A happy patient walking out the door after an appointment confirms that their experience with you, your team, and the care they received has met or exceeded their expectations. You should conclude every appointment this way—leaving the patient with a positive impression of your practice and providing the perfect scenario to generate new patient referrals. So how do you ensure every patient leaves happy? Teamwork and no surprises!

Our recent article explained that patient handoffs are vital to ensuring the best patient experience in your office. Verbal skills, teamwork and personal attention are the key to these handoffs. After completing treatment take a few moments to raise the chair, remove your mask and gloves, sit side by side and have a conversation with the patient about the results of the care or treatment they just received. Next, make sure your patient understands what follow-up care or further treatment they need before you walk them to the front desk. A team member should always, without exception, walk your patient to the front desk. Just as important, never “park” a patient at the front desk – they should not be left standing alone wondering what to do next. Instead, ensure a proper handoff takes place and transitions them to a front desk team member.

As always, make each patient feel important. The team member escorting them to the front desk should be pleasant and not rushed. Likewise, the person receiving the patient should give the patient their full attention—not simply a wave or head nod as they are on a phone call. At this point in the patient visit, there should be no surprises. You and your patient are all on the same page regarding completed treatment, payment, and follow-up care. Lastly, thank them and let them know you look forward to seeing them again!

 

Ken Mathys, CPA
Founder & Principal
Dental Practice Advisors

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Reinforce your brand—that lasting intangible bond with the patient—by ensuring the best patient experience in your office through effective handoffs. From the time a patient enters the waiting room until they walk out the door, a team member needs to guide and smoothly transition them from one part of the office to the next.

The entire team must participate to make each hand off successful. Everyone should know what role they play. Have a structured handoff plan in place, and utilize your morning huddles or team meetings to review and practice your handoff process until everyone is comfortable and competent.

Offices often think they hand off patients, but in reality they simply walk the patient down the hallway to the next stop. They fail to actually hand over the responsibility of the patient from one team member to another. They don’t display interest and excitement, which fails to instill confidence in the patient.

To create a successful handoff, team members need to be prepared to receive the patient during each transition. They should put everything else aside for a moment, pay attention, and listen carefully to make sure they have received all the information necessary to provide an exceptional appointment—from start to finish—for the patient.

Most importantly, you need to prepare your patient every step of the way by explaining what comes next, anticipating their expectations and needs, and introducing them to the next team member. By utilizing appropriate handoffs, you increase the level of trust your patient has with your team and eliminate a lot of their potential fears.

Here are a few important things to communicate during handoffs:

 

1. Summary of what has been accomplished.
   This gives the patient a quick review of the great care they received in your office, allows receiving team members to learn what has been done, and sets the stage for comfortable treatment presentation.
2. Treatment recommendations.
   Reiterating treatment options helps ensure everyone is on the same page concerning the patient’s care.
3. Next step for the patient/decisions made.
   Reviewing the next step(s) reassures the patient about the process and helps the receiving team member know how to handle their step in the process.
4. Confidence.
   Instill patient confidence in your office via your handoff effectiveness!

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Once patients walk into your office, how do you make them stay… and come back? By providing superior service and top quality dental care, starting at the front desk.

A positive front desk encounter begins with the look and feel of the front office when a patient arrives. Patients notice the sounds, smells and overall appearance when they walk in. Put extra effort into giving your front office a fresh, clean scent versus the anxiety-inducing smell of dental materials. Keep the front desk and waiting areas neat and organized, as clutter devalues the professionalism of a practice.

You also need to place just as much importance on how you greet your patient when they enter. A successful front desk receptionist is aware of and anticipates each and every patient arrival. Their number one priority is the patient check-in, with emphasis on making the patient feel welcome. Upon walking in the door, every patient should receive your receptionist’s full attention; they should not be distracted by phone calls or other tasks.

Here are a few additional tips for a winning check-in process:

1. Welcome a patient by standing to greet them by name and introducing yourself while smiling and looking them in the eye.
2. Show them where to hang their coat, if necessary.
3. Efficiently verify their information and offer to walk them through the paperwork.
4. Offer a beverage while they wait.
5. Note their arrival time and compare it to the schedule of the person they are seeing.
6. In the event of a delay in their appointment, inform the patient right away.
7. Ensure that small talk around the front desk is kept professional and minimal.
8. Always remain professional yet friendly and accommodating to the patient

To create the optimal front desk encounter, build a front desk team that is well-trained and prepared for any situation; has strong interpersonal skills – both verbal and non-verbal communication; and consistently demonstrates patience.

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In our last few blog posts we talked about the importance of each patient touch point in establishing your brand—that intangible bond with your patients. Because when patients feel that connection they are more inclined to make appointments and pay a fair price for their care. Yet no-shows can and do happen despite your best efforts.

Dental City and Dental Practice Advisors have teamed up to help you achieve increased success in 2016 with our upcoming event with the Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center “Creating Exceptional Patient Experiences.” To kick it off we’re sharing a series of articles with tips for exceptional patient experiences written by members of the Dental Practice Advisors team.

Anyone can pick up a phone, but not everyone can do it well. That person needs the positive outlook, language skills, dental knowledge and financial know-how to understand questions that come up. But people skills that develop a relationship with the caller and guide conversations to a positive outcome are even more important. The more personalized and reassuring the conversation, the better the chance of successfully scheduling that first appointment.

Here are three basic tips to step up your phone game:

 

Dental City and Dental Practice Advisors have teamed up to help you achieve increased success in 2016 with our upcoming event with the Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center “Creating Exceptional Patient Experiences.” To kick it off we’re sharing a series of articles with tips for exceptional patient experiences written by members of the Dental Practice Advisors team:

Optimize Your Patient Experience Through Every Touchpoint

Dental City and Dental Practice Advisors have teamed up to help you achieve increased success in 2016 from our upcoming event with the Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center “Creating Exceptional Patient Experiences” to this series of practice management tips:

Brand Matters: It’s Not What You Think, It’s What THEY Think