Dr. Dean C. BellaviaThe Bio-Engineering Co.
Paper or Plastic - Whatever WorksDid you give up your paper forms when you got your (plastic) computer? If so, is your exam-consult-start control better or worse? And, is your initial and daily financial control better or worse? If worse, maybe this pearl can help you get your control back.
Orthodontists would like a magic pill to give them the control over their practice, since it is so hard to attain. And some practices believe this pill to be a computer system—think again. Computer systems take the control out of your team’s hands, while leading you to assume that the controls are still in place. But what a patient does is not under the control of your computer and it never will be. Your team and their daily procedures are the only real control you have. So, lets look at the controls typically lost when you take the paper away from your team and rely on your computer. The major complaint from my clients is the loss of control in the initial appointments. Another is the loss of control of their initial payments. Another complaint is the loss of control of their daily charges and payments.
When a team member fills out a paper form along with the patient/family it informs and teaches the family what they need to know and do. For example, after the exam the TC and patient/family would fill out an "Exam Summary" form (see attached Word file to create your own form). This form would show the exam doctor’s findings, treatment needed, fees and possible financial arrangements, and the appointments scheduled. When the patient/family leaves with a copy of that form and their photos, they know exactly what to do and when. For undecided patients or for patients who need a follow-up Tx Consult, the TC would fill out a "Tx Consult Summary" form (see attached Word file) at the Tx Consult with the patient/family. The Exam Summary form, Tx Consult Summary form and the procedures associated with them, also give the practice more control over the patient’s initial payments and starting appointments. That is, as long as the TC, bookkeeper and receptionist are diligent about collecting the initial payment before the starting appointment. Just because the computer gives an initial payment due alert, it doesn’t mean that it will be collected unless your team is diligent about collecting it.
You might also want to refer to the following management pearl about exam Will-Call-Back control: You might also want to refer to the following management pearl about Negotiating Financial Arrangements: And, you might also want to refer to the following management pearl to start the most exams possible:
As far as ongoing financial control is concerned, the computer will document what was charged and paid, but it does not contain the procedures necessary to make sure that all of the charges and payments were initiated or even entered. Refer to the following pearl that increases your computer's financial control through paper forms and their procedures.
You might also find the following pearl helpful to avoid embezzlement:
I hope that you find this pearl helpful to get back the control you lost when you dropped your paper systems in lieu of computer systems. You will also find more control forms and all of their procedures in the "New Patient TC Procedures" management kit. Are you Helping or Hindering your Life
Are your goals for your success and health clear or muddy? Are your beliefs helping or hindering your successful and healthy life? Maybe this pearl can help you to better attain your goals for a more successful and healthier life.
Consciously (rationally) we think know what we want out of life and how to attain it. But that is not necessarily true on a subconscious (emotional) level. I equate rational memories with the conscious level because we have some conscious control over what we rationally think. And I equate emotional memories with the subconscious because they take control of our rational thoughts before our conscious rational memories can deal with the situation. Our rational and emotional memories control our reactions, especially our emotional memories, which can inhibit us from attaining our goals in life.
Most of us have a decent self-image on a rational level, but it might not be that great on an emotional level. Consciously we try to attain our goals, but a poor self-image may be subconsciously telling us we don’t deserve it, keeping us from attaining them. There’s a simple test to determine your self-image. Truthfully answer the following five questions. If all are “yes” then you have a good self-image. If you answer no to one question, you have an OK self-image. If you answer no to two or more questions you have a poor self-image and should work on turning those no answers into “yes” answers. 1) I truly like myself as an individual who has a lot to offer. Yes or No 2) I am capable of loving those close to me. Yes or No 3) Those close to me love me for just being myself. Yes or No 4) My friends and co-workers usually like me. Yes or No 5) I conduct my life in such a manner as to support a positive self-image. Yes or No Once you have a good self-image, or to have a better self-image, move on to rooting out the kind of thinking that gets in the way of attaining your goals.
