision-making to optimize their dental hygiene department’s productivity. By harnessing the power of patient data, practices can gain insights into patient behaviors, treatment preferences, and patterns in oral health issues.

What matters to you will always get measured. Without looking at what is working and not working you can never assess you future success potential.

Ultimately, data-driven decision-making can enhance patient satisfaction, leading to higher retention rates and increased referrals.

Continuing Education and Dental Hygiene Department Training

As a dental professional you most likely understand that the expertise of the dental hygiene team directly impacts the success of the hygiene department. Investing in continuing education and training for dental hygienists is a strategy that dentists are actively pursuing to boost production.

Staying updated with the latest advancements in dental hygiene techniques, innovative tools, technologies and time saving systems, ensures that dental hygienists can provide the highest level of care to their patients.

Moreover, skilled and knowledgeable hygienists are more likely to spot early signs of dental disease and any abnormalities. They know how to more easily and effectively educate patients, performing more than just a cleaning.

All of the above contribute to improved patient outcomes and loyalty for patients to return to your dental office.

Collaboration and Workflow Optimization

Collaboration within the dental practice is essential for efficient operations and patient satisfaction. Dentists are recognizing that a streamlined workflow between the dental hygiene department and other areas of the dental practice, such as scheduling, billing, and treatment planning for improved case acceptance, can significantly impact overall productivity.

Implementing strategic and time-saving solutions facilitate seamless communication between the various areas of your dental practice.

Optimizing your current systems will eliminate bottlenecks, reduce last-minute cancellations, and enhance the patient experience. When different aspects of your dental practice work in harmony, this translates into more patient appointments, an optimized patient schedule, higher production without running on a treadmill and an overall positive impression of the practice.

Conclusion

Our dental industry is evolving at a rapid pace, and most dentists are proactively seeking strategies to boost production and enhance various departments. The dental hygiene department, in particular, plays a crucial role in patient care and practice growth.

By embracing the latest technology, incorporating tele-health, making data-driven decisions, investing in continuing education, and optimizing collaboration, dentists can elevate their dental hygiene department’s productivity and provide exceptional patient care.

Staying attuned to the latest trends and innovations in dentistry ensures that dentists remain competitive and capable of meeting the evolving needs of their patients. As the landscape continues to evolve, dental practices that embrace these strategies are well-positioned to thrive in the ever-changing world of oral healthcare.

If you found this blog valuable and if you are curious about how you can optimize your dental hygiene department and boost production more easily, schedule a complimentary discovery call. This will only cost you time. Time can be a valuable asset when you have a goal that becomes your next level of success.

Schedule your call here.

Can’t find a time on the calendar? Please send us a message here with a day and time that does work.

Elevate Dental Practice Success: Unleash the Power of a Smile Evaluation

By: Debbie Seidel

August 9, 2023

In the fast-evolving world of dentistry, staying ahead of the curve is crucial for maintaining a successful dental practice. One area that holds immense potential for boosting production and patient satisfaction is smile evaluations. By incorporating a smile evaluation for every dental patient you actively engage patients to understand their desired smile.

This increases the dentist’s opportunity to transform more patient smiles by doing veneers, implants, crowns, bridges, and even replacing old composites. It may be as simple as your patient asking to have whiter brighter teeth.

Today’s blog will share tips about understanding your patient’s desires for their smile and how to more easily move patients from routine services into high-end cosmetic care.

You will also discover how to enhance patient loyalty and increase the overall value of each patient long term.

The Power of a Smile Evaluation

A smile evaluation is more than just a clinical assessment; it’s a personalized journey that allows dentists to understand their patients’ unique desires and goals. The process involves a comprehensive analysis of a patient’s dental structure, facial features, and aesthetic preferences.

Your smile evaluation can be as simple as a brief questionnaire that asks patients to answer simple questions and tell you how they feel about their smile. You can also complete a smile evaluation by asking every patient as you are seating them in the treatment room,

“What is one thing we can do today that will leave you feeling better than ever about your smile?”

Notice this is an open ended question and not a yes or no answer from your patient.

If you have the technology available cutting-edge technology like digital imaging and 3D modeling, allow hygienists to use this and during the doctor-hygiene exam the dentist can visually demonstrate the potential outcomes of various treatments, empowering patients to make informed decisions about their dental care.

Engage Patients During The Smile Transformation

One of the keys to increase your value per patients is to engage your patient in their dental experience. Asking patients what they want their smile to look like not only fosters a sense of partnership but also allows dentists to tailor treatment plans to meet their patients’ specific aesthetic preferences. This collaborative approach enhances patient satisfaction, as individuals feel heard and valued throughout their dental journey.

Actively involving patients in the decision-making process leads to greater acceptance of comprehensive treatment plans. Patients who have a clear vision of their desired smile are more likely to commit to multiple procedures, contributing to increased production for the dental office.

Understanding Patient Dynamics

It’s important to acknowledge that the landscape of dental patient loyalty is changing. Current data reveals that patients typically don’t remain with a dental office for more than 10 years. This dynamic highlights the importance of consistently delivering exceptional patient experiences and demonstrating the value of long-term care.

While a patient’s tenure may be limited, the potential value they bring to a dental practice over a decade is substantial. With an average expenditure of $10,000 over 10 years, each patient represents a significant revenue stream. This is why maximizing the value of each patient is crucial for long-term practice success.

Increasing the Value of Production Per Patient

Now, let’s address the pivotal question: How can a dental office increase the value of production for each patient?

- Personalized Treatment Plans: Taylor treatment plans to address patients’ specific needs and desires not only improves patient satisfaction but also encourages them to pursue comprehensive procedures that lead to higher production value.

