Two Types of Questions

There are two types of questions that a patient may ask. One is an information- seeking question. They are not doing this to threaten you they just want to know the answer.  The second kind of question is challenging and this type of question is usually louder, more aggressive and may be an attempt to control the situation. Again stick to the facts, why is this treatment important for them. Stick to what you know about the patient and bring it back, “Mrs. Etcheverry I know your smile is important to you because you said you want to look younger. This treatment will help rebuild the structure in your mouth so that your smile is brighter and straighter.

When you are talking about these things, focus on what you know about the patient. What is their communication style? Are they passive or aggressive? What type of personality are they? Do they talk slow and ask a lot of questions or do they talk fast and are loud? Knowing this information will help you focus the conversation on what matters most to them, which will allow you to change your communication style to better meet their needs.

In the end you are the professional and you are there to help them. Use caring and compassionate words to demonstrate how much you and the team appreciate them choosing your office. There are hundreds of dental offices that they could choose from however; they chose to be at yours.  Loyalty and trust are earned not given freely and patients have high expectations for your office, work to exceed them.

For more information please visit us at www.saltdpm.com and follow our blog at http://saltdentalpracticemanagement.blogspot.com/

Patient Dialogue

Practicing specific dialogue for potential situations can help make the situation less stressful. An example dialogue may be, you have a new whitening system that you want patients to try out. You say to Mrs. Jones. “Good morning, how are you?”

Mrs. Jones: “Fine.”

You: “Would you like to try our whitening system?”

Mrs. Jones: “Why? Are you saying my teeth are stained?”

Now what? Of course you are not saying that, you are simply offering a fantastic product to a patient who you think may need or want it. The next words you say are going to determine where this conversation goes from here. Use dialogue like, “we believe”, “I find”, and back up what you are saying with facts this will help the conversation.  As a team member in the practice your word, experience and expertise is going to go along way.

Some patients will question your treatment. They may say that their mom or sister went to a dentist and that dentist told them that extracting teeth is better than getting dentures. Focus on the facts; you can’t refute what another dentist said. You don’t know all the facts of that situation. So, focus on what you do know. Why is it important for this patient sitting in your chair right now to embark on this treatment? How is this course of action going to change their life? Or how is it going to give them the smile they want. 

Past the pleasantries, now what?

You have moved past the pleasantries, it is recommended that you now ask the patient specific questions about any concerns or problems they may be experiencing. Empathetic listening at this stage is very important. You want to paraphrase to make sure you understand what the patient is saying, ask clarifying questions to better understand the problem, look them in the eye and nod to show understanding.  

Empathetic listening is the art of hearing what the person is saying and showing that you care through listening. Leaning in towards the patient and nodding your head demonstrates that you care about what they are saying. This is a critical step that is often overlooked by teams because they are busy. However, taking the few extra minutes to do this correctly can increase your relationship with patients.

 Once you and the patient have had the important conversation, relay this information to the doctor in front of the patient. You do not want to isolate the patient at any time. Your dialogue may go something like, “Mrs. Jones is having sensitivity on the left side. She notices it more when she is drinking cold drinks than hot.” Once you have informed the doctor of the situation, ask the patient if there is anything else they want the doctor to know.  

Great communication is not built over night. Practice this simple technique to improve. 

Great communication takes time and great teams. For more information contact Salt.

Salt Dental Practice Management

Article was first published by Tri-County Dental Society

Your Conversation Matters

When a patient first comes in the room and sits down in the chair, conversation matters. Ask the patient in a caring voice how their day is going. Sit directly in front of them and look them in the eye, knee-to-knee, eye-to-eye. This gives a sense they are important and that you are focused on them. Be aware of how you sound. Zone in on your tone to make sure you are using a calm and supportive pitch. Your non-verbals will speak louder than the words you use.

