How good is the journey for patients?
NewsPosted by: Dental Design 19th July 2019
Lisa Bainham, President at ADAM, deliberates on the patient experience from start to finish.
Over the last 20 years or so, at our practice we have tweaked our patient journey continuously to provide the best care for our patients, an enjoyable workflow for our team, and reach our conversion KPI’s. I’m not saying it’s easy, but once you have a formula, and train your team well, it should become a natural process that your patients not only expect, but love.
So where do you start?
Firstly, ensure that your reception team are skilled and experienced when answering queries. Get them to monitor all enquiries and information captured. All new enquiries should go through to the TCO, including all email queries through any social media platforms. (if you want to get maximum benefit, you need to commit fully to the investment and allow them the time to actually do it – it will pay off).
For the TCO, we have found that providing a free consultation, where they can provide information on treatments, to the patients works very well. Obviously, this is not clinical or patient specific but many patients come in asking for a certain solution, not realising there are lots of potential options.
We usually find that a patient then books a consultation with one of our dentists. This can include general dentistry, dental implants, endodontics, periodontics, CDT services and orthodontics. We are very lucky in our practice as potentially everything can be done on site.
There needs to be a ‘handover’ on the day of the consultation. Then, it’s up to the dentist…
We usually invite our patients back for a joint option meeting in the TCO room with the TCO and dentist, where they are presented their treatment options. They have time to ask questions and can go home to digest and decide upon which option they feel is most suited to them. The benefits of this system are massive; not only for the patient but for consent purposes. Patients understand the solutions available, and the possible pros and cons of each.
…and voila!
You have conversion rates that are consistently between 85-95 per cent month on month. As I said earlier, I’m not saying its easy, and takes a whole team effort and agreement to stick to the process. You can’t have some that embrace it and others that don’t – that will not work!
I don’t believe that there is a one system that will suit all and there are variables; but invest in the time as a team to come up with how you and your patients can benefit. Just remember it’s like a relay and the journey and expectations start from the moment the patient spots your services/advert or gets recommended by a friend. You won’t get off the starting line if the initial enquiry isn’t answered correctly!
About the author
Lisa Bainham is President at ADAM.
