Blog – Page 2 – Patient Focus

4 Highly Effective Ways to Motivate Employees in the Dental Office

“Customers will never love a company until the employees love it first.” – Simon Sinek

Nothing kills productivity or negatively affects your bottom line like an unmotivated dental team. For patients to love your brand, you need employees to do the same. Keeping employees motivated is extremely important to the success of your dental practice and plays an important role in them enjoying their job.

Without motivation, your patients will be affected. It shows lack of caring by your team which could negatively impact the amount of dental patients you see, or even keep them from coming back altogether.

Keep in mind that motivation can be quite contagious and majority of the time comes from the leader. A good leader can show their employees how motivated and goal-oriented they are to building a successful dental practice and fulfilling workplace, and more than likely the team will follow suit.

Is your dental team motivated? Rev up your dental office and motivate employees with these 4 tips!

Talk about your goals.

Talk about your vision for your dental practice and what makes you passionate about achieving your goals. When employees understand what motivates you to succeed and feels your passion, it will help them get behind something rather than feeling like a robot coming in each day to punch the clock and go through the motions. The success of any business, including your dental practice, is built on energy, passion, enthusiasm, willingness to change and evolve, and effective business systems. Take the time to celebrate when goals are met!

If you\’92re ready to realize increased revenues, discover what this Tempe Dental Practice saw from implementing Patient Focus\’92 services in only one short year. These results could be yours!

Don\’92t micromanage.

One common \’93de-motivator\’94 is micromanagement. Instead, help team members grow their leadership skills. There will be mistakes made. Don\’92t smother them and always try to fix everything yourself. Instead, teach them how to clean up their mistakes on their own. You can be a great leader and boss without micromanaging.

Show respect.

Give your employees the respect that they deserve to ensure that the entire dental team is happy and most importantly, motivated in the office. How can you show respect? Acknowledge the good work that they accomplish every day and show them that they are truly appreciated. We all love feeling respected and getting compliments. Listen–genuinely listen–to team members. If an employee feels that their worries are being ignored, they can feel resentful and demotivated. Dismissing concerns or failing to listen at all is a surefire way to drain enthusiasm. Be visible, approachable, respectful and open with information. When you show respect and that you are grateful, employee motivation will soar to great heights!

Success should be shared.

Sharing the success of your dental practice will definitely help to motivate employees. Raises and bonuses could be used as effective motivators, but more often than not, non-monetary rewards, like verbal recognition or public praise can be even more motivating. It\’92s important to understand your team as individuals as motivators vary from person to person. Schedule regular performance reviews and offer incentives for when your practice does well. If your dental team brings in new patients, reward them!

It takes passion and motivation on your own part to motivate employees in your dental office, but it is critical for success\’97the success of your dental practice and also the success of your team members.

Want to improve your business and motivate employees? Patient Focus can help your dental clinic find success through dental recall. Contact Patient Focus now to get more appointments.

Take Full Advantage of Your Dental Recall System

Dental practices everywhere face one of the biggest challenges out there: scheduling overdue patients. If you are searching for an effective dental recall system to help streamline your practice and schedule overdue patients, you are definitely not alone.

Dental recall systems provide a solution to this all-too common problem of dental offices struggling to stay in contact with their patients. Recurring visits is the lifeline of a dental practice because it keeps existing patients coming back and keeps dental chairs full. These routine visits can also mean opportunity to identify dental complaints or conditions that patients need to take care of.

Patient recall systems can take on many different forms. The most commonly used include:

Text messages
Emails
Dental patient recall postcards
And now, with Patient Focus, live calls

While the concept of patient recall is simple, actually executing a patient recall effort can be daunting and time consuming. While automated text reminders and emails are good, there are extremely time consuming and need to be supplemented first with Patient Focus\’92 services.

Thankfully, Patient Focus offers these extraordinary services to help identify the patients for you. Live patient recall services make bringing your patients back easier than ever\’97you\’92ll never have to pick up the phone again.

Don\’92t Miss Out on Patients

Want to know what the best route is to get your dental chairs filled and keeping them filled? It\’92s a practice that has stood the test of time and ensures human interaction for the best outcome possible: phone calls. If you aren\’92t doing this, then you\’92re missing out on lots of patients. This is where Patient Focus steps in.

If you\’92re ready to realize increased revenues, discover what this Tempe Dental Practice saw from implementing Patient Focus\’92 services in only one short year. These results could be yours!