Often times when a patient first enters the room, you may be busy continuing to set up the tray or get ready to take x-rays. However, it is beneficial to the relationship to take time to focus on the patient only. Leave the other for later.  A patient needs to feel in that moment that they are the most important person in the room.  This few minutes will also give you the time to discuss any concerns the patient has before the doctor enters the room.  

Great communication takes time and great teams. For more information contact Salt.

Salt Dental Practice Management

Article was first published by Tri-County Dental Society

I Can Help You vs. How May I Help You?

           

Many individuals answer the telephone with “Hi my name is Austine. May I help you?” This statement indicates that you may or may not be able to help. It provides a says that their needs may be too great for you to handle. Try changing your dialogue to be, “Hi, my name is Austine. I can help you today.” This let’s patients know that no matter what the problem is you’re going to resolve it. Or whatever it is they need you are going to make sure you help them. This method is simple and can be used any time you have an initial dialogue with a patient.

Great Communication takes a great team.

Salt Dental Practice Management

Article was first published by Tri-County Dental Society

Communicate Change: What time should it be done?

There is a right and a wrong way to communicate upcoming change in your office. It doesn’t matter if you are changing something small or it is a drastic change. The way in which you deliver the message will make a difference in how it is received from the team. Change is the only thing that we can count on, yet most individuals who say they like change, can become the biggest resisters to change.

            You will want to set-up an uninterrupted time to communicate the change that is going to occur. You want to give employees time to digest the news but also have time to ask any questions that they may have. You don’t want to rush the staff to the next patient in the middle of delivering something new to them.  However, you also do not want them to have too much time that becomes a complaint session.

            Plan the time of day you are going to deliver the news carefully. If it is something that is going to take awhile to digest and adjust you may want to do it on a Thursday afternoon. This gives them time to think about it, come back the next day and ask questions but does not send them home for the weekend to stew on it.

The morning huddle maybe appropriate to communicate certain types of change.  For example, scheduling changes, mission statement changes or policies on how to handle insurance are appropriate for morning huddle.  A morning huddle is the perfect time to give new information to the team that are going to impact their immediate future.

Avoid lunch-time change meetings, this does not give teams enough time to accept the change and move on from it. It may end up impacting your afternoon. You do not want that.

5 Ways to Inspire Staff

Your employees are a reflection of you and how they feel everyday in the work place impacts your business. Don’t take chances with your company.  Individuals who are inspired by their jobs will complete tasks with passion. Their smile is infectious and employees will want to come to work because it is fun. Here are five quick ways that you can inspire your teams.

Make work fun

            As adults we run through are busy hectic lives.  We often forget to stop and have fun in everything that we do. More fun equals higher productivity. More fun really means happier teams. When our teams are happy they will then attract patients that are the type of patients you want in your offices.  While you are having fun at work, you forget that it is actually work.

Respect everyone

Respecting your fellow team should not go down hill when you are tired, have patients backed up and a patient yelling at your front office. Model respect to everyone at all times. Clicks are not acceptable at work and the negativity needs to be left at the door in order to create the strongest team you can. As you respect your staff they will model this same behavior or they will naturally find another place to work because it will become uncomfortable for them to stay.

Communicate

Communication between you and your team should be completed with a smile, respect and often. Sometimes, we forget that our team may not know that we scheduled an important meeting at 12:00 because something has come up. Tell your teams what they need to know in order to be successful. The more you communicate with them the more they will talk to you.

Be transparent

Everyone doesn’t need to know everything about you, however, be transparent in the decisions that you are making that impacts them and why. If you want everyone to trust and respect you they have to understand you. Sometimes, we forget to explain why something needs to be a certain way. Or you think it is not necessary to justify why you are doing what you are doing, however, for people to complete tasks sometimes they need to know the why behind them.

Know your vision and mission

To inspire those around you, you have to know where it is that you are going with them. The vision and mission is your path and your future. If you blindly make decisions that do not align it can begin to feel to your employees that you are making willy nilly decisions because your team doesn’t know what your goals are. 

