One of the first lessons that I instill in our Doctors and Team Members regarding their ability to influence patients to make smart decisions about their health is getting them to fully embrace and take ownership over this one important principle.
The initial thinking of a patient is if this treatment doesn’t need to happen today, then why would it; so they delay.
The nature of the majority of humans is to procrastinate until something has to be done. Now, not everyone, some people are ready to get everything done (probably the OCD type, which I tend to fall into that category).
None the less, most people are not going to proactively make a decision unless they have been given a compelling reason to do so.
When I first meet most Doctors, they are very casual with their language when describing treatment, talking about problems, or explaining possibilities. They give, at best, wishy washy justifications and, at worst, none at all as to why this – whatever is being discussed – matters now and why getting it done “sometime” or “eventually” doesn’t cut it.
Patients want and actually expect definitive direction. Not just suggestions but instead told exactly what, why, and when.
This is important for every Team Member in your practice. Your ability to convey urgency and confidently state to patients what they should do and why it is better done now instead of later is critical to your success and to the health of the patient.
You might consider this commonly used statement: “If not now, when?”
And that is a fair question to ask to any patient who is on the fence. However, it is your responsibility to keep them off the fence in the first place by telling them why “now” is the time.
This goes with my expression of, “If it’s diagnosed, it must be done.”
Of course, I’m not the doctor. Joining the “watch and wait” club and the “delay until next visit to see how much worse it is” is up to each Doctor’s own philosophy and comfort. I stand by the fact that no smart patients want a doctor who is going to wait for things to get worse before they want to provide any help.
Here’s the thing: life is short and time is always of the essence. Their health matters now. You simply can’t wait until later to do something that you know you will have to do at some point.
Furthermore, this inherently overcomes the most common objection there is about insurance because the coverage, reimbursement, deductible, or whatever other word you hear, have zero bearing and relevance to the patient’s health and to the present moment in time.
Imagine a doctor who comes to me to improve their practice, teamwork, communication, profitability, or their own lifestyle and then at the end of the conversation they want to wait it out.
Wait for what, you might ask.
Precisely. There is nothing to wait for. Every reason, every fact, every – thing – is already known. The only thing that isn’t is the future and that is determined by what we do today.
To those Doctors, I say, “Do you want success right now or you want it some time in the future? Do you want changes, improvement, less stress, peace of mind, more rewards, and victories for you and your team right now – or some time in the future?”
It just sounds silly to say it out loud. No smart person waits for something if they know they will be better off, happier, or healthier as a result.
So, you can do the same thing with your patients. “When do you want to be healthy? Sometime in the future or as quickly as possible?”
“For us, our philosophy is always now or never because now is the only time we have. You deserve this today; really you deserved it long ago. We wish you never needed what we are talking about but you do so we have a chance to fix it, get you better, improve your smile, make you healthy, help you eat and sleep – Now.”
It’s not a coincidence we called it Dental Success Today; not Dental Success Someday. And the same goes for your patients… healthy today.
It all begins with your verbiage and your confident communication (along with your own belief), that today is the day to make a difference.
It would be great to role-play this and to work together on how you talk with patients about “right now.” Really pay attention to each other’s words and make sure you aren’t making it easy for the patient to delay and put it off for no reason.
Here’s another one for you: “Nothing changes until something changes.”
I could go on all day. The real point here is it’s not the patient’s job to decide. It is your job to lead and guide them. Give them the information and confidence they need so that they can commit to their health today.
Sometimes you just have to be blunt about it. Besides, if the goal is to help someone today, you can’t put that off until tomorrow either!