“Intention” is probably the most important aspect of attaining your goals. You may rationally think that your intention is to succeed, but it may be the opposite. If your goals are muddy your actual intention may be to not succeed. Thus you need to have crystal clear positive goals, precisely understood and stated with a positive path towards their attainment. If the goals are not crystal clear you may compromise (lessen) them through rationalization. You need to be very clear on what you want! Negative subconscious memories relating to those goals may nullify your intent without even realizing it.
Write down each goal as precisely as you can, precisely indicating how you will attain it; this defines your intention. If you cannot do that your goal is muddy as are your intentions and no matter how positive and desired your goals are, you will not help you attain them. Classify your goals as personal, work-related, health-related, etc. Don’t work on more than one goal at a time, unless they are interrelated. If interrelated, choose a logical order to attain the first, second, etc., goals. Attain immediate goals first: they are immediate if they need to be attained before other goals or because they are more easily attained. It helps to create a flowchart of your goals (or what has to be accomplished to attain one goal) to keep them from getting in the way of each other. You need to concentrate on one goal at a time to keep from muddying up your intentions.
I hope that this helps to clear your thinking on how to define and attain your goals to have a more successful, healthier, happier life. Dealing with a Practice DownturnAre you noticing a downturn in exams/starts? Is it because your referring dentists are retiring? Is it because you are not putting on an impressive exam? Are local dentists doing a lot of orthodontics (braces or aligners) at a much lower fee? If so, maybe this pearl can help you maintain/build your practice.
If you have a mature practice (>30 years) you may be seeing a drop in referrals as your referring dentists retire. The best way to deal with this is to hire or partner with a younger orthodontist to stimulate younger DDS referrals. If not realistic, you need to better control your OBS recall patients (a major source of starts in mature practices). If not realistic, using aggressive advertising, or incorporating plastic aligners (to stimulate adult patients) may help. Refer to the "Plastic Aligners Pearl" to help you decide on them or not. In general, you need to recreate how you deal with your present and possible referrers or accept a smaller practice—enough said.
If you have too many will-call-back patients (greater than 12% of your exams) or too many no-Tx-wanted patients (greater than 5% of your exams) it may be due to your higher fees or that you do not impress them as being worth your fee. If you put on a “great show” at the exam, making the patient the subject and not the object of the exam, it really doesn’t matter what your fee is. See the attached “Exam Critique” checklist to see if you are doing all that you can to wow them. Also refer to the “Selling Orthodontics” pearl to make sure that your sales technique is up to par.
The best way to deal with many will-call-back patients is to give the best possible service at your exams so that they won’t even think of going elsewhere. This is especially true if the patients are second opinions, whether before or after your exam. To deal with second opinions before your exam (you are the second opinion), the best thing you can do is give them a "great show" at the exam so that they won't go elsewhere. It may also help to review your version of the attached “Wise Shopper Comparison Checklist” with them to see how well the other DDS/Orthodontist handled their exam. You can edit the Word file to fit your practice. To deal with a second opinion after your exam, give the “Wise Shopper Comparison Checklist” to the patient/family to fill out after seeing another doctor; if not obvious, your TC manual gives the details for its use. In any case, you might also mention to the patient that you will be happy to review the other dentist’s treatment plan (no matter who is the second opinion) and make suggestions to get a better treatment result. If a general dentist is your competition you might also mention: “most general dentists doing orthodontics don't realize how many cases exceed their ability to treat them”. This is something the patient will realize once you review that dentist's plan with them; don’t put the competition's treatment plan down, just show where it might be improved. In many cases the treatment is simple and the DDS can handle it. If so, you can reassure the patient that it shouldn't be too much of a problem having the DDS treat them. In essence, you want to be the "good guy" and help them even if you don't eventually treat them. They will appreciate it and in many cases just decide to be treated by you, especially if you do an impressive exam.