Asking the right questions to teach your employees to be independent

Are you an employer that always supplies the answers? Do you often wonder why your employees don’t take time to think for themselves, yet come running to you with every problem? At times it may be scary to hand over the reins and trust your employees are in fact able to handle situations in the office without you. However, how do you get them ready if they are not now?

There is a coaching technique called cognitive coaching. It is the belief that everyone knows the right answers they just need to be asked the right questions in order for them to think and be able to come up with the answers. Sometimes, as employers we are quick to supply the answers to every little thing. But then pretty soon our employees begin to rely so heavily on us that they do not take care of situations that they once felt comfortable making.

Individuals have to be able to have practice in problem solving. You might want to start slow and conduct some role-playing activities during your morning huddle. For example, what do you say when a patient becomes angry at billing or how do you handle a patient that isn’t accepting treatment options? Asking your employees to practice handling the situations can help increase functionality in the workplace.

Command it-Don't demand it!

Anyone can walk into an office and demand respect from his or her co-workers. You can cause fear in your employees in order to get them to cooperate. However, at the end of the day if you want employees that complete the fine dance of dentist and assistant then you are going to have to work on tactics that command respect not demand it. Building a relationship with your staff can help improve the overall culture of the office and improve on your relationships with staff.

In order to build a relationship of respect how you talk to your employees is as important as what you say. For example, if the tone of your voice is impatient and demanding then the individuals around you will begin to resent you. Most of what an individual hears and interprets is your non-verbal’s not the actual words you say.

Everyone makes mistakes. We all have days where we even miss up a procedure we’ve done half a dozen times. How you handle the mistake is what is going to support or damage the relationship. In order to correct the situation, you may first want to determine what the problem was. Was it a simple mistake? Or was it something major? Does the individual who made the mistake know that they need to fix it or are they in denial? All of these determine the language and how you approach the situation.

            Use a calm, supportive tone in order to demonstrate respect of the individual. You might want to ask probing questions in order to determine if your employee is aware of the mistake they have made. Once you determine that the employee is aware, correct as necessary. For example, your employee may need to write down the procedure and have it posted. Or it may be a very simple correction.

            How you handle your employees will determine their success in the office. Success on their part equals a higher success rate with patients.

Be Awesome says Kid President!

This video is an inspiration and is a great way to start your day!

You’re important too!

It’s easy when we are working to forget to take care of ourselves. As time goes by, we wear down. Pretty soon, we haven’t taken a lunch in months; we forgot our child’s baseball game and our lives are a blur. It is important to find ways to rationally detach from our workday and find a way to relax and enjoy life. This is especially important when you are working in a stressful job.

Rational detachment is the ability to let go and disconnect from a stressful situation or from our work. Some individuals may spend their time doing yoga or hanging out with friends. Other’s may read or enjoy leisure boat rides. What you do isn’t as important as leaving work early sometimes and doing something you enjoy everyday.

Our days are filled with busy appointments, appliances to fix, or equipment to order and patients to see. However, it is important that all of that does not take over your lives.  “A 2010 LexisNexis survey of 1,700 white collar workers in the U.S., China, South Africa, the U.K. and Australia revealed that on average employees spend more than half their workdays receiving and managing information rather than using it to do their jobs,” Ferris Jaber. We spend our days solving problems and managing people and yet when we are tired and need a break, most of us continue to push through. However, pushing through actually creates a problem later on as we are not as focused and may have to redo something because we did it incorrectly.

When your body and brain need a time out, take it, even if it is five minutes of a breathing exercise or enjoying a quick lunch with a friend.

Take the time!

       

      We’re all busy people and it is easy to get in the rush of our day. However, if you want to stand out against the crowd, take the extra time. Take time to say hi to your patients. Stop and ask how your staff’s weekend was. Find a second longer to check the front office to make sure it looks good.

         Patients spend hours over their lifetime waiting for you to see them. They pay good money, they trust you with their oral health, and they suggest that their family see you. But yet, you may only spend fifteen or twenty minutes with them. The extra time you take out of your day can build a stronger relationship with patients and help motivate them to recommend even more people to your office. It will certainly encourage them to keep returning.  

