Great patients make great referrals

While your discussing concerns or questions with patients your body should be upright. You might want to lean forward a little to show you are listening. Be careful not to turn your body away from the patient while they are discussing their concerns. When a patient is talking to you this is the time you want to be focused and in tune with their needs.  

At times you will work with a patient that is refusing treatment, doesn’t understand the recommended treatment or has an issue with billing practices. You may become the target of their anger and frustration. In these times, remain calm. Refrain from blaming a co-worker for a mistake. This is not going to help the patient. Work to calm down the patient, through your listening skills. Make sure you first understand what the problem is. Let them vent for a short time, but don’t let it over power why you are there.  Ask clarifying questions. Once the patient is done explaining their side, they are waiting for you to fix it. Quickly and efficiently find a way to resolve the problem or let the patient know what steps you are going to take to fix the problem. These types of conversations can become a circular argument of misunderstanding, so practice some dialogue before you are in front of patients.

Do not get into an argument with a patient. If they tell you that your front office messed up the billing, it isn’t going to create a better situation if you tell them billing never makes mistakes. Take a step back, tell them you are sorry they are having trouble and that you will be happy to look into it or discuss it with your front office team member. 

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

Empathetic listening

Empathetic listening can help you hear the message being communicated without other noise getting in the way. It is important to be a good listener in order to communicate more effectively.  Empathetic listening has five distinct characteristics that you can implement to instantly improve your listening skills.

It is easy, when someone is talking, to think about how you are going to respond to what they are saying. However, if you are using good listening skills, you are able to hear more of the actual message being expressed. Repeat part of your co-workers response as you are responding.

 Ask clarifying questions if you are unsure and allow them the opportunity to complete what they are saying without jumping over them. Individuals at times don’t want to admit that they don’t know. But it is perfectly okay to not have all the answers.

Make eye contact. When you are looking at the person that is speaking, you tend to focus more on what they are saying and less on your to do list. Be aware of different cultures however, some cultures looking someone in the eye maybe considered rude.

Rephrase the message. By restating what you think you hear someone say it helps clarify any miscommunications before they occur. This will give the individual an opportunity to re-explain if you are confused about anything. 

Great teams take effort. Take time to work on your practice regularly to build quality communication and strengthen your results. For more information and to read other articles, please visit us at www.saltdpm.com.