If the DDS is charging a much lower fee, you might also emphasize (nicely) that the DDS is not trained in orthodontics and that they (the patient) may be taking a chance on the final result and that the lower fee may not justify a compromised treatment. In too many cases an untrained DDS’s treatment is so poor that the patient ends up at the orthodontist's office for re-treatment; this eventually works to your advantage. If a higher fee situation, you might also give the patient a "Records Fee Deal", giving them a $400-$500 reduced fee (taken off of their initial payment) if they sign up TODAY.
The Insurance Acceptance Conundrum
Are you noticing a recent disturbing drop in your Production/Collections/Net? Are you in a conundrum about accepting patient insurance in general? Do you feel a need to accept other types of insurance to maintain your practice? Are you perplexed about how that may affect your practice? If so, maybe this pearl can help you make the best decisions.
The orthodontic economy, trying to recover form the 2008 depression, has shown much improvement over the last five years. Unfortunately, this past year (2018 election year) patients have been hesitant about starting treatment, as usual. Starts usually drop in the last 4-6 months of a major election year, but then go back to the usual the next year. Because of this situation, many orthodontists have been considering other sources of referral and income, namely, orthodontic insurance.
There are essentially three types of orthodontic insurance: 1) Insurance pays part of the total fee and the patient pays the balance 2) The insurance company guarantees the patient a lower fee (% wise) when you join 3) The insurance company pays you a set amount per start
Type-1 insurance pays the practice or the patient a specified amount per start (typically $1,000 to $3,000). This is by far the most prevalent insurance coverage and typically accounts for about 65% of new patient starts.
Type-2 insurance involves being a “preferred provider” who is referred patients, but who must charge them 20-25% less for treatment. Some practices add on minor treatments (lip bumper, etc.) to get a higher fee. This accounts for about 0-20% of insurance starts, but some practices accept many more of these types of starts.
Type-3 insurance companies pay you a flat $ amount per start. This amount is typically thousands lower than your usual fee; and in the case of “managed care plans” it pays you even less. Some practices only use this insurance to start 12-18 month cases since the Full Tx Fee paid is the same no matter how long it takes. This accounts for about 0-10% of insurance starts, but some practices accept many more of these types of starts.
Accepting Type-1 insurance has many benefits with little loss, but accepting Type-2 or Type-3 insurance has its losses. For example, consider a practice with an average $6,000 Comprehensive Tx Fee for about 150 Full Starts/year, gross collections of $1M/year, and a 45% net ($450,000/year). Type-1 insurance does not change these numbers.
Accepting Type-2 insurance would pay you about $1,500 less/start and thus, if you do 10 starts/year (of your 150 comprehensive starts) you reduce your collections and net by $15,000/year: this is not too bad if you are loosing patients who have this type of insurance. But if you start 30 starts/year you reduce your collections and net by $45,000/year; which may be significant. And of course, if your net is only 35% ($350,000/year) a $45,000 (13%) drop in your net is significant. Looking at it more positively, many doctors think: “I’ll can start more than my usual 150 Comprehensive Tx patients if I accept this new insurance, increasing my gross and net”. Thus, if you accept an additional 30 starts/year at $4,500/start you will increase your gross by $135,000 (and net by $110,000) but increase your chairtime Tx by 20%, requiring 20% more staff and supplies. If you are capable of that growth with your present staffing and facility, then great: if not you may make your days more hectic possibly losing your full fee paying patients because of it. Basically you will treat 20% more chairtime for 11% more net.
