Are you and your team searching for that “magic formula” to increase Case Acceptance? Many orthodontic and dental practices are searching for ways to improve patient enrollment. Actually, winning patients over and improving your conversion rate is much easier than you may think. Consistently practicing to a higher standard and becoming a “patient-centered” practice should not be magic but is not widespread in dentistry or medicine. The results you will attain by doing what it takes to “Wow” your new patients will yield magical results, however. How do you “wow” your new patients and what are you doing to become “patient-centered?”

Remember if we know what to do and do not do it, we are depriving others of our very best. It’s not always what you do for your patients, in as much as what you don’t do. Your focus should be on providing the best in patient care, making starting treatment in your office easy and a unique experience.

Below are two of the seven key ingredients a “patient-centered” orthodontic or dental practices have in common.

#1 — Patient/Parent Aggravations Are Non-Existent Think about the last time you called or went to a doctor’s appointment. Were you aggravated by something in particular? Is there something you would change about the experience?

· Voicemail or a recording when you really would have preferred to speak with someone.

· A more convenient appointment time.

· Left knowing what my treatment would actually cost.

· After arriving on time, seeing the doctor when scheduled without having to wait and completing my visit within the time stated.

A patient-centered practice will anticipate the needs of their patients and eliminate aggravations.

Solution: Schedule a team meeting and list issues you have heard from your patients/parents or those they have experienced in your office. Come up with solutions for each issue. Role-play with your team members and practice, practice, practice. Make sure every team member knows how to handle each situation with a friendly smile. Uniformity is key!

#2 — Empty Promises Are Never Made Do not make promises to anyone you are unable to keep. Your patient’s expectations are managed by what is said to them on the phone, in your literature and in the information found on your website. What promises are being made? Are they being kept 100% of the time? If not, you are not meeting and exceeding the expectations of a patient-centered practice. In your practice, establish any broken promise as an unacceptable act. It is simply best not to say, verbally or in print, what you will not deliver.

Promise The appointment coordinator tells the patient/parent a new patient packet will be mailed to them along with instructions on what is needed before the visit.

Unacceptable Act! The packet never arrives or it shows up after the scheduled appointment.

Promise The patient/parent is told the General Dentist office will be called for a panoramic x-ray prior to the visit. The patient/parent offered to make the call but was assured your office would take care of it.

Unacceptable Act! The patient arrives for the consultation and the appointment coordinator or treatment coordinator forgot to call the dentist’s office for the x-ray.

Promise The appointment coordinator or treatment coordinator knows beforehand the consultation will be for a transfer case. The pertinent information is received on the previous orthodontist so that a request of the patient’s records can be made. You assure the patient/parent the records will be in your office the day of the consult.

Unacceptable Act! The request for transfer records was never made or it was made too late and the records aren’t available to the doctor on the day of the patient’s consultation.

Promise You offer 2 free movie tickets if the patient is kept waiting more than 20 minutes into their appointment time. Or, all of your printed material states “how valuable the patient/parent’s time is” so you “strive to be on time for every appointment.”

Unacceptable Act! Your team will rush to get the patient in any chair to avoid giving away movie tickets. Or you keep the patient waiting after they arrive on time.

Solution: Don’t make promises you have no intentions of keeping. This includes verbal or written promises. Be a practice of integrity and keep your word. Hold yourself and your team accountable. Lead by example. If you’re breaking promises to them, they’ll break promises to your patients.

Key ingredients 3, 4 and 5 will be published in the very near future. If you are unable to wait, send an email request and I will be happy to share the remaining ingredients with you, in advance. Begin “wowing” your new patients straightaway! And please, do not limit this exhilarating feeling to your new patients! Once they are enrolled in treatment, it takes the same care to keep them. They will increase your new patient flow with more referrals if they are made to feel special. A patient-centered practice creates Practice Ambassadors!

Copyright © 2007 Avis Ward of AWard Consulting, LLC

Avis Ward is a Dental Marketing Consult specializing in Orthodontics. More information about Avis can be found here: http://aviswardconsulting.com/ Avis invites you to view her blog.