Dear Doctors and Team,

During my busy speaking schedule the past few months, I continually discover by the feedback from attendees that there is an ever prominent need for improved communication within the dental practice. Of all the topics in the LLM&A seminar files, verbal skills enhancement is still #1. As we all know, communication is the foundation on which the clinical and business success is built.

Verbal Communication is an art to be developed just like any other skill. Those who continually learn new and better ways of using positive words for positive results are those that see significant differences in the net profits of their practice. Communication must be strong from every member of the team, not just the dentist and one or two others.

The first point of contact with patients is the telephone. It is amazing how many dental practices use Voice Mail during patient hours because they are too busy to answer the telephone. The phone is your lifeline to the outside world…and the person answering your telephone sets the tone for how patients are treated in your practice. “Thank you for calling Dr. Smith’s practice, this is Christy, how may I help you” sounds much better than a hurried and cold, “Doctors office, hold please”. Your practice will never be on a true friendly level until the phone is handled properly with the person answering it sounding friendly, knowledgeable, enthusiastic and empathetic. Why spend tens of thousands to market your practice and have those dollars wasted at the first point of communication.

When patients walk in, how are they greeted or are they greeted at all? Making patients feel special and being happy to see them (no matter what), is a skill that few people naturally possess. If your scheduling coordinator has the knack for making everyone feel special and welcome, count yourself among the lucky!

When patients are registered, many times they are not given proper instructions as to how the information is to be gathered and why. If the patient has not already filled out the registration and health history online, ask every new patient to arrive 20 minutes before their scheduled chair time to fill out their necessary forms and to meet your administrative team. Then a simple, “Please fill out your health history completely Mrs. Davis. Dr Smith is interested in your total health.” This immediately sets the tone that this is not a “drill ‘em, fill ‘em, bill ‘em” practice but a total care facility.

In seating patients it is important for the clinical team to greet each patient with a smile and a handshake if they have never met the patient before. “Hello Mr. Phillips, my name is Karen and I’m one of Dr. Smith’s dental assistants”, is far better than “you can come with me now”. No name equals no interest.

Prior to the dentist coming in, the assistant or the hygienist should explain the procedure that’s about to happen in positive terms…Such as: “Before we get started with your crown prep Mr. Connors, I want to be the first to say you are making a wise decision to replace that large silver filling that has given you trouble”.

Reassuring patients is part of being a clinical team member. Seventy-five percent of all communication from the dentist and team to the patients should be about dentistry….twenty five percent social chit chat. I find in highly sociable practices that there are more broken appointments and less case acceptance due to too much social interaction. Some social chatter is good…too much is a turn off and creates a less than desirable acceptance of treatment that the patients deserve.

Post treatment patient education again falls to the assistants and hygienists. This is the time to explain exactly what was done at today’s visit and outline what they should expect when they get home. A dentist who knows how to turn the patient over to another professional without making patients feel abandoned is a smart, non stressed and productive dentist. If you add seven minutes per patient to the doctor’s time with the post treatment patient education, with 30 patients per day (including hygiene), this is using 210 minutes which is 3.5 hours!!! If the doctor’s time is only half that long post treatment-wise, this is still close to 2 hours daily. Because no one else can do the clinical operative dentistry, it makes sense to hire, train and trust the assistants to do this phase of communication. And, the good news is: In every state, dental assistants are allowed to TALK!

At the completion of treatment, patients should be escorted to the Financial Coordinator for check out. Having the clinical team pass the power to the FC while helping with over the counter collections, the phrase should be: “Mrs. Bailey, I’ve given your chart to Diane. She’ll be giving you your receipt for today’s visit”. If your charts are digital, the comment might be: “Mrs. Bailey, Diane will see you now and give you your receipt for today’s visit”. Expect payment and it is amazing how much more you collect….

At check out is a perfect time to let patients know that you accept new patients. “Mr. Walker, if you have any friends, relatives, neighbors or co-workers who do not have a personal dentist be sure to tell them about our practice”. Oftentimes if patients have been kept waiting or they see hundreds of charts on the shelves, they assume you have more than you can handle…another good reason to go to digital records!

For more verbal skills I recommend our 12 DVD series that comes with a master of the workbook so that within your practice you and your team can mark off an hour before lunch, view the DVD together, then over catered lunch, discuss how your practice will put to use the next day the verbal skills from that 12 week series. Remember you must hear something 9-11 times before you “own it”.

Have a great summer….

Linda Miles, Certified Speaking Professional
Founder, Linda Miles and Associates and the
Speaking Consulting Network
lindamiles@cox.net