We understand that you and your staff have your hands full every day and will not always have time to spend calling patients to let them know that they need to make an appointment. And automated calls can be so impersonal. No one wants to have to talk to a robot, and automated phone systems can be inefficient because the patient needs to listen to a never-ending series of options before they can complete the desired action.

Patient Focus guarantees you that there will always be a live caller. That\’92s right! A real, live human will be on the other end of that phone call communicating with your patients in real time. Making connections and scheduling patients. Your patients will respond better to a live caller than a robot\’97guaranteed.

Take Full Advantage Of Your Recall System

No more existing patients falling through the cracks. If you\’92ve been trying to narrow down which patient recall system would work best for your dental practice and be the most effective, consider our top notch patient recall program. It is one of the most important systems that you can have in your practice.

Are you ready to simplify and streamline your efforts to grow you dental practice? Follow this link to request a consultation with one of our call experts, or call us today at 888.978.2615 and get started in only three simple steps!

Step Up Your Dental Patient Communication Skills in 2 Steps

Communication skills are something we learn and improve upon throughout life. Some of us develop into excellent communicators while others never seem to quite grasp the skill. By definition, communication means, \’93the exchange of ideas, messages or information.\’94 As a dental professional, it is crucial to make sure that every message, idea and piece of information you communicate is received clearly and appropriately.

Pay careful attention to each of these essential dental patient communication skills.

Ask for Feedback

Going to the dentist is stressful. No one really likes to go to the dentist\’97it generally is coupled with feelings of stress and anxiety. If someone is stressed, it is not always easy to hear and really take in what others are saying. To prevent communication misunderstandings, use open-ended questions and prompt the patient to ask for clarification when necessary. Ask that they repeat back takeaway and action items back to you to ensure they absorbed what was discussed. Patient communication is not only about talking, but making their visit comfortable and more pleasant will be beneficial for both parties.

Ready to discover the essential secrets to successfully filling your dental chairs? Download your checklist here!

Listen Up

The dental office is a busy place and it can be all too easy to forget to really listen to what your patients are telling you. Active listening shows that you are really listening and hearing what the patient has to say. Effective communicators have the ability to \’93read\’94 others\’97that means both verbally and nonverbally. Check that you incorporate these three vital components to becoming an active listener to step up your patient communication skills:

Intentionally listen to what the patient is saying. Don\’92t become distracted, always maintain eye contact and ask follow-up questions based on what the patient is telling you with their actions and their words.
Watch the patient\’92s facial expressions and posture when they are speaking to you. Watch for any signs of irritation or confusion and address these concerns before they leave the office. Also, watch your own body language to ensure you are communicating effectively and not sending any mixed messages.
Keep an open mind. Never assume that you know your patient\’92s circumstances or judge. Be compassionate and understanding to all patients.

Effective patient communication is a precious tool in your dental office. We\’92ve given you several things to improve your own communication skills for a fulfilling and successful business.

Are you ready to simplify and streamline your efforts to grow your dental practice? Follow this link to request a consultation with one of our call experts, or call us today at 888.978.2615 and get started in only three simple steps!

Learn How to Get Started

Create a Sensational Dental Patient Experience in 3 Simple Steps

patient-experience

We\’92ve all at some point in our lives experienced a lack of customer service. Has an experience with poor customer service left you asking yourself, \’93Do they not want my business?\’94 It can be one of the most frustrating things when a business treats you as if they couldn\’92t care less. That is why exceptional customer service is so valuable. Providing this positive patient experience helps to set you apart from competitors who are too stressed, too busy or just plain oblivious to providing a superior patient experience to their patients.

Always do everything you can do to exceed the patient\’92s expectations and stand out in their minds for excellent customer service.

Here are 3 simple steps to create a sensational dental patient experience.

Give Patients Some Control

A lot of times, dental patients feel like they have no control when they are with their dentist. Before you begin the exam, sit down and take the time to talk with them about how you can help, listen to their problems, fears, and concerns. Then, explain in detail what you will be doing to help them to make sure they fully understand the procedures you will be performing.

Project Enthusiasm

Team members should always exude friendliness whether answering phones, welcoming patients at the front desk or during treatment. A good rule of thumb is to treat patients like you would an old friend, instead of an interruption in your busy day.

Follow Up

Dental patient contact shouldn\’92t end after they leave your clinic. A quality patient experience involves ongoing communication. When you reach out after the initial patient visit, you show attentiveness and build and strengthen solid relationships that keep patients coming back.