         A patient spends on average sixty minutes in the chair depending on the procedure. Yet, you may spend less than ten minutes talking to them. This relationship is critical to the success of the visit and you have less time to make a lasting impression.

         Take the time to read their body language and what it is telling you. Stop when you are working on a patient if they begin to squirm in the chair. Or ask them how they are feeling. These little things do not take much time however; they have a big impact on the overall relationship. 

Salt Dental Practice Management helps teams achieve success!

Precipitating factors in the dental office

Multiple people and events in our day impact us. There are things that happen to us before we get to the office that may impact how we feel that day. There also maybe many factors that impacts our patients that we do not have any control over but that create a potential problem when the patient shows for their appointment.

         For example, precipitating factors are those events that occur that cause a reaction. If a patient is allergic to sunflowers, and they touch a sunflower they run the risk of having an allergic reaction.  The precipitating factor is that they touched the flower that they are allergic to and will therefore, have an allergic reaction. If one of your patients has been to a dentist that did not do a very good job, when they enter your office they may make that same assumption.  Or if the patient went to a dentist that gave them a discount on their procedures, you may have an angry patient when they find out that you will not be in fact giving that same discount.

         Although, you cannot control the precipitating factors, you can control how you respond to a patient and how you handle the situation in your office.  Talking to your patient in a calm manner, where you explain to them why the policy is in place or explaining the procedure they will go through can help to enhance the relationship and diminish the frustration.

Doctor-patient relationship

You look at your schedule and you’re starting your day thirty minutes behind. Don’t take that out on your patients. They deserve your attention when you enter the room. When you walk in, ask the patient and assistant if there are any problems that they need to discuss.  Even though at times you may spend the shortest amount of time with patients your time spent with them will determine how they feel about the office at upcoming visits.

The reputation of the office rests on the doctor’s shoulders to some extent. If the patient has a fanstic visit and then you enter in a rush, explain what you see over the patients shoulder to the assistant, you are isolating the patient.  They want to know you are interested in them as a person not just a patient. Learning what type of communicator they are, can also increase the overall experience for the patient because you can communicate their needs and adjust as you need. It is important you also know who your patients are as people, for example, do they have grandkids, are they frearful of needles? These details can help the dental visit run more smoothly for the patient.

When the visit is over, although, you may not be able to walk the patient out becaue you will need to move to another patient, it is suggested you say thank you for their time. Also, if you were running late, a simple, thank you for waiting is a great way to set you apart from another office.

Back office greatness

Last week we focused on what great customer service looks like in the front office. This week we’re going to focus on providing fantastic customer service in the back office. As soon as patients come back to the room, it is important to have a polite conversation with them. Ask them how they are doing, their plans for the weekend and about their job.

      Once the patient is sitting in the chair, sit down facing them. It should be eye to eye contact and ask them if they are having any pain or problems. It is suggested to have the conversation eye to eye in order to show respect for the patient. If you are fiddling with other things or are doing things on the computer it demonstrates a lack of caring abou the patient. When the patient is letting you know about any problems they are experiencing use empathetic listening. Nod, to demonstrate listnening and restate what you think they are saying in order to clarify.

      Once the doctor steps into the room, rephrase what the patient told you infront of the patient. You don’t want them to think that you are having a private conversation about them. You also don’t want to misrepresent the problem that the patient is having.

      If the doctor is running behind, let the patient know how far behind and make sure they are able to continue to wait for the dentist. People’s time is valuable and you want to make sure that they know they are going to have t wait for the dentist and about how long it is going to take. Patients are asked to show up early to respect the office’s time, show them the same respect.

Once the appointment is over and the patient is finished, make sure to let them know when they are needed back to the office.  Something as simple as asking if they need anything else and thanking them for coming in can be the difference between them coming back or going to another dentist.  

