Is there anything more important than this, in dentistry? Well, technically all principles are important and they do all go together. As I continue my Report Series on “The Doctor’s Daily Responsibilities,” it is wonderful to receive such great feedback as you achieve clarity on the most valuable actions to take to help your practice grow, your team succeed, your patients get healthy and to be as profitable as possible.
If you are following along and read the introductions to this series, you will know that the NEXT responsibility we are going to talk about is “diagnosing the dentistry.” It might seem strange to you that this most pivotal and significance step (which no dentistry can be done before it is first diagnosed), is in third place in our order and flow.
That is very intentional and the Team also came before the Patients, also deliberate. If you didn’t read it last week or the week before let me say it clearly here: your first set of patients in your life are your team; taking care of them leads to them taking care of your patients.
That doesn’t just mean with money and appreciation but that is part of it, that also means with education, clear expectations, accountability and growth opportunities, personally and professionally.
Serving the patient at the neglect of the team is a self-defeating concept because eventually turnover, bad attitudes, negative energy and so on and so forth only hurt the patient experience.
Show me great, cohesive, positive, and motivated teams and I will show you patients that love to say yes to your dentistry. And it happens in that order.
Now, we move on to the real secret of all dentistry… Patient Education.
While I’m not afraid to talk about “selling” and you shouldn’t be either, the real point is, in dentistry there really is no “selling” in the sense most people mean the word. Why I say that is because no person really wants to buy a dental procedure. You can’t convince and coerce someone out of their money for something they would rather not experience. No matter how painless your procedures are, the patient is not there to experience the dentistry. They are there to experience the outcomes, benefits, and results of getting it done.
Therefore helping the patient see, feel, understand the benefits or consequence is what will move them forward and make something important enough to do so timely, without refusal or delay.
Here’s where most practices go wrong with education…
First, it’s done after the fact. It’s placed at the end of the diagnosis, or at best throughout the clinical exam process, or even worse at the time of presenting the treatment and the money.
Second, way too much focus is put on educating them about the actual dentistry (the clinical pieces and parts), instead of – in patient terms – the actual implication and value to them.
Here’s the secret: pre-educate.
You have heard me say this time and time again. The question is ARE YOU DOING IT?
You know if your approach is effective if you are getting more engagement from the patients when you walk in the room; if you are getting less insurance and money BS during the treatment discussion; if you are getting more patients coming in receptive to truly comprehensive care.
Specifically, the practice education begins on the phone and leads all the way up to the front door and then takes on a personal twist once the patient arrives.
If someone and something is not sharing with patients about how your practice is different, what you really do here, why patients come to you and what your philosophy of care is BEFORE patients have their mouths open, chair back, x-rays taken, photographs up, treatment plan presented – then you are missing your greatest responsibility. Help the patient become a successful patient by educating them on what exactly that is and WHY.
Now, in terms of the Doctor, your discussion with patients will be best served by asking them questions, elaborating on reasons why something is a problem, and educating them on the long-term health benefits to being proactive with their care.
This is a practice-wide approach that involves every team member. Still, you carry the greatest authority and credibility. Your time with the patient must culminate to a decision and an agreement by getting the clinical yes with your patients.
That’s moving to Diagnosis which we’ll cover next week.
If you do nothing else with today’s Weekly Report, outline for yourself and your team what is your educational approach in your practice.
What do you want your patients to know about you, what you do and what you believe? How do you go about delivering that message and involving the patients in your EDUCATIONAL PROCESS before the diagnosis occurs?
You are aware of the saying: proper planning prevents poor performance. If we better prepare a patient, they will be a better patient. If we show them the vision and begin with the end in mind, they will buy in with more conviction, more belief and more commitment.
To summarize this important Daily Doctor Responsibility of Educating Patients, remember that you have to make dentistry relevant to people so that it is about them (not about you) and that it is important to them (not just important to you).
If you want them to take everything else that is about to happen seriously then they have to be educated on why they should before it happens. Proactive and value building education (not reactive, defensive convincing) is what helps more patients say yes faster and to more comprehensive dentistry.
You want to set the tone for it. While everyone is involved in it and responsible for making it happen, it begins first with you leading by example on the real purpose of your practice.
