Ask Jan Hill

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How many times do you see a patient, complete an initial comprehensive exam and diagnostics, have them back for a consultation to present their treatment plan, and then never hear from them again?

You have spent hours on treatment planning, diagnostic wax ups, models, reviewing x-rays, maybe even used a cosmetic imaging program and are excited to review the gathered information to the patient.  The appointment is scheduled you are prepared, and the patient doesn’t show up, or cancels on the same day, and you never hear from them again!  This can be very frustrating!

Or maybe you haven’t spent a lot of time treatment planning, you recommended a crown when the patient came in for the hygiene recare and they didn’t schedule when they left.

There are many reasons this might be happening, and you can read more about them in my post “10 Reasons for Low Case Acceptance”.  In this post we are going to focus on “The Follow Up”.

Why do you need to follow up?

As we all know, people are over scheduled – busy with work, kids etc…  Unless they are in pain, dental work is not always their top priority.  They get busy, forget they need to schedule and unless we as a dental office take the initiative and call them, it gets forgotten until their next hygiene visit.  And what does that do for your bottom line, if your patients are walking out the door, not scheduling and not calling back to schedule?  The doctor’s schedule starts falling apart, production goes down, collection goes down, stress level goes up – it is a downward spiral.

Your System

First and foremost is getting the patient to schedule before they leave the office.  This is the easiest way to keep your schedule full and to avoid time consuming follow up calls.    What if your patient says they need to check their schedule, or they need to check with their husband first.  What could you say to that patient to get them scheduled?  How about “You know Mrs. Green, our first available appointment is 2 to 3 weeks away, let’s go ahead and get you on the schedule, and then if you need to change your appointment you can give me a quick call and we can do that for you, no problem.”

If  Mrs. Green still refuses to schedule for one reason or another, the best thing to do at that point is ask their permission to give them a call if you don’t hear from them.  This does a couple of things – first, it gives you permission to call them if you don’t hear from them, and second they will not be surprised or “bothered” when you do call them.  I have never had a patient say no to this request, in fact, usually they really appreciate it.  It sounds like this:  “Mrs. Green, that is no problem at all.  If I don’t hear back from you by Friday (give them 3-4 days), would you mind if I give you a call?”

Make sure to document your conversation, and put Mrs. Green in your follow up system.  Your patients will appreciate your concern for their dental health, and your schedule will stay full.

What system do you utilize if your patients do not schedule a recommended treatment plan?  There are many that are available – many practices use their dental software reports, some use a card system, others may use a calendar system.  Whatever system you choose, find one that is easy to maintain and that you can do on a daily basis.

Make it a Great Day!

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