Communication and Education: Effective communication is the cornerstone of patient engagement. Explaining treatment options, procedures, and potential outcomes in clear, jargon-free language helps patients make informed decisions, fostering trust and loyalty.
Break it down into words your patient easily understands.

Use words and phrases such as: infection, inflammation, bleeding, hole, pus, etc, etc.

- Technology Integration: Embrace technology like digital smile simulations and intraoral cameras empowers patients to visualize their potential transformations. This interactive experience creates excitement and encourages patients to explore a range of treatments.
- Long-Term Relationship Building: While dental patients may not remain in the same dental office for decades, building strong relationships during their time with your dental practice can lead to referrals and positive online reviews. These factors contribute to new patient acquisition and increased production.
- Membership Plans and Preventive Care: Offering membership plans that include preventive care services can incentivize patients to stay committed to their dental health. The Smile Club can be included as an add-on or upgrade to your current patient membership plans.
- These plans can result in consistent revenue streams while reducing the need for reactive, costly dental care.

Patient Education Materials: Providing patients with educational materials, both in-person and digitally, ensures they have the information needed to maintain their oral health between visits. Empowered patients are more likely to invest in their dental well-being.
Continuing Education for the Dental Team: Equip the dental team with the latest knowledge and communication skills to ensure a consistent and exceptional patient experience. Well-informed team members can effectively explain specific dental treatment and the value of ongoing care.

Make sure every team member can speak easily about the benefits of prevention and how this does cost a little money but treating disease is very expensive. Today’s dental profession is all about creating optimal oral health. Optimal oral health leads to a longer, healthier life.

Every team member must be able to share this important message. This message leaves patients with a feeling of kindness and caring about them as a human not pursestrings!

In conclusion, integrating smile evaluations and actively involving patients in their smile transformations can significantly enhance production and patient loyalty.

By adapting to changing patient dynamics, providing personalized experiences, and leveraging technology, dental practices can increase the value of each patient over the long term. Remember, a patient’s smile journey is not just about dental procedures—it’s about creating a positive impact that resonates for years to come.

Dental Practice Solutions has a dental patient reward loyalty system that uses teeth whitening as a “carrot.” Patients are screened with a smile evaluation and given an opportunity to express what they want their smile to look like. 70% of your adult patients, when asked what they want their smile to look like, will respond they want “Whiter teeth!”

You now enroll your patients into The Smile Club which has a nominal fee. Once enrolled, patients understand they must pre-schedule all routine hygiene appointments and call at least 48 hours in advance when they need to change an appointment. When patients are enrolled in the Smile Club and follow the guidelines, at their routine hygiene appointments, they receive one complimentary whitening pen.

At the initial enrollment they leave with a teeth whitening kit. This is an LED blue and red light Cool Light technology mouthpiece with shade guide and a whitening pen. You buy dental grade professional whitening products at wholesale. These products were created by Dental Practice Solutions founder, Debbie Seidel-Bittke. You save an pass along the savings to your patients.

*Teeth whitening is a 6 BILLION Dollar industry but most people are buying their teeth whitening online or in a retail store. Why not ride the wave and tap into this huge profit center in your dental practice?

Ask me how to create a 100k annual net profit center around teeth whitening plust the turn-key system will grow your new patient numbers, increase cosmetic dental services and reduces those last minute cancellations.

Currently, the web portal of information about implementing this patient loyalty-rewards system is no-cost when you click the link here.

Reference.

* Teeth Whitening Market Outlook: https://bit.ly/10BILby2026

10 Tips to Improve Your Dental Practice

By: Debbie Seidel

March 22, 2022

Dental Office Treatment Room with new technology — Dental Office Treatment Room with Updated Technology.

It’s not easy to run a dental practice. The dental profession has never been more demanding or stressful than it is now, and dental practice owners bear a significant portion of this strain or weight. Patients have never had more dental treatment alternatives. They can conduct a short internet search or create a quick social media post asking their friends for advice.

This means that mastering the art of running a successful dental office boils down to focusing on a few essential aspects of the entire patient’s experience. As a result, you can provide the best treatment to your patients while assisting your team and avoid unnecessary effort.

10 Helpful Tips To Improve Your Dental Practice.

Here are some simple yet effective techniques to improve the efficiency in your dental office right away:

1. Expand Your Services

Consider strategies to increase your offering to improve value, boost your competitive position, and stimulate the curiosity of potential patients when it’s time to expand your patient base. For example, perhaps the size of your current dental practice limits your production potential, and you’re considering enlarging or hiring more staff.

Just keep a few things in mind to get the proper balance. You never want to overwork your team or make adjustments that negatively impact the patient experience. Hence, you can carefully analyze the resource allocations required to make this adjustment vital.

2. Provide Flexible Financial Options

Patients like to pay using different payment options. By providing multiple choices, patients would love to get treatments and return for ongoing dental care.

Aside from insurance coverage, accessible financial options include debit, credit, personal check, and cash. As a dentist, you can provide specific financing to ensure that personal financial situations do not influence dental health care selections.

3. Embrace Clinic Culture

Creating a positive and healthy workplace culture positively impacts the patient experience. Some of the most successful dental clinics have figured out fostering a positive work environment. Your clinic decoration and physical environment influence your clinic culture. Your distinctive method of doing things, when fine-tuned, can increase productivity, attract top talent, and keep patients coming back for more.

Gather all of your team members and have an in-depth talk about your dental clinic’s day-to-today operations. Also, discuss its long-term goals to establish and strengthen your clinic culture. Employees will be happier and more caring if they all work towards the same goal, and your dental clinic will grow.

4. Automate Your Billing Desk

Manual billing takes time and exposes you to the risk of human error. For example, tracking down patients to collect co-pays and processing insurance claims may be time-consuming and costly for all parties involved. Automated billing can help you get paid faster, offer your team more time to focus on other aspects of the business, and give you more peace of mind.