Accepting Type-3 insurance would be similar to Type-2 insurance above if they pay you $4,500/start. But if they only pay $4,000/start your collections and net will suffer. For 10 starts/year (out of your 150 Comprehensive starts) you would loose $20,000, reducing your 45% net to $430,000. For 30 starts/year you would loose $60,000, reducing your 45% net to $390,000. If your net were only 35% your net would be reduced to $330,000 or $290,000 respectively; a big loss. Of course if you take on an additional 30 comprehensive starts/year your gross will increase by $120,000 (and net by $100,000) for the extra 20% increase in staffing and supplies. Basically you will treat 20% more for 12% more gross and 10% more net. But you need to be careful. Once you start accepting these flat fee starts you may tend to do less ads and promotion and end up with a practice that is half full fee and half flat fee. In the example above you would loose 75 x $2,000 = $150,000 reducing your $450,000 net to $300,000 or reduce your $350,000 net to $200,000.
Accepting Type-2 or Type-3 insurance gets down to three factors: 1) Is your present % NET at least 40% and will any $ drop in your net affect your lifestyle? 2) Are these lower-fee starts going to replace or enhance your present starts? Enhance is good, but replace is not. 3) If enhancing your starts, will you be able to take on the extra chairtime treatment with your present staffing?
Use the above examples and do the math for your practice to decide which direction you want to go in if you are considering taking on lower fee insurance plans. Thank you How Personality Helps & Hinders; Part-5, Team ConflictDo certain team members seem to naturally conflict with others? Do you seem to naturally conflict with certain team members? Does this conflict increase on hectic treatment days? Does this conflict increase when team members are doing poorly in their positions? If so, maybe this pearl can help reduce that conflict.
Human personality; a synopsis: Refer to the management pearl “How Personality Helps or Hinders: Part-1, Director Style” for a fuller understanding of human personality. Human personality is our emotional and rational reactions to our sensory input to help us to physically and socially survive. Our personality is genetically structured at birth (nature) and modified throughout life by our memories (nurture). We have four emotional/rational reaction pairs: anger-director, fear-analyzer, joy-socializer and sorrow-relator. The emotions triggers its rational style to react to the situation based on past memories. Each emotion/style is strong, moderate or weak based on daily usage; we only have one strongest emotion. Each style has its obvious attributes (motivations, attitudes and pace). That's why the director and relator styles are opposite and the analyzer and socializer styles are opposite. A style is either people- or task-oriented and we can only concentrate on one or the other, never both. The relator and socializer styles are people-oriented and the director and analyzer styles are task-oriented.
This final section on how personality helps and hinders your practice success is based on the conflicting motivations, attitudes, pace and people or task orientation of the rational styles—especially the opposite styles. The director and relator styles are totally opposite and the analyzer and socializer styles are totally opposite. We have already discussed the preferred strong, moderate and weak strengths of all four styles for each position in the practice. But that was position-related; natural team conflict crosses all positions. This natural conflict is similar to the conflict you have with your various family members and your friends. Refer to the attached PDF to better understand this natural conflict and how to reduce it.
How Personality Helps & Hinders; Part-4, Socializer Style
Does your socially interactive joyful socializer style help or hinder your practice? Do your team members have the optimal socializer style strength for their positions? Do you want a happier more fulfilling practice and life? If so, maybe this pearl can help.
Human personality; a synopsis: Refer to the management pearl “How Personality Helps or Hinders: Part-1, Director Style” for a fuller understanding of human personality. Human personality is our emotional and rational reactions to our sensory input to help us to physically and socially survive. Our personality is genetically structured at birth (nature) and modified throughout life by our memories (nurture). We have four emotional/rational reaction pairs: anger-director, fear-analyzer, joy-socializer and sorrow-relator. The emotions triggers its rational style to react to the situation based on past memories. Each emotion/style is strong, moderate or weak based on daily usage; we only have one strongest emotion. Each style has its obvious attributes (motivations, attitudes and pace). That's why the director and relator styles are opposite and the analyzer and socializer styles are opposite. A style is either people- or task-oriented and we can only concentrate on one or the other, never both. The relator and socializer styles are people-oriented and the director and analyzer styles are task-oriented.