Strive to set yourself apart from the rest. Creating the best environment possible in your dental office enhances the patient experience. Use these tips to keep your patients coming back.

Want more dentist reviews? Improve patient satisfaction with these 3 tips!

Patient Scheduling Tips for Optimized Efficiency in the Dental Office

scheduling-tips

Dentists and their staff are suffering from a serious case of business. Being super busy sounds like the idea dilemma to have in a dental office except for one big drawback: being busy doesn\’92t translate to better production and efficiency. Many factors can contribute to an inefficient day and patient scheduling seems to be one of the most common culprits. Patient scheduling can grow into work habits that become second nature and a routine to easily fall into without considering any change or improvement.

There\’92s always room for improvement. Read this blog post for 5 easy business tips to improve your dental clinic today.

Time is money so it\’92s a must to schedule yourself properly. Here we share some of the best surefire scheduling tips for running an efficient and well-organized dental practice.

Dental Patient Scheduling Tips for an A+ in Efficiency

Set a Daily Goal

It\’92s one of the most important scheduling tips for a dental practice to establish daily goals. Each and every staff member should be committed and on the same page to make the goal a reality. Try setting consistent morning huddles to share new scheduling information, review any challenges from the previous day and to relish in success!

Outsource Your Recall Services

Dental recall duties are generally assigned to office staff that may not have the right training or enough time to get the best results. In fact, dental patient recall can actually be counter-productive in most situations for dental office staff. To super streamline your patient scheduling process, outsource your dental recall services with Patient Focus to help increase your practice profitability and overall revenues.

Don\’92t Double Schedule

When you are scheduling dental patients, stay far, far away from double-scheduling. You can\’92t be in two places at once. Not only does double-scheduling inconvenience everyone in the office, but most importantly it inconveniences the patient. A patient will most likely have to wait, assistants may get confused trying to rush, the dentist\’92s stress levels go up and patients ultimately receive poor service.

When it comes to running a dental practice, efficiency is key to attracting and keeping solid, quality patients. Using these dental patient scheduling tips you could be well on your way toward running a dental practice with an A+ in efficiency to keep patients coming back.

Patient Focus is here to help your practice get more patients in your chairs through dental recall. Discover how you can begin realizing the increased revenue of a reactivated patient database in only 3 Simple Steps.

4 Powerful Tips to an Effective Dental Recall Appointment

recall-appointment

We all know that a full schedule is vital to a successful dental practice. Patients need to be rescheduled or you risk losing in many ways. One key to keeping that schedule full to the brim is an effective dental recall appointment. Having worked with many dental offices to help them find effective ways of scheduling overdue patients, we\’92ve discovered various techniques to make dental recalls effective to the max.

Here are some powerful tips to an effective dental recall appointment.

Get Personal

Don\’92t detour from human-to-human interaction when it comes to setting a recall appointment. People respond well to a personal touch. Everyone loves to hear their own name\’97use it in your interaction at least twice.

Don\’92t Rush

If a dental patient feels rushed into scheduling an appointment, they may schedule but will be less inclined to keep the appointment or even come back at all. The patient experience starts with the call to schedule the appointment. Slow down and take your time to make sure your patient is excited to visit your practice once again.

Be Trustworthy

Your patients want to feel like you truly care for them and want the best for their dental health. Be honest, trustworthy and always keep the patients\’92 best interest in mind. In doing this, your patients will be more inclined to keep coming back and recommend you to their friends and family.

Don\’92t Overlook Outsourcing

Boost efficiency and simplify the appointment reminder process by using a professional call center. Patient Focus makes live calls to your existing patients to schedule continuing care appointments. Even, better we have one caller that is assigned to your office\’97Patient Focus then becomes an integrated extension of your practice. Taking these appointment reminder calls off of your plate will save your staff time while still providing high quality service for your patients. Patient Focus offers innovative solutions making it seamless for dental providers to manage relationships with active and inactive patients.

Having a rock-solid dental recall appointment system in place is critical. Patient Focus is a proven dental recall system that will give your dental practice success. With over 12 years of appointment-scheduling experience. With one caller assigned to your office, Patient Focus will become an integrated extension of your practice. We make live calls to your existing patients to effectively schedule continuing care appointments.

Patient Recall Service Comparison. If you\’92re ready to realize increased revenues, discover what this Tempe Dental Practice saw from implementing Patient Focus\’92 services in only one short year. These results could be yours!