To get the work done right the first time, you should invest in top-rated billing software. If you have the resources to invest in automation, it is easier. When your staff spends less time preparing paper claims, you might be astonished at how much money you can save.

5. Train Your Dental Team/Hold Meetings Regularly.

Continuous dental team training is significant for keeping personnel happy, productive, and effective. Investing in training demonstrates that you care about their careers and can help to foster a positive work atmosphere that fosters success.

Every morning, meet with your personnel to go over the needs of patients who have appointments that day. During subsequent sessions, bring up any patient difficulties and brainstorm ways to avoid them from happening again. These meetings don’t have to belong; simply a quick huddle will do, but they can help enhance productivity significantly.

6. Improve Patient Experience by Empowering Your Patients.

Patients are swiftly adapting to the rise of digital communication tools, and they are better at ease knowing that they have fewer options for communicating with the clinic. Allow your patients to communicate in various ways, including over the phone, through text, via email, and snail-mail.

Allowing your patient to visualize exactly what they can expect during surgery requires crisp and straightforward communication. When it comes to dental work, patients have a lot of financial and medical worries. Take the time to determine the patient’s competitive advantages or seek guidance from an expert solution provider.

7. Delegate Tasks

Delegating duties and responsibilities enhances productivity, efficiency, and time management while also allowing you to focus on higher-level tasks. For example, consider delegating administrative work to team members or hiring a scribe. A group of highly qualified employees who are good at getting the work done right also helps reduce turnover rates and supply practices.

You’ll find more freedom in your day-to-today work as you delegate. Always have backups and plan ahead of time to handle typical workplace workloads and anticipate unexpected events. Delegating duties and empowering employees are both crucial aspects of gaining employer trust. Simplify your team’s schedules, offer some buffer time in their shifts, and allow them to work in the most meaningful way possible.

8. Improve Patient Referrals

Building a successful dental office requires positive evaluations and recommendations. People are more likely to trust a personal recommendation or a review provided by a real consumer than an advertisement. In addition, patient referrals are a terrific strategy to acquire additional patients into your clinic, even if you’re starting.

You can try a variety of dental referral program concepts. For example, encourage patients to suggest friends by providing a referral bonus scheme, such as free teeth cleaning or a special discount. For the same, you have to hand out a simple referral card that describes the deal at the end of the appointment.

WIIFM. One system that has worked well to increase new patient appointments and keep patients returning is Lifetime Whitening.

When patients come to your office they enroll in this program for a small fee and receive free teeth whitening as long as they return for routine appointments without breaking appointments last minute.

9. Upgrade Your Scheduling System

An excellent dental scheduling system does more than make it possible to schedule appointments. It improves patient flow, increases productivity, reduces stress for both patients and employees, and, as a result, adds to the high-quality service that your patients expect. In addition, you can provide outstanding customer service even while your clinic is closed by allowing patients to arrange appointments at any time.

Almost every dental practice management software provides a patient’s booking feature that you can integrate into your business’s website. Patients can make an appointment with only a few clicks, which your staff can confirm as needed.

10. Make Team Management Your Top Priority

Streamlining as much as possible is the best strategy to increase efficiency. But unfortunately, many employers and managers are unaware of the numerous ways they waste time and money. It’s not because of a massive leak that may sink the Titanic, but rather because of a series of minor leaks that go unnoticed until it’s too late.

Always plan ahead of time and think about what your employees require. Allow them to prioritize various aspects of their lives. When dealing with new guidelines, assist them in their essential work. Finally, use technology to set automated reminders for your personnel and your patients.

Conclusion

We hope you have understood the essential tips to improve your dental practice. By applying these tips, you can stand out in front of your competitors and take your dental practice to the next level.

If you want to improve dental practice quickly, the most essential thing is to build a website. With the website, you can improve your internal operations and provide a better dental experience to the users.

To create a website, approach a company that offers dental website design services. They have experience building such kinds of websites. Hence, they can understand your requirements and provide you with a solution that takes your dental practice to new heights.

Thank you to our guest author WebyKing.

Creating a Culture of Payment

By: admin

December 4, 2018

I recently had a chance to sit down with the A/R Ninja, Andy Grover Cleveland.

During this short conversation we not only talked about how to create a culture of payment, but we talk about how important it is to bill your patients and call them regularly when they owe you money.

Andy will share why it is important to use a 3rd party to bill and he will let you know when it is best to get a 3rd party involved in collecting money in your dental practice.

Stick to the basic principles:

Outsourcing your dental insurance.

In today’s world dental professionals have a lot more responsibility and therefore outsourcing your dental insurance is very helpful for efficiency.

Empower your team to use their judgement when doing their job.

“Mr. Patient, it will be $599 today, how would you like to take care of that today?” Now the PAY-tient says, “My brother-in-law plays golf with doctor, so I will talk to the doctor about this.”
You must have parameters and stick with the plan.
Payment options must be clear.
Know what the rules are and empower your team to live by the rules.
Doctor, you can’t change the rules and make exceptions.

Pay-tients must pay at the time of service.

Billing and Calling Pay-tients regularly

Communicate routinely when your Pay-tients owe you money.

You can do collections but maybe.
Checkout the Tennessee Backwoods Dentist on youtube to see, are you equipped to do some of these important tasks yourself?

Where do you spend your time daily in the dental office?

There are too many things “to-do” in a given day in the dental office and outsourcing collections, etc., can be very efficient for running a dental practice.

Question: What is the average for accounts receivable (A/R)?

Answer: Debbie and Dental Practice Solutions recommends 98% collections.

Andy mentions that for a start-up, you don’t want a high overhead.

If you have a mature practice, now you can do in-office financing and you may not need to have the high monthly collections.