Great Customer Service brings great patients

We live in a world where some individuals have forgotten to say hello when you walk into a business or where being rude is acceptable. With the changes in social media and sites such as YELP some business’s bad social media habits have been blasted across the internet. Don’t let your business be one of them. Follow a few guidelines to improve your customer service and your great reviews will be poring into Yelp and other review sites.  This article is going to focus on the front office.

First things first, when you your patients walk in the door the first thing they are going to see is your front office area. You will want to make sure this area is clean of clutter. It should be organized and should reflect the view and the mission of the office. Furniture should not be broken and should be dust free. It is suggested that magazines be up to date.  Chairs and furniture should be arranged in away that allows all patients to easily maneuver around the office. Patient reviews suggest that walkways should be free and clear. Flowers or a few plants can help liven up the are and the area should be open with as much natural light as possible but not bright or glaring.

When your front office greets a patient, they should have a smile on their face and dental consultant Debra Quarles suggests, “that instead of saying how may I help you?” You say, hello this is Amnesia, I can help you today.” This gives the impression that you are able to meet their needs no matter what they are. Once the patient has completed their check-in process, stating how long the wait is going to be can help minimize tension of waiting. If you have IPAD’s in the waiting room you may want to point that out and then ask if you can get them water.

Great teams are set apart from mediocre and providing great customer service will guarantee great patients. 

Clusters:

  

Looking for nonverbal communication gestures in clusters prevents us from allowing a single expression or movement to be the deciding factor in a conversation or determine our thoughts about the other person’s intent.  Sure, crossing your arms over your chest can be a sign of being close-minded or resistant; however, it could be that the person is simply chilled and forgot their sweater.  Perhaps during a conversation you develop a shooting pain in your ankle and it shows on your face.  If it happens only once the other person will most likely disregard it.  If it continues it will detract from your message if you do not explain it.  Reading a person’s tails or clusters allows you to reevaluate the message you are delivering and make sure that the individual is receiving the intended message.

 If you are providing treatment and the patient continuously crosses and uncrosses their legs, this is more than one isolated movement, it’s a cluster and it may mean something is not feeling right to the patient. Perhaps they need a break, or they are uncomfortable and don’t know how to communicate it without words.  Paying attention to the whole person is the key to making sure you do not miss an opportunity to be helpful or to understand fully what the other person is experiencing.            

When supporting patients great customer service is the key. It will help you stand out above the rest. This is a simple way to stand out against the crowd because you are showing that you are able to determine the subtleties of what a patient needs.   

Comminunication incongruent with our body

According to Albert Mehrabian only 7% of our communication is derived from the actual words we use.  While it’s 7% words, 38% is your tone and 55% is body language.  When we verbalize it’s the words, tone and expressions we use that help us communicate our meaning.  The interesting thing is if one area is incongruent to another then we develop a lack of trust. 

In other words, I can say the right thing during an apology but if my tone is curt or my body language is closed off then you won’t believe me.  If you don’t believe me you won’t trust me.  If you don’t trust me then our relationship is at risk.  When we are discussing important patient needs or treatment it is critical that the patient trust us. Otherwise, they may refuse the best course of action.    

In addition to choosing the right words, we need to make sure we are congruent, that we watch for clusters of body language as well as the context.  Cluster of body language, means you take multiple outside stimuli, sensory events, facial expressions and eye contact to determine the message that speaker is intending. When we are listening to a message, we sometimes attempt to interpret the message with a single signal, however, just like in writing our body language is displayed in a sentence and in order to avoid a miscommunication we need to put it all together.

When we are in front of the patient and discussing a treatment plan, if we are avoiding eye contact or talking fast we may give the patient the message that their treatment is not important.  Be careful of the message you deliver, your patient’s are the reason you are there and the relationship is critical for the success of your patients and your practice.  

Lenora Milligan is a coach consultant with Salt Dental Practice Management. 

Original Article published by

Tri-County Dental Society

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