In part I of Your Comprehensive Treatment Plan we discussed the necessary fact that you need to build trust in your patients and understand their needs. It is also very important to understand their personality style before presenting treatment.
Case presentation is complex and involves numerous steps to get patients to say “YES”. These steps are:
- Coordination of the New Patient exam
- Communication to their patient of their needs
- Present the big picture
- Offer flexible financing
Coordination of New Patient Exam
Does your practice philosophy have the patient see the doctor 1st of does the new patient see the hygienist first? If you have a private area in the office, especially a private consultation room, this is the best place to spend the first part of the new patient appointment no matter who they see first. The dentist can always come in for a brief introduction here.
The advantage of the dentist seeing the patient first is that the patient will meet the dentist first and the dentist is the first to begin building rapport. The dentist will now have the information first hand. The disadvantage is that the dentist’s time will be spent without production if the new patient no-shows or cancels last minute.
If the hygienist sees the new patient first, he/she will gather the information and get to know the patient history, their personal interests, what type of personality they have and can really build up the dentist. They can be very good at reassuring the patient about how gentle, kind and caring doctor is. Now is a great time to really tell the patient all the great points and facts about the new dentist they have chosen to meet today.
One disadvantage of the hygienist seeing the patient first is the dentist has less control. This can be resolved by the dentist coming into the room for a brief introduction while the hygienist is privately meeting the new patient
The New Patient Exam
It doesn’t matter who sees the new patient first, the new patient exam is all about gathering information. This is the most important time to ask about previous dental experiences; good or bad. If there was a negative experience, ask the patient for more details to understand how this can be prevented in your office. Now is the best time to ask personal information; work, hobbies, etc.
After the get acquainted part of the appointment it is time to ask about any chief complaints. Ask the patient if there is anything bothering them. This can be as simple as asking about dry mouth or malodor. Understand why the patient made this appointment. Was it for cosmetic challenges they are concerned about? Do they have a special event coming up and would like their smile enhanced?
Understanding the patients personality will lead to better communication with the patient and a great chance that the patient will accept treatment. Over a short period of time, understanding your patient’s personalities will become instinctive. To develop your instincts you must pay close attention to the patient’s verbal and non-verbal cues. What is their posture? Are they arms crossed? Can they look you in the eye when they are speaking or do they look down? What do their eyes say to you? What does their body language say?
In Part I we initially discussed understanding the various personality types. The new patient appointment is the best time to write a note about this patients’ personality profile. Get to know what is happening in their life. Does the new patient have time constraints? Is the patient quick to respond? Are they thinking about their answers before they speak?
It doesn’t matter if your new patient is extroverted or introverted. What matters is their behavior as it relates to dentistry. Is your new patient interested in completing their necessary treatment? Does your patient understand the treatment you have explained to them? What type of decision maker is this patient? What types of barriers to treatment might they have? Some of these may include: physical disabilities, health challenges, diseases, phobias, living conditions, numerous financial obligations, unemployment, etc.
The Big Picture
Once you have informed the patient of their necessary treatment, your team needs to discuss the various treatment options, phases of treatment, etc. How you present this information is crucial to the outcome to get them to say “YES”.
If the patient has a treatment plan that is not complex; maybe a few areas of decay, for example, the appointment can be schedule and a small amount of time will be spent on the presentation. Possibly this patient has insurance to pay for a large majority of the treatment. Not a difficult decision for the patient to make. “YES” is simple for this patient.
Should your patient have numerous areas to treat and/or several quadrants of scaling and root planing, you may want to schedule for a simple procedure and allow time to discuss the total treatment plan in the consult room before their 1st phase of restorative or non-surgical periodontal treatment. If you sense that the patient is not the primary decision maker in their family, ask them to bring the decision-maker to the consultation.
The Case Presentation
The case presentation will include a detailed and comprehensive discussion of the e patient’s dental issues. Once you have outlined the dental issues, you will need to discuss the treatment options, risks and benefits of the various options. This is a perfect time to take photographs and study models. If you believe the intra-oral camera or other aids will benefit the patient, now is the time to use them. The treatment coordinator needs to be ready with the insurance estimates and flexible financing options.
Full-mouth dentistry vs. quadrant dentistry vs. single-tooth dentistry
At the consultation appointment the dentist and patients should both come to an agreement about how the patient will proceed with treatment. What is the best plan for the patient? Is it best to complete all of the dentistry in one appointment? Should the patient schedule for a quadrant of dentistry to be completed at one time? Or should the patient return for single-tooth dentistry? The risks and benefits of these options need to be explained to the patient.
Flexible Financial Arrangements
Once you have an agreement with the patient, how they want to proceed with treatment, discuss financial obligations and understand what the patient can afford. Offer various methods of payment for patients to say “Yes” to treatment.
Case Acceptance
The patient will schedule to complete treatment once they understand the scope of their treatment, why it is necessary, the risks of not completing treatment, their benefits to completing treatment and all the financial obligations.
The Bottom Line
Not all patients will accept full-mouth dentistry but their will be a large amount of patients who will accept this type of dentistry. Never assume patients do not want to know all of their options and especially never assume they can’t afford treatment.
Present treatment based on what the patient wants. Understand what they can truly afford. Listen to all of their concerns, especially financial. Many patients will be very receptive to offering quadrant dentistry. If you offer flexible financing patients will buy what they want, when they understand how they can pay for this. Use single-tooth dentistry as a last resort.
Improving the number of patients who will say “Yes” to scheduling treatment is challenging. Lay a foundation by building trust first; understand the patient’s personality and motivation. Effective communication skills and offering slight variations in how you present your treatment will increase your rate of case acceptance. In a short period of time you will notice a higher success rate for more patients saying “Yes” to their treatment.
Examine every step of your new patient experience and especially you consultation appointment to improve your case acceptance. With the correct system in place along with effective communication skills, you will see a significant number of patients now accepting comprehensive care. This is how you will create a WOW experience and drive production up dramatically in your dental practice.
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