If your personal finances can weather a higher A/R to allow more patients to make payments (in-house) on high-end services, then a higher A/R may work for your dental practice.

Andy states: “Every time you send a statement to a Pay-tient you are sending a message that you have made a mistake.”

What is the best way to contact a patient who owes you money?

Andy says that it depends upon the individual person. Keep the end in mind and try not to send statements. Try using all the avenues for sending statements; email, paper statement mailed and/or a text message with a link to pay.

Andy also says,
Dentistry is non-recourse.

Recap of the Podcast:

All patients are asked to pay at the time of service.
If patients do not pay at time of service, they will leave with a statement
Work A/R weekly.
Call outstanding A/R Pay-tients to ask, “how is (state the last service, area in their mouth treated), feeling?
If it doesn’t get done, it won’t get done without someone doing it. Hire a service that will get it done.
Focus on your “core competency…for doctor that is clinical dentistry.”

Debbie says:

Understand, has your engine light come on? Is it blinking? If you said Yes, you need to outsource this area.

Be sure you don’t miss another info-packed FB live. Come over to our Facebook Business page for daily tips, inspiration and our weekly Facebook Lives:

Do you wish you had more Pay-tients say “YES” to your care?

Check-out our Case Acceptance/Treatment Planing Mastermind.

The next session begins the week of January 7, 2019.

How do I know if this mastermind is right for my dental practice?

The Mastermind is great for dental practices who:

Want more hygiene patients to accept high-end services

-More implants, more crown/bridge, Invisalign, etc.

If your case acceptance is less than 90%

If you have one hole in your schedule each day

If you want your production to be higher

If you want more patients to pay at the time, they schedule for your care

Contact our office for the application.

Registration is limited to ONLY 10 offices.

When you contact our office, we will provide the mastermind details.

The 30-Day Mastermind is $795 and has a MONEY BACK GUARANTEE!

Email us: admin@dentalpracticesolutions.com

Or Call for application: 949-351-8741.

Systems Patients Can Expect During Their Dental Hygiene Appointment

By: admin

October 24, 2018

Why did you purchase the car you are driving?

Why do you shop at the grocery store you frequent and why do you stay at a specific hotel when on vacation?

The answer to these questions should be the reason why your patients come to their hygiene appointment routinely.

What can your patients expect during their routine hygiene appointment?

There are a few systems patients can expect during their dental hygiene appointment when you have systems I place.

This is about consistency. It’s about efficiency and making people feel like they are Number 1!

Does each hygienist in your dental practice know what services they will complete on each patient, at specific hygiene appointments?

Each one of your team members should also know about these systems.

There are many services that hygienists provide patients during a hygiene appointment.

Having written systems for hygiene appointments will make life easier for employees, your team members as well as, keep your patients returning because they feel valued. Your systems provide the best care for patients and your patients feel it.

It is very important for hygienists audit the patient record before they begin their day. This morning or day before seeing patients, is the first system and a good place to begin when implementing systems. The patient- record – audit – information, is used during your morning team huddle.

Here is a list of the services your patients should expect to receive during routine dental hygiene appointments. Your system will include all of these and maybe more:

Build rapport

This is probably the most important part of your appointment. Take note how many of your patients are seated without a bib being placed on them right away?

Just sit and catch-up or if this is the first time you are meeting, take time to ask about them. Find out something unique, interesting and something fun to remember.

You will be amazed how great it makes your patient feel to just sit a few minutes and chat rather than sit with a bib on their chest immediately.

Update medical history

This is where you need to be the detective. Ask more than “Any changes in your health?” It is very important to ask questions like, “What medications do you take?” Medications can affect their oral health, cause xerostomia, etc. Ask, “Do you take herbs?” Some herbs can cause excessive bleeding.

Ask, “Any surgeries?” Be sure to ask, “Do you take blood thinners, do you have any teeth that concern you?”

The next step is to inform your patient about what services you will provide for them. Consider this as “consent to treat your patient,” even if you believe they know why they are there.

Once you have informed your patient and they have informed you about their health and any chief complaints, you must know what interval your dental practice will take BWXs, FMXs and PA’s.

Does your office use the latest ¹fluorescence technology? Our hygiene team recommends that dental hygienists complete this type of screening once a year. HPV is on the rise causing oral and pharyngeal cancers.

We are in the business of saving lives!

Once you have competed these screenings it is time to check the health of your patients’ gums.

How often does your dental practice recommend a comprehensive periodontal exam (CPE)? See the recommendations from the ²AAP to know if you are providing the standard of care.

If your patient is not due for an annual CPE, what is your protocol to spot probe to be sure your patient does not have any new areas of inflammation or infection?

Which teeth do you spot check? And why these specific teeth do you spot check?

More systems:

Treatment planning /Coordinating the treatment plan with your patient.
Doctor/Hygiene Exam. When does doctor know to arrive in the hygiene room to complete the hygiene patient exam?
Scheduling the next appointment. When patients need to return for a routine hygiene appointment, we recommend the hygienist schedule this appointment when the patient is finished with their hygiene appointment and before they are escorted to the front desk.

The hygienist has spent in most offices we work with, fifty minutes looking in the patient’s mouth, and they are the best person to know exactly when the patient needs to return and why it is important for them to return at this specific time.

What written systems does your hygiene department have?

Conclusion

When systems are in place, people will know what is expected. When everyone on your team knows what is expected your dental practice will run efficiently. Your systems need to have information that will allow your team to have the information they need to provide the best patient care.

When you provide the best patient care, you will have patients who feel well-cared for and these are the patients who continue to return to your office indefinitely.

