Dentaltown February 2022 - 10

howard speaks
column
It's What You Say-And How You Say It
The adage goes, " It's not what you say but how you
say it, " but that's not true when it comes to how you
and your staff communicate with patients. In that case,
it is what you say, and also how you say it!
I recently fi lmed a quick Dentistry Uncensored video
with Amy, one of our team members at Today's Dental. In
the video, she shares some great advice to help treatment
coordinators make sure they're guiding patients straight
into scheduling their next appointment. A few examples:
Leading the way toward
a successful conversation
If a patient calls to cancel an appointment, Amy says,
the response should be something like this: " OK, I'll
cancel this appointment, and let's get you rescheduled.
How about Monday at [this time]? " Suggest an exact time
while the patient is still on the phone, so the conversation
is not, " Would you like to reschedule? " but, " For your
next appointment, would this window work for you? "
At the end of a patient appointment, the treatment
coordinator should say, " Let's get you checked out. I'm
going to look up your insurance right now and once I
fi nd out your coverage, I'll schedule you for our next
opening. " Don't ask if the patient wants to schedule-start
the scheduling process for them. Steer your conversations
toward the goal of acceptance!
Flexiblility isn't really feasible
in the dental practice schedule
The same principle applies when you need to have
uncomfortable conversations, too. For instance, I've
noticed that patients seem to consider it less important
to be on time for their appointments recently. I suspect
this stems from how before the coronavirus
pandemic, patients often
were coming to their appointments
from an offi ce environment, which
is more regimented and fussier about
schedules and " on-the-clock " time.
Now, many people have shifted to a
work-from-home environment, which
often treats time as a more fl exible,
malleable concept. As many companies
have discovered, you don't always need
by Howard Farran, DDS, MBA, founder and CEO
10 FEBRUARY 2022 // dentaltown.com
employees' butts parked in their chairs during a specifi ed
time frame for them to get things done. (Maybe they take
a long afternoon break to pick up their kids from school,
but catch up after dinner, for example.)
But some patients seem to consider their dental
appointments as having similar elasticity-they're more
likely to drift in 15 minutes late nowadays. (If you fi nd
this to be true, too, leave a comment under the digital
version of this column at dentaltown.com/magazine!
I miss hearing from Townies.)
Being thoughtful, kind and fi rm
At Today's Dental, we explain to patients that if
they're more than 15 minutes late, they'll automatically be
rescheduled. We position this in the context of fairness:
* If we were to try to squeeze in all the work in
such a compressed time frame, it's not fair to
the patient. If the hygienist has to rush through
treatment, for example, the patient will miss out
on a truly thorough cleaning.
* If they arrive late and expect the full treatment
time, it's not fair to the next patient, whose
window will then be pushed later or compressed.
Every person who works in a dental practice has the
opportunity to practice and employ the principles of
thoughtful communication, which will lead to higher
patient acceptance-of treatments, of payment plans
and of appointments. It's up to you and your team to
master these techniques to ensure your practice is as
productive as it can be! ■
Learn more about
patient communication
and earn CE credits
Dentaltown's online CE includes several
courses from some of the dental industry's
best-known experts-Fred Joyal, Sandy
Pardue, Laura Hatch and more-that discuss
how communication techniques affect
every section of your practice, from case
acceptance to hygiene recommendations to
appointment scheduling. To bone up, head
to dentaltown.com/ce and select " Practice
Management, HR and Accounting " in the
pull-down Category menu.
https://www.dentaltown.com/magazine/article/8544/howard-speaks-its-what-you-sayemand-em-how-you-say-it https://www.dentaltown.com/onlinece/category/20/practice-management-hr-and-accounting http://www.dentaltown.com
Dentaltown February 2022

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