Are you ready to simplify and streamline your efforts to grow you dental practice? Follow this link to request a consultation with one of our call experts, or call us today at 888.978.2615 and get started in only three simple steps!

Common Characteristics of the Million Dollar Dental Clinic

dental-clinic

What makes a dental clinic exceptional and stand out among the rest? A potential patient will be looking for specific characteristics when searching for their new dental clinic, ensure your dental practice has these characteristics.

Here are some of the top characteristics of a dental clinic that rises above the rest.

Friendliness

A professional and friendly staff will help your dental clinic shine. Not only will it help staff morale internally, but patients will take note as well. No one likes to be around a grump, especially in a setting where most patients are already feeling nervous, scared or apprehensive. Create an atmosphere of lighthearted, personal and friendly communication.

Achieve that sought after \’91WOW\’92 factor with these 4 ideas for creating the ultimate patient experience.

Structure

A million dollar dental clinic is structured for success, with crystal clear goals that are monitored constantly. Create S.M.A.R.T. goals and share them with the team. They will be true motivators for the dentist and staff when they are used consistently to gauge the practice\’92s progress.

Skill

Both dentists and their staff should take their profession seriously and have a strong passion to deliver high quality care that lasts. Become a lifelong learner. Your dental clinic should always be learning in order to deliver an ever-improving quality of care, and to apply new techniques and methods.

Taking the Time

A stand out dental clinic values time\’97the patient\’92s time at the very top of the list. Patient appointments should be adhered to and treatment should be completed in a timely manner. Taking the time also involves answering all your patient\’92s questions and listening to any concerns. Never speed through a patient\’92s treatment schedule. Carefully and effectively explain a diagnosis and treatment if necessary.

Communicate

Effective communication in the dental clinic includes listening, writing and talking. Poor communication can have a negative effect on many aspects of the business, so it\’92s vital that you and your staff have clear communication to ensure all tasks and responsibilities are carried out correctly.

Your dental clinic could be the best of the best if it possesses these common characteristics.

Want to improve your business? Patient Focus can help your dental clinic find success through dental recall. Contact Patient Focus now to get more appointments.

How to Avoid Dental Patient Complaints

patient-complaints

It can oftentimes be our first instinct to avoid conflict or become defensive when we hear a patient complaint. But, if you are a dentist and you ignore or do not handle an upset patient appropriately, then a negative trickle effect can begin.

An unhappy patient may not only complain to their friends and family, but may go online and post negative reviews about your dental practice – whether they are justified in their complaining or not.

Read this blog to see how you can use a patient satisfaction survey to improve performance.

Even the best and most careful dental practices can make mistakes or have an \’93off\’94 day, and no matter what we do, we can\’92t please everyone. In the event that you do receive patient complaints, never ever ignore it! Patients often just want to know that they are being heard, recognizing their complaint and acknowledging that they matter can go a long way in calming a frustrated patient.

But, we want to help you avoid those complaints to begin with! Reduce the likelihood of patient dissatisfaction with these helpful tips to avoid patient complaints altogether.

Clearly Communicate

One of the best way to ward off patient complaints is to make absolutely sure that they fully understand what you are explaining to them about their treatment or diagnosis. Clearly communicate and establish a good rapport and spend time and effort in really getting to know them. Avoid terminology that they don\’92t understand and be straightforward while providing as much detail as necessary. To ensure they understand what you have explained or the advice given, ask questions. Always allow the patient to be in a position to make an informed choice about their treatment without seeming too pushy or rushing them in any way.

Record Solid Records

Always make sure you take clear notes documenting all of your advice and treatment plans\’97and make it legible! In the event of a patient complaint, solid records are essential.

Get Feedback

After your patient\’92s visit, contact them for their feedback. It shows you truly care and want to address any concerns that may have come up since they were in. A qualified team member could make the call for you and it could be something as simple as, \’93Doctor X. asked me to call you to see how you\’92re doing after your visit with us yesterday.\’94 Giving patients an opportunity to talk with you before they give feedback with their network or online.

Always remember that if you have any patient complaints, respond to them quickly and in a positive, helpful manner. Your dental patients ultimately care more about whether or not you have attempted to make things right than their complaint in the first place.

Discover how you can begin realizing the increased revenue of a reactivated patient database with these 3 Simple Steps to Increased Revenue.