References from the blog:

Does your hygiene department have a system in place to support each of the identified services in a routine hygiene appointment? If you don’t have all systems in place or you want to “Up Your Game,” let’s schedule a time to chat! Call our office to schedule a time: 949-351-8741. You can email to schedule: admin@dentalpracticesolutions.com or Schedule directly from our calendar here.

About the Author

Debbie Seidel-Bittke, RDH, BS, CEO Dental Practice Solutions

Debbie Seidel-Bittke, RDH, BS is founder and CEO of Dental Practice Solutions. She is also a former dental hygiene program director. Her expertise is optimizing the hygiene department by taking a total team approach; including the doctor as the leader.

Dental Practice Solutions is able to support your dental practice with supporting your front office admin skills, insurance billing, reimbursement as well as credentialing and increasing your PPO fees.

Schedule your no-cost Profit Boosting Session Here Today. You can also call our office to schedule: 949-35-8741 or email us.

Objections to Scheduling Dental Treatment: How Do You Overcome Objections and Get Those Patients Back in Your Chair Today!

By: admin

September 20, 2018

Oh, the excuses we hear from patients on why they do not want to schedule treatment. If you were to take two weeks and write down every excuse you were to hear about why someone did not want to schedule their treatment, I bet that you would find a pattern of the same excuses over and over again.

Excuses are objections and objections are often just requests for help or more information. The following are common excuses we hear and how you can help your patients overcome them and get them back in your chair.

Objections to scheduling dental treatment will occur. The question is, “How do you overcome objections and get those patients back in your chair; today?”

“I am not in pain, so I don’t think it is really necessary”

Let the patient know that you understand how they feel. Most people are surprised to learn that pain is the last symptom they will experience with gum disease. This is why over 50% of adults over the age of fifty lose their teeth to gum disease, not decay. Also, when the patient is in the chair, show them the x-ray and point out where the decay is now and how close to the nerve it is. Show them how it may travel toward the nerve and cause extreme pain that may lead to a root canal and crown instead of the small filling you are recommending now. Creating urgency is important in this situation. You do not want your patient to ever be in pain, and you do not want to get a call on Saturday afternoon.

Let the patient know that that you are so sorry to hear that they have been ill. Send the patient a get-well card if the patient lets on that the illness is much more than a man cold. Put the patient on your call back in two weeks’ list. Give the patient time to heal, but do not forget to get back in contact with them. Chances are, you are not the only appointment they had to cancel due to being ill. Having a fuzzy head, they most likely won’t remember to call you back. Consider this exceptional customer service, to help keep track of their health needs.

“My tooth still hurts from the last time I was there”

Let the patient know that you are sorry to hear that and ask them to please share with you how they were hurt. Explain that It may be that she simply needs an adjustment on that small filling your doctor just placed. Explain the techniques that your office can provide to ensure this does not happen again. Then, be sure to put a note in the patient’s chart so that the clinicians will take extra care at her next appointment. Let her know that the doctor would like to see her right away to determine what is causing her discomfort.

“I can’t get out of work”

Remind the patient that most of your other patients have jobs as well. That is why you offer early morning and/or later appointment times. Let them know that you can schedule in advance so that they can request the time off of work. The patient must first understand the value of the appointment. Then they can verbalize to their employer that taking a couple hours off for a preventative appointment may save them missed days in the future.

“I cannot afford to pay for treatment”

Remind the patient that they can’t afford to not have the treatment done. Educate them on the risks they are taking by not having the treatment done. Then explain to them how you have been able to help other patients with this same concern. Review your payment options with them and be sure to give them a couple of options that they are comfortable with.

“My insurance does not cover it”

Explain to them how insurance is not meant to dictate treatment and even though their insurance does not cover it, the treatment is necessary in order to save their tooth or get rid of an infection. Show them the value of having the treatment done. Also explain to them that their insurance benefit not used for this procedure can be used for other treatment that is covered so they will not lose it. Do your best to explain insurance benefits to your patients. It is confusing for us professionals, imagine how confusing it is to your patients.

Remember, an excuse is most likely a request for more information, a way of asking for help. Next time you hear one of these excuses, remember this and see what you can do to help.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Coach Cindy Rogers, RDH, BS, OMT

For many years Cindy has been an integral part of successfully building dental practices from the group up. Cindy is known for creating a harmonious work environment where the whole team looks forward to coming to work every day. The result of this has been massive growth for the practice.

Her passion is to share her success and knowledge with other practices so that they can experience a great team working environment while watching their profitably explode. What you will experience with coaching by Cindy, is somebody that can bring your team together to create your ultimate dental practice, and the ultimate patient experience.

It is through her years of experience in the dental field and the methodologies of Dental Practice Solutions that Cindy creates the next level of success for each dental practice she touches. When not focusing of dentistry, Cindy spend her time with her family exploring the outdoors in beautiful Pacific Northwest. Schedule a profit boosting session today and find out how you can optimize your dental schedule. Contact Cindy: admin@dentalpracticesolutions.com

Your Dental Patient Treatment Plan: Triage and get Paid

By: admin

September 5, 2018

Dear Dental Professional,

Did you run your end of year reports?

How many dollars walked out your door in 2018 without scheduling for treatment?

How many of your patients are overdue for a hygiene appointment?

During the month of August 2018, our team created training videos and blogs for you to feel inspired, motivated and we provided steps to reactivate overdue hygiene patients and get those patients with outstanding treatment back on your schedule.

spreadsheets

What is your plan for 2019 to keep your back-door closed?

Today I will share steps to create your dental treatment plan with a triage to get paid.

triage-word-cloud

Triage Background

Triage is a word we typically hear used in the medical field.

What does Triage mean?

This word comes from the French word trier, meaning to sort.

It was first used in World War I.

The work triage (noun) means:

(in medical use) the assignment of degrees of urgency to wounds or illnesses to decide the order of treatment of a large number of patients or casualties.

verb

assign degrees of urgency to (wounded or ill patients).