Understanding the SOCIALIZER Style by its Attributes: Its Main Value to your practice is to: Inspire/Persuade Others It has a people-oriented Purpose to recognize and interact with our connections Its Symbiotic Emotion is: Joy, (whose purpose is to alert us to our connections) Its fast-paced Sensory Attribute is: Visual-action, I think in action pictures Its Motivations are: Gain/pleasure: I seek out gain/pleasure Possibilities: I do what seems gratifying Similarities: I trust most situations Its Attitudes are: boisterous, capricious, carefree, careless, charming, creative, enthusiastic, exaggerative, exciting, expressive, fickle, generous, impulsive, inspiring, inquisitive, persuasive, playful, positive, talkative, and teasing
This style is opposite to the analyzer style.
To better understand the affects of the socializer style's attributes on the effective and efficient operation of your practice, see the attached PDF.
I hope that this helps you to better understand and take advantage of your socializer style and the socializer styles of your team. How Personality Helps & Hinders; Part-3, Analyzer Style
Does your perfectionist fearful analyzer style help or hinder your practice? Do your team members have the optimal analyzer style strength for their positions? Do you want a happier more fulfilling practice and life? If so, maybe this pearl series can help.
Human personality; a synopsis: Refer to the management pearl “How Personality Helps or Hinders: Part-1, Director Style” for a fuller understanding of human personality. Human personality is our emotional and rational reactions to our sensory input to help us to physically and socially survive. Our personality is genetically structured at birth (nature) and modified throughout life by our memories (nurture). We have four emotional/rational reaction pairs: anger-director, fear-analyzer, joy-socializer and sorrow-relator. The emotions triggers its rational style to react to the situation based on past memories. Each emotion/style is strong, moderate or weak based on daily usage; we only have one strongest emotion. Each style has its obvious attributes (motivations, attitudes and pace). That's why the director and relator styles are opposite and the analyzer and socializer styles are opposite. A style is either people- or task-oriented and we can only concentrate on one or the other, never both. The relator and socializer styles are people-oriented and the director and analyzer styles are task-oriented.
Understanding the ANALTZER Style by its Attributes: Its Main Value to your practice is to: Do Get Tasks Done Accurately It has a task-oriented Purpose to unerringly proceed Its Symbiotic Emotion is Fear (whose purpose is to alert us to danger) It has two Sensory Attributes, you are either: Fast-paced Visual-words (typical): I think in visualized words/names Slow-paced Kinesthetic (rare): I think in tactile sensations Its Motivations are: Loss/pain: I avoid loss or pain Necessities: I do what I am obligated to do Differences: I distrust most situations Its Attitudes are: cautious, conventional, diligent, disciplined, introspective, logical, methodical, meticulous, modest, negative, preparative, reserved, respectful, self-conscious, self-controlled, shy, tactful, tedious, thrifty, touchy.
The analyzer style is opposite to the socializer style.
To better understand the affects of the analyzer style's attributes on the effective and efficient operation of your practice, see the attached PDF.
I hope that this helps you to better understand and take advantage of your analyzer style and the analyzer styles of your team. How Personality Helps & Hinders; Part-2, Relator Style
Does your relationship-maintaining relator style help or hinder your practice and personal life? Do your team members have the optimal relator style strength for their positions? Do you want a more fulfilling practice and life? If so, maybe this pearl series can help.
Human personality; a synopsis: Refer to the management pearl “How Personality Helps or Hinders: Part-1, Director Style” for a fuller understanding of human personality. Human personality is our emotional and rational reactions to our sensory input to help us to physically and socially survive. Our personality is genetically structured at birth (nature) and modified throughout life by our memories (nurture). We have four emotional/rational reaction pairs: anger-director, fear-analyzer, joy-socializer and sorrow-relator. The emotions triggers its rational style to react to the situation based on past memories. Each emotion/style is strong, moderate or weak based on daily usage; we only have one strongest emotion. Each style has its obvious attributes (motivations, attitudes and pace). That's why the director and relator styles are opposite and the analyzer and socializer styles are opposite. A style is either people- or task-oriented and we can only concentrate on one or the other, never both. The relator and socializer styles are people-oriented and the director and analyzer styles are task-oriented.
