Very few Dentists, if any, would say they are NOT Patient-Centric in the way they run their practices and treat their patients. \u00a0Maybe no doctor would say otherwise.<\/p>\n
But, they and most likely you have it all wrong.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s because the perception of what it means to be \u201cpatient-centric\u201d or in other words \u201cputting the patient first\u201d \u2013 is all wrong. \u00a0In fact, it\u2019s completely 180 degrees wrong. \u00a0Certainly not intentionally so but as result of what happens. \u00a0The result of setting up your practice to be \u201cpatient-centric\u201d is not actually patient-centric.<\/p>\n
Think about it this way\u2026 what do you perceive patient-centric to mean?<\/p>\n
Convenient scheduling. \u00a0Affordable care. \u00a0Patient is the boss.<\/p>\n
In other words: the Doctor and Team at the mercy of the Patient.<\/p>\n
Now, I know what you are thinking. \u00a0They are your \u201ccustomers\u201d and you have been told that THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT.<\/p>\n
I say BS! \u00a0No customer is always right \u2013 that\u2019s why they are called \u201ccustomers\u201d and not \u201cdoctors.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course, you think you are always right when you are a customer of someone else\u2019s business. \u00a0That\u2019s fine in a restaurant, hospitality, retail, shopping and other COMMODITIZED Businesses that have little stature or credibility in the customers\u2019 mind.<\/p>\n
If you want to devalue yourself immediately and forever then you let your patients run your practice and let them make all the decisions. \u00a0Give them the control over what and how you diagnose or even what and how they schedule, pay, show up, etc.<\/p>\n
First of all, you became a doctor for a reason \u2013 to help people. \u00a0Often times people that DO NOT know they need help. \u00a0Even when you show them, tell them, teach them \u2013 still they question the legitimacy of what you are doing, saying, charging. \u00a0And yet you say you want to run a patient centric practice.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what I want for you, for my doctors, for The Entrepreneurial Dentists\u2026<\/p>\n
I want you to be respected.<\/p>\n
I want you to have authority.<\/p>\n
I want you to be a leader and influencer for your patients.<\/p>\n
I want you to see Patient Centric as what\u2019s in the best interest of your patients not what\u2019s the path of least resistance for them.<\/p>\n
Too many Doctors are satisfied with just \u201cbeing busy.\u201d \u00a0Going in and out of the practice every day like a job instead of actually doing dentistry and making a difference.<\/p>\n
If you want to do better by your patients, you can do one thing above all others\u2026<\/p>\n
YOU CAN DO BETTER BY YOURSELF<\/p>\n
What I want you to have \u2013 and what the best doctors have, the ones that are happiest with their lives and their dentistry, the ones that are most prosperous and practicing on their own terms, the ones that don\u2019t dread coming into the practice and they feel proud of what they are paid, the ones that they stand tall and confident when diagnosing real dentistry and truly helping patients\u2026<\/p>\n
A DOCTOR-CENTRIC PRACTICE<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t worry, that doesn\u2019t mean it all sits on your shoulders. \u00a0Not a chance. \u00a0 This is about the Entrepreneurial Dental Practice here. \u00a0It\u2019s going to be TEAM DRIVEN and SYSTEM RUN (we\u2019ll get to that part very soon).<\/p>\n
Today, I\u2019m talking about YOU.<\/p>\n
The Entrepreneurial Dentist achieves a Practice as a Business that revolves around them. \u00a0Like the Planets orbit the Sun. \u00a0You are the center of your own universe \u2013 as it should be.<\/p>\n
That is not greedy or arrogant or egotistical \u2013 it\u2019s called SMART BUSINESS. \u00a0If your practice doesn\u2019t revolve around you then that means one thing \u2013 you revolve around someone or something else.<\/p>\n
Your life is held hostage to your practice and instead of it serving your purpose, passion and profits, you are its servant and it your master.<\/p>\n
You can fall victim of being at the mercy of your Patients or your Team or (as we talked about last week) you can be letting industry norms become your anchors to achieving what is actually possible.<\/p>\n
The true Entrepreneurial Dentist has a vision for what they want, a plan to get there and an operational system in management, training and leadership to ensure that it happens.<\/p>\n
That makes your life easier \u2013 not harder. \u00a0Done right, everything becomes so systematic it hardly feels like work anymore; aside from the actual dentistry, of course.<\/p>\n
If you love the dentistry you are doing and you love the way you are doing it then you would welcome more of the right kind of \u201cbusy\u201d and \u201cproduction\u201d into your life, as long as it felt worth it to you and you felt fulfilled everyday you show up.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the thing: this is only possible if you embrace the fact that it\u2019s not bad to want a business to be centered around you. \u00a0Once you decide what you truly want, we can engineer a practice to serve your patients in amazing ways that truly matter without you having to be the one who sacrifices and bears the brunt (pain) of your own decisions.<\/p>\n
As an Entrepreneurial Dentist you realize you can have it all if you are deliberate in what you are doing.<\/p>\n
No business actually lets the customer run the show. \u00a0The best businesses thought to be \u201ccustomer-friendly\u201d have disciplined protocols and rules of engagement that create the parameters to allow the customer service to take place and for the business to thrive.<\/p>\n
With dentistry, the patient can be at a tug of war against your goals, no matter what you think. \u00a0That is until you master the second part of what it means to be an Entrepreneurial Dentist. \u00a0We\u2019ll go there next week.<\/p>\n
For now, remember if your business isn\u2019t set up to serve you, you are going to be the only one left out. \u00a0Believe me, I\u2019ve yet to see a Doctor who\u2019s happy (or doing well) that is at the bottom of the food chain in his\/her practice; running around being everyone\u2019s you know what. \u00a0That\u2019s no good for your ego (confidence), your bank account (income), your health (sanity) and it isn\u2019t any good for your patients (customers) either.<\/p>\n
The Entrepreneurial Dentist commits to building a practice as a business that matches their personal and professional objectives above all others. \u00a0If that\u2019s not okay with you, you can always get a job.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a win-win-win because it\u2019s better for everyone involved. \u00a0For more, stay tuned for the rest of the Entrepreneurial Dentist series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"