Many of our client offices have patients who come in for a limited exam because of the toothache or a complication with their oral health.

How many of these patients who have a complication tell you that they can’t afford to pay for the necessary treatment?

It happens quite often; right?

What can you do when patients have a disease condition with their oral health?

The first step is to help your patient understand what is happening in their mouth.

Your patient may come in because of pain and then when they hear the cost to (at the very least!) have the tooth extracted; they say they can’t afford $100 or $200.

You are thinking, WHAT? You have pain and won’t pay to have this tooth extracted?

This boils down to a miscommunication.

Does your patient understand that if there is an infection in their mouth there is most likely infection brewing in their body?

Does the patient see what this challenging oral condition looks like?

And….do you know what your patient “can” afford to pay; today?

Now, your patient came in to your office and they know it is not free to have something done to stop the pain, so what did they expect to pay?

I have witnessed patients coming in for a limited exam due to a toothache and when they find out it will cost $100 they decide to leave without scheduling for any treatment?

live-your-best-life

Where have we gone wrong?

Steps to Overcome the “I can’t afford it” Challenge:

Connection and Rapport
1. This happens when the patient calls saying they have a challenging oral condition.
2. What was said on the first phone call to schedule for this limited exam?
3. How did you make the patient feel when they came into your office front door?
4. How well did the team and doctor connect with the patient?
Diagnosis
1. Is the patients’ condition urgent?
2. Show the patient what you see and assign a level of urgency
3. Explain while looking at the pictures you have which show the patients oral condition, what is happening and address the benefits of completing treatment according to their level of urgency
4. Explain the risks for not completing treatment in a special timeframe (According to how you have triaged your patient)
Patient Accepts Treatment Plan
1. When you have a patient with a limited exam they will be triaged with a priority of urgency
2. Most limited exam patients will be triaged to have at the very least, palliative treatment completed the day of their limited exam
Discuss Financial Arrangements
1. When money is an objection, ask your patient, “What can you afford today?”
2. Break down your questions into small bite-size pieces.
  1. Surely if your patients scheduled to see you because they have a toothache, they know this is not going to be free, so find out what they did plan to pay today.
  2. If there will be a larger treatment plan needed, as your patient what type of payment will feel comfortable every two weeks?
    1. If your patient says they can afford $100 every two weeks, ask if $200 a month is a comfortable payment to arrange

How to Get Patients to Pay

Urgency is key. This means that your patient must understand what is in it for them. This is the WIIFM Syndrome. The What’s in It for Me Syndrome.

No pun intended but find a way around their pain point; their reason to not accept treatment.

Most of the time patients object to paying for treatment. Spending money on their teeth is the biggest objection you will hear.

Dentistry is not expensive, but neglect is. Help your patients understand that waiting for the tooth to become a worse condition than it is today, costs everyone more money.

We want you to also learn about this other flexible in-house payment option you can offer your patients. Just click this link to find out how it works. This link takes you to a calendar to schedule 20 minutes and you will walk away with a new option to help your patients pay for oral health challenges and also—what may be music to your ears is that this information will help you enroll more patients into high-end treatment.

hap

Do you want to learn how to enroll more patients into high-end treatment and get them to pay at the time they schedule for treatment?

Plan to attend our Live AGD CE Event in Portland, Oregon on September 21^st, 2018.

During this event we will have a break-out session, so you will feel confident in enrolling more patients into high-end treatment plans and you will learn how to get them to pay at the time they schedule for treatment,

Can’t attend the live event? Give our office a call or email us because we can bring this to your office virtually or we will come deliver to your team in the office. Just ask us how it is done, and we will also give you and the team AGD CE Credits when we do a training for you. Email: admin@dentalpracticesolutions.com or Call: 949-351-8741.

break-your-ceiling

BREAK THROUGH YOUR CEILING BEFORE 2018 ENDS!

Here is one way that will break through your ceiling of huge potential and learn what your patients want.

Step 1: This begins with a motivated and committed team.

Step 2: You must have specific systems in place; systems that match your vision and the culture in your dental practice

Step 3: Your team must drive the systems in your dental practice

Step 4: Once the team drives the systems doctor will focus solely on their excellent clinical skills

Step 5: Experience Freedom!

If you follow these steps you will experience freedom to live the life you want.

The business of dentistry no longer needs to dictate how you live life—how you spend your time becomes your choice because you have more free time.

REGISTER HERE TODAY. SEATING IS LIMITED! $147 ONLY TODAY. If you are reading this, you must call or email our office for the SPECIAL TUITION RATE: Office – 949-351-8741 or Email-admin@dentalpracticesoluiions.com

What can you expect when you attend with your team?

Business success strategies from people who have traveled the road ahead of you
Radically increase production with REAL solutions from this course
Rapid growth with PPO and managed care insurance
Learn how to STOP the fear of corporate dentistry
Strategies that are 100% BULLETPROOF to Catapult your production no matter what the economy is!
Increase your current patient appointment value
Schedule more high-end treatment plans and get patients to pay when they schedule!
Improve case acceptance during hygiene appointments

Morning Session:

How to Run Your Business (Your Practice!) and Create a Culture of Success

Learning Objectives:

Proven strategies to effectively communicate with and motivate your team
How to deal with a “Bad Apple” on your team in a way that will make you a hero
Present treatment that your patients “want” and need
Putting it all together during the hygiene appointment

Afternoon Session:

The Business Side of Dentistry: What Every Dentist Should Know

Breakout Session: Work with your team to create a high-end, large production case. You will learn how to create a treatment plan with specific strategies that help your patient pay for the “Care” they want and need. You will be provided a patient treatment plan to put what you learn into action right away…. before you leave the course!

