Your Dental Patient Treatment Plan: Triage and get Paid
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.
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 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?
Where have we gone wrong?
Steps to Overcome the “I can’t afford it” Challenge:
- Connection and Rapport
- This happens when the patient calls saying they have a challenging oral condition.
- What was said on the first phone call to schedule for this limited exam?
- How did you make the patient feel when they came into your office front door?
- How well did the team and doctor connect with the patient?
- Diagnosis
- Is the patients’ condition urgent?
- Show the patient what you see and assign a level of urgency
- 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
- Explain the risks for not completing treatment in a special timeframe (According to how you have triaged your patient)
- Patient Accepts Treatment Plan
- When you have a patient with a limited exam they will be triaged with a priority of urgency
- 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
- When money is an objection, ask your patient, “What can you afford today?”
- Break down your questions into small bite-size pieces.
- 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.
- If there will be a larger treatment plan needed, as your patient what type of payment will feel comfortable every two weeks?
- 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.
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 21st, 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 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.
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
Dr. Nabil Mockbil received his DDS in 2001 from Umea University in Sweden, regarded as having the best dentist programme in Sweden for undergraduates. He’s now the founder of Swedish Dental Clinic in Dubai
Cindy Rogers, RDH, is a dental consultant, coach, speaker, and author for Dental Practice Solutions. Cindy coaches in the areas of front office systems and processes as well as the hygiene department. People love the calm ZEN vibe that comes with Cindy but don’t be surprised at her “Inspiring and Motivating” ability when working with your team! Please contact Cindy for a complimentary Profit Boosting Session:
Grace is the proud owner of Identity Dental Marketing where she has made it her personal mission to improve the business of each dental practice she works with by a measurable amount. In her first position as a Marketing Director for a multiple location dental practice, she tripled the number of new patients seen on a monthly basis (in 3 short months, on the same marketing budget). From there, she created a variety of sales-focused training workshops, attended many marketing seminars and became obsessed with dental marketing and branding as whole.