Understanding the RELATOR Style by its Attributes: Its Main Value to your practice is to: Establish Rapport (so others can trust you) It has a people-oriented Purpose to maintain our connections Its Symbiotic Emotion is: Sorrow (whose purpose is to alert us to disconnection from our connections) Its moderately-paced Sensory Attribute is: Auditory, I think in the sounds of words about people Its Motivations are: Others-directed: I embrace other’s beliefs Others-concerned: others needs are crucial Indecisive: I leave decision-making to others Its Attitudes are: agreeable, amiable, compassionate, considerate, empathetic, gentle, humble, kind, lenient, loyal, obliging, patient, protective, sensitive, submissive, sympathetic, tolerant, trusting, worrisome.
The relator style is opposite to the director style.
To better understand the affects of the relator style's attributes on the effective and efficient operation of your practice, see the attached PDF.
I hope that this helps you to better understand and take advantage of your relator style and the relator styles of your team. How Personality Helps & Hinders; Part-1, Director Style
Does your get-it-done, angry director style help or hinder your practice and personal life? Do your team members have the optimal director style strength for their positions? Do you want a happier more fulfilling practice and life? If so, maybe this pearl series can help.
Synopsis of Human Personality: Human personality is composed of four basic emotions (anger, fear, joy and sorrow) and four rational styles (director, analyzer, socializer and relator). The four basic emotions are built into our emotional brain’s right and left amygdala and the four rational styles are built into our rational brain’s right and left frontal lobes. Human personality exists for our physical and social survival. The emotional (mammalian) brain evolved for our physical survival in a world where humans were not the physically dominant species. Fear alerts us to danger, anger alerts us to confrontation (attack), joy alerts us to our connections, and sorrow alerts us to a disconnection from our connections. The rational brain evolved for our social survival when it became evident that humans with limited physical prowess needed to work together to survive. The director style evolved to get immediate results, the analyzer style evolved to unerringly proceed, the relator style evolved to reconnect with our connections and the socializer style evolved to interact with our connections. Synopsis: We have four emotional-rational reaction pairs: anger-director, fear-analyzer, joy-socializer and sorrow-relator, each with its own survival purpose.
Sensory input triggers an emotion memory that triggers a rational style. Anger triggers the director style, fear triggers the analyzer style, joy triggers the socializer style and sorrow triggers the relator style. We get angry when confronted and react with our director style to deal with that attack (whether physical or mental). We become fearful when in danger and our analyzer style helps us choose the best way to avoid that danger. We become joyful when we recognize our connections, engaging with our positive connections and avoiding our negative connections. We become sorrowful when disconnected from our connections (anything important to us) and our relator styles helps us to reconnect. If you are wondering about the other emotions (surprise, regret, love, etc.), they are rational emotions evoked by rational thought using rational memories, not emotional memories. Synopsis: An emotion triggers its rational style to react to the situation based on past memories.
Everyone has all four emotions and all four rational styles to draw upon for physical and social survival, but they are not all equally strong. The strength of a style/emotion is based on how much we use it throughout the day. We react much of the time with a strong style/emotion. We rarely react with a weak style/emotion. And we react as needed with a moderate style/emotion. We only have one strongest style/emotion that we react with when distressed. And every time we give in to that strongest style through rationalization we make it stronger by creating more experiential memories to support that style. The opposite is also true. Every time we react with a weaker style we create an experiential memory that strengthens it, giving us the ability to have a more appropriate reaction to a similar situation in the future. For example, if a strong director, we might react with our relator style to reconnect with others instead of escalating that disconnection. Synopsis: Each emotion/style is strong, moderate or weak based on daily usage; we only have one strongest emotion.
