Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

About the author A proven manager of change and driver of dramatic business growth, Jacqui Goss is the managing partner of Yes!RESULTS. By using Yes!RESULTS den- tal practices see an increase in treatment plan take- up, improved patient satisfaction and more appointments resulting from general enquiries. Yes!RESULTS turns good practices into great practices. Jacqui Goss Managing Partner, Yes!RESULTS Ashton House Sale Cheshire M33 6HE Tel: 08456 448066 Mob: 07795 562617 Email: jacqui@yesresults.co.uk Website: www.yesresults.co.uk Twitter: @Yesresults www.facebook.com/Yesresults http://uk.linkedin.com/in/jacquigoss January 23-28, 201218 United Kingdom EditionPractice Management Part of the IDT Group We also sell i-CAT CBCT scanners For more information please email info@simplantscans.com or phone 020 8600 3540 Image Diagnostic Technology Ltd Unit GC, Westpoint, 36-37 Warple Way, London W3 0RG Fast 3 day turnaround Simple Online booking & delivery Unique 20Years of experience with SimPlant Flexible Data accepted from all CT/CBCT scanners Comprehensive Radiology reports and treatment plans available ComprehensiveComprehensive Radiology reports Online bookingOnline booking £50Basic(per arch) £70WithSeparateTeeth (per arch) £90With SeparateTeeth & SoftTissue(per arch) www.SimPlantScans.com 10142_Ad Simplant.indd 1 07/11/2011 06:35 page 17DTß tion. Consider: “Is there anything that would have made your visit more pleasant?” or “Do you pre- fer our new text appointment reminder service?” This ‘soft’ information can usefully be dis- cussed at team meetings and may help focus proper patient surveys, which I’m coming to now. In my experience, telephoning patients is a much better method and indicates that the practice has an active interest in them as an individual. A patient’s re- sponses will be far more detailed, and hence be invaluable business intelligence, during a telephone ‘chat’ – I use the word deliberately to suggest informality. The best time to contact a pa- tient is straight after an appoint- ment and certainly within seven days – a period I describe as the ‘golden time’. In my experience, seven days is the maximum pe- riod patients will retain a clear recollection of their visit, what they experienced and what was said to them. I have found the greatest suc- cess by telephoning patients on a landline (if you call their mobile, they could be anywhere doing an- ything) at home in the evenings or at weekends. Most recently, I have learned when doing patient surveys and remote patient coor- dination that a surprising number of people who are too busy at the time to get involved in a conver- sation ask that I call back on a Sat- urday or even a Sunday morning. You must always ask wheth- er the patient you are calling is happy to spend some time giving feedback about their recent visit to the dental practice. Since you should do a few trial runs with colleagues or friends of the ques- tions you intend to ask, you should have some idea of how long the conversation will last. Most peo- ple will agree to give up 10 min- utes (and quite often stretch the conversation to longer) whereas suggesting at the outset it could last 20 minutes or more is likely to result in a refusal to participate. You should have questions written down and they should be open questions – ones that cannot simply be answered by yes or no. You may wish to focus the ques- tions toward a particular aspect of the practice – reception ar- rangements if you have recently recruited new front of house staff, for example. Do not, however, follow your script slavishly. Al- though you want to ask similar questions of a number of patients so you can compare the answers, you also wish to give patients a platform to mention virtually anything they may like or dislike about you practice and the staff. I say virtually, because if the con- versation turns to a complaint of a clinical nature the interviewer will need to cut the patient short to avoid compromising your pro- cedure for dealing with these. I mentioned earlier a nega- tive comment made about re- ception staff. When carrying out surveys you won’t be asking pa- tients directly about members of staff but you can pose questions that allow them to make observa- tions. For example: “How would you describe the way you were dealt with at the reception desk?” or “What comments would you make about communication with the dentist and dental nurse?” Aside from the dentist or hygien- ist they saw, patients are unlikely to know names (full marks if your patients/dental team commu- nication is so good that they do know the names of nurses and reception staff and/or they wear name badges) so you will have to research who a patient saw if they make specific negative (or positive) comments. You should also be prepared for a patient survey call to turn into a treatment co-ordination exercise – where the focus is more on discussing a patient’s treatment plan and resolving any questions and concerns they have. DT