Well, when one of my best, most determined, ambitious doctors says that last week’s Report was “rock solid,” then I know I’m striking a cord. So get ready, because this one gets even better.
As I often tell you, one of the biggest challenges in dentistry is the routine of it all. For you, it becomes ‘just what you do.’ Now, that doesn’t have mean you are inattentive or haphazard. It just means that it becomes habitual motion instead of purposeful action with everything you do and every patient you see.
The real magic from last week can be found in one sentence, “What are you doing to educate your patients before diagnosing them?” Regardless of your answer, the real answer is NOT ENOUGH.
Here is the key to ensure that you are always deliberate and intentional with every conversation and every interaction with your patients…
You are there to accomplish something.
And here is what so few really grab on to and understand: SO ARE THE PATIENTS!
No one wakes up and goes to the dentist for fun. If they are IN YOUR PRACTICE physically, then you have accomplished the hardest part of the game because they didn’t come to waste their time. They came to accomplish something.
Now, obviously, physical presence isn’t enough. You need their mental and emotional presence. Which is why the last one and this one – of my most important Daily Doctor Responsibilities – are so incredibly critical to your DAILY SUCCESS!
We have arrived at what should be your favorite part (otherwise we got a big problem). You have to fall in love with and be obsessed over Diagnosing. If you aren’t, then you aren’t going to do a good job.
A problem SOLVER loves a PROBLEM.
A doer of Dentistry loves dentistry to do.
In fact, some times Doctors love the diagnosing more than the actual dentistry. However, to NOT be crazy about diving into the mouth and figuring out everything you can do to help your patients get healthy is a recipe for you to stagnate and plateau with diminishing opportunity day by day. Eventually you will be doing nothing more than just accepting the dentistry you get instead of cultivating, creating, discovering, DIAGNOSING the dentistry you want and that your patients deserve.
Rest assured, I don’t dictate to my doctors what should or shouldn’t be a crown or is good enough with composite. I don’t say which teeth should go and those that still deserve a chance. I don’t judge the millimeters of the pockets that you watch versus the ones you take action on. All I want is for your patients to be well served, thoroughly educated and comprehensively diagnosed based on what is in the best interest of their long term health – based on your philosophy.
I want your patients to have an opportunity (that only you can provide), to know what “the best” looks like, to know what “optimal” is, to never be robbed of their health and to receive exactly what they deserve. This requires the absence of bashfulness, fear, pre-judgment, lack of confidence or any other excuse.
Before we even talk about the patient interaction, how to get them involved and the best way possible to get them to fully buy into your comprehensive diagnosis, we have to take a step back and ensure that you have actually developed your diagnostic standards of card and the principles you have around treatment planning.
This is the entire point of private practice and of patients being able to “choose their doctor” because they get to decide if they are aligned with you and you get to decide if you are aligned with them. Anything less than that and you are giving up your practice independence.
Understand this can evolve over time and it can be ever-changing based on your knowledge and experience. Just remember, no one gets to tell you these things – you can have competing opinions with your colleagues but the only one that truly matters is yours.
This definition and your standard of care becomes your guide for how you do everything diagnostically and in the responsibilities that follow.
Once this is established, every aspect of your practice and patient experience should be set-up to create a diagnostic approach with your patients that is congruent with your principles.
This doesn’t mean that you treat all patients the same; it doesn’t mean you can’t modify your approach to help someone who can’t afford the state of ideal; it doesn’t mean that you can’t get someone out of pain; it doesn’t mean anything other than you are committing to a level of integrity in your diagnostic process.
Your diagnostic principles are your diagnostic principles and everything is set-up to serve those preferences and bring them to life. Everyone in your practice should be able to speak your language and know what these are.
How you go about “building your case” and interacting with your patients diagnostically is the foundation for everything else that will happen next…
The yeses, the money, the schedule, and the dentistry.
Everything tied to actual dentistry begins right here. The origin of it all is diagnosis.
What can you do better or more, what are you doing great but not every time, what or who needs work on this?
Is there anything that brings more effectiveness and continuity to your practice than the consistency and integrity of your diagnosing and treatment planning with patients – I think not.
We’ll carry on here into the actual tactics around diagnosing and bring the patient and team into this conversation as we work towards case acceptance.
