Dental Office Management Corner with Janette Douglas
Shocked!
So many dentists I work with are shocked when I show them a “treatment not scheduled” report. They think they are doing great until they see the reality of how much treatment is not being scheduled.
Three tips to ensure your patients will schedule diagnosed treatment.
- Take intraoral photos – I can’t stress enough the impact on your patient of an enlarged photo of calculus or a broken filling. In my opinion, it’s the most valuable and impactful tool in your practice.
- Take your time and don’t act rushed when doing the exam. As Theordore Roosevelt said, “ No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care”. Make sure you have answered all questions to your patient’s satisfaction. Educating your patient is crucial to their proceeding with treatment.
- When presenting a treatment plan, point out the benefit of proceeding with treatment, not just what procedures need to be done. Examples of this would be eliminating pain, reduced risk of a more expensive procedure in the future, etc. Let your patient know they can choose to do nothing and explain the repercussions of that choice.
Please, run a report today, so you have a clear picture of how much diagnosed treatment is not scheduled. You may be as shocked as they are!