To achieve its purpose each style has its own set of built in attributes containing: motivations, sensory (pace), and attitudes. These attributes will be more fully explained in the other parts of this series for the relator, socializer and analyzer styles. The director style’s attributes are listed below. Synopsis: Each style has its own unique set of attributes to achieve its survival purpose.
The four rational styles are grouped into two opposite cognitive pairs. The director style and relator style have opposite attributes and the analyzer and socializer styles have opposite attributes. This is important because if you are strong in one style and weak in its opposite you are double strong in one and doubly weak in the other. If so, the weaker style can’t effectively balance out (be used instead of) the stronger style to react more appropriately to socially survive. Synopsis: A style's attributes create opposite pairs; director and relator styles are opposite; analyzer and socializer are opposite.
The relator and socializer styles are people-oriented and the director and analyzer styles are task-oriented. When using the people-oriented styles, people are more important than the task at hand. When using the task-oriented styles, tasks are more important than the people involved.
Synopsis: A style is either people-oriented or task-oriented, never both.
Understanding the DIRECTOR Style by its Attributes: Its Main Value to your practice is to: Focus on and Complete Tasks It has a task-oriented Purpose to get results Its Symbiotic Emotion is: Anger (whose purpose is to alert us to confrontation/attack) Its fast-paced Sensory Attribute is: Visual-action, I think quickly in action pictures Its Motivations are: Self-directed: I reject other’s beliefs if different from mine Self-concerned: only my needs are important Decisive: I make immediate decisions to get results (get past it) Its Attitudes are: adventurous, aggressive, arrogant, assertive, competitive, compulsive, concise, controlling, critical, demanding, distant, dominance, faultfinding, independent, persistent, pioneering, temperamental, tenacious.
These attributes are opposite to the relator style's attributes.
To better understand the affect the director style's attributes has on the effective and efficient operation of your practice, see the attached PDF.
I hope that this helps you to better understand and take advantage of your use or avoidance of the director style and the director styles of your team.
Enhance your Inter-practice ReferralsAre you getting enough referrals from all of your local dentists? Do you maintain a close connection with your referring dentists? Does you team maintain a close connection with your referring dentist's teams? Do you notify your referring dentists when you send them a referral? If not, maybe this pearl can help you get more referrals.
Just because you exist in an area it doesn’t mean that you will automatically get new patient referrals—unless of course you are the only orthodontist in the area. If not, then you need to make sure that those possible referring dentists know that you will provide their patients with the best possible treatment and service (i.e., how you treat them personally). And a good indication of the quality of your service is how you communicate with your local dentists and their staff.
If the referring dentist’s team has a daily interaction with your team and know each other on a personal basis then that is a good indication that you have established a good working relationship. Their dental team should notify you when their patients need orthodontic treatment and you should notify them when your mutual patients require dental treatment. You should also have your team call and write/text (in proper English) them to refer your patients looking for a local dentist. They should notify you to set up a new patient exam appointment, hopefully by a phone or give the new referral your “Referral Slip” (see attached) or your business cards. When you have a mutual patient to refer back to them for ongoing care you should have your receptionist call their receptionist to schedule an appointment. You should also fill out a “Tx Request” form (see attached), give the patient a copy, mail a copy to their family dentist and keep a copy for your records. This can be done using paper forms or done electronically. It also helps to send a Periodic Patient Tx Review (typically half way through treatment) to apprise them of how the patient is doing; see the attached review form.
All of this should be the norm for the operation of your practice, which maintains an ongoing interaction between your team and the referring dentist's team. See the attached PDF about how to work more effectively with your referring dentists and possibly enhance that list with new referrers. It contains the very successful "PCD Referral Control Program". And with the explosion of social communications (Facebook, practice websites, etc.) you have access to information that can make your PCD Referral Control Program even more accurate, faster to use and more effective. Try it, you’ll like it. |