Learning Objectives:

Identify the critical building blocks of every successful practice
Enroll patients into the “care” they want and need (during their hygiene appointment)
Create flexible financial arrangements that your patients will want to say “YES” to and pay in advance
Leave with your blueprint, a written plan, to improve your practice and your life

Schedule:

Breakfast & Check-In – 8:00 AM to 9:00 M

Morning Session – 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM

Lunch – 12:00 PM to 1:15 PM

Afternoon Session – 1:15 PM to 4:15 PM

Closing Remarks & Questions – 4:15 PM to 4:30 PM

Always fresh and up-to-date information! You will feel empowered to take immediate action!

“Debbie and Doug are so good together on stage. Our team attended their San Diego event and walked away with great ideas and systems to implement on Monday morning. We learned a lot and had a great time. The food was delish, and we left with lots of great gifts from the sponsors.”

– Denise Calhoun, Office Manager

For Hotel Reservations, please contact Embassy Suites by Hilton Portland Airport.

7900 NE 82ND AVE, PORTLAND, OR 97220

PHONE # (503) 460-3000 / (800) 774-1500 – CODE: DPS DENTAL CONFERENCE

REGISTER ONLINE: HTTP://BIT.LY/EMBASSY92118RESERVATIONS

The Dental Practice Solutions is designated as an Approved PACE Program Provider by the Academy of General Dentistry. The formal continuing dental education programs of this program provider are accepted by AGD for Fellowship, Mastership and membership maintenance credit. Approval does not imply acceptance by a state or provincial board of dentistry or any other applicable regulatory authority, or AGD endorsement. The current term of approval extends from 04/30/2017 to 04/30/2019. Provider ID 376088

**Refund Policy: Refunds may be eligible up to August 1, 2018.

Stop Treating Your Schedule Like a Video Game; How to quit messing around and schedule your day for success

By: admin

August 21, 2018

Written by: Cindy Rogers, RDH, BS, OMT, Lead Hygiene and Business Coach.

I admit that while I was a scheduling coordinator, I was treating the schedule as if it were a video game. I would squish and stretch appointments to make them into pretty colored boxes that all fit nice and tightly together. I thought to create a productive day meant to have all the blocks filled in

It did not occur to me that these pretty little boxes basically controlled how the clinical teams’ day would run. Yes, they did often come up and kindly tell me to stop treating the schedule like a video game. I was told that they needed more time for this or that and that they could not possibly do a root canal at the same time as an extraction. I did not really understand what they meant. All I knew is that my pretty boxes needed to match up and their demands were messing that up.

After being reminded a few hundred times and working with some great consultants, I got better at this, but still did not truly understand why my boxes couldn’t just fit together nicely.

Now that I am a hygienist, I totally understand and often apologize to my previous team for all of the agony I must have caused them. I figure the reason they supported my transition into hygiene was so that I would get my payback.

Five main points to consider when planning your day

I would like to now share five points to consider when planning your day. These steps will help make your day successful both in production and in keeping your team mates on your side:

How much time does each procedure require?

Make a list of how much time each doctor needs for treatment procedures. (i.e., 60 minutes for one crown, 90 minutes for two)

What hygiene visits do NOT require an exam?

Typically, gum treatment appointments do not always require an exam. This is where you will be matching up time for the doctor to perform procedures that are hard to break away from.

What time of day do the providers prefer to perform longer procedures?

Let’s face it, some of us are morning people, and some of us aren’t. Why not do your patients a favor and find out.

What is a good time to save for new and emergency patients?

You should have time set aside for emergencies and new patients. You want to be able to offer these patients an opportunity to come in within 72 hours of them calling. Often, offices will block out time right before lunch. This way they have time to perform palliative treatment if needed, and a longer lunch if not.

What is your daily production goal for each provider?

Each provider should have a daily production goal. When you mix and match these procedures during the day, they should add up to reach this goal.

Now you want to match up the hygiene appointments that do not require an exam with the longer treatment appointments. These will be your rocks for the day and time where the providers can work uninterrupted.

Next, schedule treatment such as composites, and preventative hygiene. These will be your pebbles. After the foundation of rocks and pebbles are set in place, you can sprinkle some sand around them. Sand will be your crown seats, limited exams, and hygiene re-evaluations.

Each day should be balanced this way to assure your goals are met and that you are not running around crazy seating crowns and doing limited exams one day and sitting for 8 hours straight the next. Everyone on your team will be much happier and more productive. Remember that the daily schedule is your plan for the day. If you plan poorly, chances are your day will run poorly.

Written By: Coach Cindy Rogers, RDH

It is through her years of experience in the dental field and the methodologies of Dental Practice Solutions that Cindy creates the next level of success for each dental practice she touches

When not focusing of dentistry, Cindy spend her time with her family exploring the outdoors in beautiful Pacific Northwest.

Contact Cindy: admin@dentalpracticesolutions.com

Dental Consultant | The End of Year is Near. How to Get Dental Hygiene Patients to Return Now.

By: admin

August 8, 2018

The end of the year is near. In today’s blog you will read how to get your dental hygiene patients to return now.

Summer is coming to an end. The kids are going back to school. Parents are busy with work, back-to-school shopping and it seem there is not time to visit the dental office

Many of your dental patients haven’t scheduled necessary dental treatment for themselves or their family.

Most dental benefits will not roll over to the next year and that means you are wasting insurance benefits for your patients.

Now is the time to try and help your patients maximize their dental insurance coverage. Many of your patients are overdue for a routine hygiene appointment.

August is the best time to be looking over your list of overdue hygiene patients and also patients with outstanding treatment.

Every month of each year, plan a day to run a report of overdue hygiene patients. Mark your calendar to run this report the first week of each month.