How to Get New Patients Into Your Dental Practice

how-to-get-new-patients

Is the door to your dental practice collecting dust and are the hinges getting rusty? Stuck in a slump with no new dental patients coming in or struggling with a low retention rate? It\’92s time to change things up. Discover how to get new patients into your dental practice and keep them there. The great news? It\’92s not as expensive or difficult as you may think.

How to Get New Patients Into Your Dental Practice\’97And Keep Them There!

Creating the best experience possible for patients will not only ensure new patients find their way through your doors, it will help to skyrocket your retention rates. Follow these three rules of a successful dental practice and you\’92ll quickly find your schedule filling up!

Survey Your Surroundings

Take a look around your dental practice and ask yourself these questions:

Is the d\’e9cor attractive?
It is clean?
Is there plenty of space?
Is there entertainment for patients while they wait?
Is it comfortable?

If you answered no to any of these questions, it\’92s time to redecorate and reorganize. Your office and waiting area should be a place you wouldn\’92t mind hanging out in for a little bit.

Consider these 6 things when creating the best dental office design ergonomics to make your patients feel right at home.

Slap on a Smile

A genuine smile goes a long way. Do you see smiling faces when looking at your staff? Do you find yourself too busy thinking about what you need to do next instead of being in the moment and smiling during your day? A smiley and friendly dental staff that greets patients as soon as they walk through the door will make all the difference in the world. If your patients don\’92t feel welcomed, you can bet they won\’92t be coming back. Always hire a calm, pleasant and positive office staff to guarantee that happiness radiates all the way to the patient. After all, happiness is contagious!

Target Inactive Patients

You should always maintain a recurring relationship with all of your patients\’97active or inactive. If you don\’92t keep communication strong, how can you ever solidify any sort of valuable relationship? If you\’92ve been considering a patient recall system, you want it to be as effective as possible, because it is one of the most important systems that you can have in your practice. Don\’92t let your existing patients fall through the cracks! Keep them coming with a top notch patient recall program.

Stop scratching your head and worrying how to get new patients into your dental practice. Follow these helpful tips and quickly see an increase in your new and returning patient visits!

Are you ready to simplify and streamline your efforts to grow you dental practice? Follow this link to request a consultation with one of our call experts, or call us today at 888.978.2615 and get started in only three simple steps!

Bringing the Front Office & Back Office Together for a Unified Office

unified-office

If there is turmoil or trouble brewing between the front and the back office you can count on your patients feeling it. Patients can sense any frustration or see it on your face if you\’92re disappointed in one of your team members. A division in the dental office is a recipe for disaster. Is there a great divide between your front and back office? These questions may help you figure that out if you are unsure:

Do your dental team members only perform a specific function within the practice and hardly, if ever, venture past the boundaries detailed in their job descriptions?
Do your front and back offices rarely communicate?

If you answered yes to one or both of these questions, your practice most likely is not a unified office. When each department works independently, it leaves gaps in customer service, efficiency and profitability.

Every single team member\’92s actions will directly affect the patient experience and ultimately can improve office productivity and profitability.

Discover how you can create a powerful dental patient experience in this blog post.

Without a unified office, a dental team will unravel and can miss many potential income opportunities. A team that is unified results in happy patients and a successful dental practice\’97work together to create goals, develop plans and increase communication and make patients happy.

It\’92s time to bridge the gap between the front and back office for a unified office. A unified dental team improves the work flow and information that is vital for both a positive patient experience and your practice\’92s bottom line.

3 Steps to a Unified Office

Make Communication the Cornerstone of Your Practice. Effective communication enables team members to work together while providing optimal care for your patients. Excellent communication will help to build a strong network that is the glue that holds a practice closely together. Utilize technology and face-to-face conversations to improve communication between all team members.

Establish Attainable Goals. Create goals with the team that everyone can work towards together. Goals help to provide a common focal point and focus to bring everyone closer to reaching them. When we hit goals, morale goes up, we celebrate more often, team members are happier and everyone is further inspired to try setting new goals in different areas\’97\’91always improving\’92 becomes the common mindset. Goals should be realistic and well defined.

Hire Passionate People. A unified office means likeminded people who work there. Your dental team should be made up of people who are passionate about providing quality dental care. While skills are very important, you cannot always instill enthusiasm in a team member.

Working as a unified office results in happy patients and a successful dental practice. Set standards in your office so patients are always walking away feeling like your office is a well-oiled machine.

Wondering how to deal with stress at your dental office? What it boils down to is not letting stress take control\’97learn how to control your stress. Here are 3 ways we like to highlight for how to deal with stress at the dental office.