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ePaper created 2016-03-31, 16:35:38 | version 1.38.0
| practice management TC role 08 roots1 2016 The TC concept A TC is someone in your practice who, with the right skills and training, will facilitate the new patientprocess.Heorshebridgesthegapbetween the new patient, the practice and the staff. The TC promotes and sells the practice and its services by demonstrating their true value to prospective patients, frees up the practitioner’s time, increases case acceptance ratios and, resultantly, increases practice profits. Consider the time spent by the practitioner with the new patient and calculate how much of that timeisnon-diagnostic.ATCcanoftenreduceupto 60 per cent of practitioner–patient time. Rather than this being a barrier to patients—which is in- deed what many practitioners perceive to be the case—in my experience, patients actually feel muchmoreateasewiththeTCandthereforebetter informed.Doctortimeisnotalwaysdoctortime.As a typical example: if an new patient appointment is 30 minutes, but the clinical part is actually only 15 minutes, there is potentially 15 minutes still available. Think about the impact an additional 15 minutes for every new patient in the appointment diary could have. A good TC will manage all aspects of the patient journey, from referral to case start, and potentially increase your case starts. He or she is the first point of contact. People buy from people, so the develop- ment of a relationship and establishing of rapport between the TC and the new patient are crucial to the success of your conversion from referral to start of treatment. The TC informally chats to the new patient prior to consultation. This helps not only to foster rapport but also to gain a better idea of the patient’s needs and wants. IrecommendtoallmyTCstobepresentatthecon- sultation to listen and understand clinically what is and is not possible in order to allow the TC to deter- mine how he or she will conduct a top-notch case presentation. The TC carries out the case presenta- tion, reiterates the treatment options available to the patient, discusses these, answers any questions the patient may have, and clarifies proposed treat- ment.Heorshealsodiscussestheinformedconsent, showsbeforeandafterphotographsofsimilarcases, and addresses any barriers or concerns the patient may have. The TC also explains the financial options and determines the most suitable payment method for the patient’s needs, as well as prepares the walk- outpack.Thevalueofawalk-outpackshouldnotbe underestimated and should reflect the values of the practice,includingallinformationthepatientneeds, the finance agreement or contract, diagnostic re- port, photographs of the patient (an excellent mar- ketingtool),informedconsentandanythingelsethe practitioner feels adds value to the consultation. Too many new patients are lost due to lack of fol- low-up. A good TC follows up and provides monthly information on patient conversions to assist with strategic planning. All practices should have a pa- tient journey tracker. Filling the role: An internal solution? There are no hard and fast rules. It depends upon the size and aspirations of your practice and the qualities of existing members of your team. If you have a team member who fulfils the characteristics of a TC and he or she wants the challenge, then the answer is yes. Keep in mind that you may well need to fill that person’s current position. Some practices streamline job descriptions allowing them to create the new role without hav- ing to hire another staff member. Whether it is a full-time role or not depends upon various factors, including the size of the practice; the number of practitioners, chairs and patients; and the profit aspirations. Many practices implement the role and monitor its progress and impact. This often helps the team to accept the change and gives the prac titionertheopportunitytoassessanytrainingneeds of the TC and to access how remuneration will be affected. The role of your TC should fit in with your prac- tice’s culture and aspirations for patient care. How- ever you choose to implement the role, the only guarantee is that you will benefit enormously. Augmenting your team with a well-trained TC can reap tremendous rewards for you, the team and yourpatients.ATC’stailoredandpersonalapproach to care, follow-up and communication with pa- tients fosters trust and increases patient satis faction and retention._ contact Lina Craven is founder and Director of Dynamic Percep- tions,an orthodontic manage- ment consultancy and training firm in the UK helping specialist practices across Europe to increase their case acceptance. She can be contacted at info@linacraven.com