At this point in the year, it is crucial to focus on contacting your overdue hygiene patients as well as get patients to return who have unscheduled treatment to complete.

How do you contact your patients?

It is important to contact your patients in a way that creates a quick response.

With today’s world of technology, you may notice that most people don’t pick up their phone (of not often), they don’t check their personal emails throughout the day and not many people go to their mailbox to pick up their mail each day.

We suggest that you have the ability to two-way text all of your patients.

To begin the two-way texting, you need to have the technology connected to your practice management software.

We recommend SolutionReach to our clients because not only does this company offer two-way texting, but you can add a link for your patients to click which will allow them to immediately schedule their appointment.

What does your text message say?

You will at the very least want to text all overdue patients with only a sentence that says, please call our office about your dental appointment.

We have found this works very well for patients to call your office and especially when they know they don’t have an appointment.

Once the patient does call they will most likely let you know, “I don’t have an appointment.”

Your response will sound like this:

“Mrs. Smith, please let me check your patient record to find out exactly what is happening here. May I put you on a brief hold? This will take me less than ten seconds to check.”

Most patients will be patient enough to wait a few seconds.

Here is the part that may be new to you.

The team of consultants at Dental Practice Solutions, teaches clients this acronym called, R2R.

What does R2R mean?

R2R means “Reason to Return.”

The R2R is a brief description each clinician writes on the last line of the patients record, each time the patient is seen in the office.

This means that the clinician has discussed, communicated, with their patient the reason why they need to return, and that reason will not only be a clinical reason but a benefit to the patient.

If the patient you just took a call from, has a clinical R2R note that states, Pt has bleeding gums, infection around all the back molars and heavy tartar build-up in lower front teeth. Pt has diabetes and I explained that treating gum disease will put a halt to the life-altering challenges of diabetes that can be prevented when their mouth is healthy.

Using the R2R. What to say to the patient.

Once your team of clinicians begin to use the R2R the person answering the phone call will always put a patient who calls about an appointment on a short hold while they check the R2R.

Now that your patient is on the phone, let them know that doctor (and you can include the hygienists’ who last saw the patient) is concerned about their health. Explain that last time they saw doctor and hygienist they had infection in their gums and this can make their diabetes worse which causes other serious health problems. Let the patient know it is extremely important to complete the gum treatment because now we know this will help improve their diabetes.

What do we do if we have not used the R2R?

If you are reading about the R2R for the first time, when you look at a patients’ record, there will not be an R2R and I suggest that you have each of your team members learn about this.

Please contact our office and a dental consultant on our team will be happy to provide a training for your team. We can offer AGD CE Credits if you like.

Steps to reactivate overdue hygiene patients:

Step 1. Run your reports

1. Run an overdue hygiene patient report for the past 6 or 12 months.
  1. If you don’t usually run this report monthly you will want to go back at least 12 months when you begin running this report.

Step 2. Send a text message

Use your patient engagement software (Ex. SolutionReach) to contact overdue hygiene patients
Your first text message should only say “Please call our office today about your dental appointment.”

Step 3. In one week for the patients who have not responded to your text message, send them an email.

In your email you can now include your scheduling link, so these patients can easily click the link to schedule their hygiene appointment.
Your email message can be customized with each patients’ name, but the same email goes out to every patient who needs a dental hygiene appointment.
As a dental consultant I have learned that people respond more favorably to this email when you offer them an incentive to return for their appointment.

We know that free tray whitening works well when attempting to get overdue hygiene patients back to your office.

1. 1. You can also use other special offers to motivate patients to return such as money of Invisalign.

Step 3. Understand the specific type of appointment needed.

When you do have patients calling to schedule their appointment, be sure to look at their patient record to understand what type of appointment they need.

Step 4. Begin using the R2R.

1. All clinicians must make this part of their patient record.
2. When a patient calls to schedule or change an appointment, the front office person answering the patient call, will look up the R2R so they know exactly what the patient needs to schedule for (Ex. Prophy, x-rays and doctor exam, etc.) can speak to the patient about the necessary service and value/benefits for scheduling.
3. This R2R can and should be used every time a patient calls to change a dental appointment. Use the value and benefit to the patient to get them to keep their appointment not change it.

The number 1 focus this month needs to be contacting all patients who need to return this year for a hygiene appointment.

Need help implementing the R2R or any other systems?

We are here to help you! Call us to find out how to get training virtually or in-office. We are here to help! Your team will receive AGD CE Credits with any training we complete for you. Contact us today. Email: admin@dentalpracticesolutions.com or call our office: 949-351-8741

Next week I will return with information to contact patients with outstanding treatment. I will also write about how overcome this big challenge of patients leaving without scheduling their important restorative care.

ABOUT DEBBIE SEIDEL-BITTKE, RDH, BS

Debbie Seidel-Bittke is the CEO of Dental Practice Solutions and has over 15 years of business and consulting experience, as well as 30 plus years of working knowledge as a dental professional.

Having the unique ability to understand dentists’ need, Debbie can help each dental practice grow to be efficient and profitable. The growth occurs by optimizing your dental hygiene department. She has a team of experts that will work in the other areas of your dental practice as necessary. Debbie’s insight allows her to effectively communicate and implement success strategies while strategically addressing productivity challenges in the dental practice.

As a dental hygiene business coach, a former clinician and educator, she is adept at collaborating with dentists and their team to incorporate her expertise to see a dental practice grow to levels beyond their imagination. Debbie and her team of experts will increase the profitability of each dental practice. This year, 2018, no client of Dental Practice Solutions will increase production less than $125,000 and without working more days in the office. Ask us how you can be next to do this!

Call or email our office to schedule for your Free Profit Boosting Session:

Email: admin@dentalpracticesolutions.com or call our office: 949-351-8741