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Better Practice Management Through Patient Education
Do you remember the last time a car salesman came up to you with the “best deal in town?” Undoubtedly, he had a master goal in mind -- to sell you a car! Whatever methods he chose to use were not important; he just wanted to sell you that car! And if it happened to be a used car establishment, you probably were not informed of all the disadvantages that might lurk in the future.
I believe most of you would agree that you cannot and do not run your practice by yourself. There are goals to meet and jobs to perform, but if the team effort is not present, the practice will not thrive. In our experience, the ideal mission statement for a dentist or a hygienist is to “educate the patient with all available options for treatment and possibilities that may occur if treatment is delayed or denied.” With all the facts, each patient should be able to make an informed choice regarding his or her own dental health.
Begin with seeing the patient as a member of your own family. When you determine the best treatment available -- e.g., a porcelain onlay instead of a four-surface composite resin filling -- you have presented the very best dentistry you have to offer. Making your patient feel a “part of the family” is only part of the “five-star service” you want to offer every day in your practice.
There are patients that might think you just want to buy a new Mercedes® or Lexus®. But the majority of your patients will appreciate your professional concern -- and it’s all in the presentation!
It’s a known fact that when you want something -- when you really want it -- you will find a way to get it. That’s true with dentistry. In our practice, we do a lot of cosmetic dentistry. With our imaging program, we can show the patient how he or she would look before the work is done. We even send them home with a picture, and an estimate, which explains all options of prepayment, courtesies and more. Most of our patients (95%) schedule before they ever leave the doors.
There is no reason why this same scenario cannot happen with functional dentistry. Let’s take a look at an example of how our team works together to inform the patient of his dental condition.
Let’s call this patient Mary. She has come in as a new patient through the hygiene department and the hygienist is showing her, with the video camera, the worst area of her mouth. Lori, the hygienist, will freeze four of the sites on the video screen that will need attention, pointing out any fracture or recurrent decay. Now comes the important part of the whole process: Lori might say to Mary, “It’s possible Dr. Groba may diagnose a crown to replace that silver filling right there (pointing to the screen) and maybe an onlay for that really big filling in the back.”
At this point, the patient has been told that there is a possible problem in that area and when the dentist comes in to take a look, he just verifies her findings. Most hygienists today have worked long enough to recognize a potential crown possibility, and when she knows her dentist and his philosophies, she can pretty much know what he is going to say when he comes in. Mary is not consumed with the notion that the doctor is just out to get her money. She knows that he was not even in the room when Lori first mentioned that there might be a problem in that area. Now the dentist is a good guy -- he is really concerned about her dental health.
One thing we have learned over the years is to always present the best option first. When you assume that your patient has no money, you have done them an injustice by offering a treatment plan that is less than the best. After presenting the best and then alternatives, you can leave the choice up to the patient, who can now make an “informed” choice.
In our practice, we strive to do quadrant dentistry (one or two quadrants at a time). When I diagnose treatment, I present the worst quadrant first -- the one that needs the most attention. I do not present the entire treatment plan unless the patient specifically requests it. Taking one quadrant at a time will allow the patient to see your best work; then he or she may want to come back to have more done.
Now, let’s take Mary to the financial coordinator. Most of your staff will agree that a patient’s memory somehow fails between one operatory and the next. When there is a lot of information to present, the patient may be a little apprehensive or nervous and may not remember everything that was said when the doctor was present. In order to complete the education process, your financial coordinator should have enough basic knowledge about the treatment presented to be able to fully explain to the patient the pros and cons of any alternatives (e.g., onlays versus composite resins). Models should be available to help “show” the patient what the differences are, thus, making it easier for them to make a choice.
Knowledge is wonderful thing. We can build computers, run governments and go to the moon with the right knowledge in the right place. Why not give our patients the kind of knowledge we would want for ourselves? The mission to “educate the patient with all available options for treatment and possibilities that may occur if treatment is delayed or denied” can be attained if we are committed to “teaching” instead of “selling.” As dentists, we should be educators -- not salesmen. Which are you?
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