If you prefer not to discuss fees with patients when they’re in the chair, try something like this (in a kidding fashion): “You're trying to get me in trouble! I'm just kidding, but Mary at our front desk gets mad at me when I try to discuss fees. She always tells me if I stick to dentistry, she'll stick to her front desk duties. She'll take good care of you and will answer all your questions. She knows her stuff." Kevin Tighe, Cambridge Dental Consultants, Senior Consultant, got bitten hard by the business and marketing bug during long summer days working...
I do not recommend Pre-Ds unlesss the patient asks but, if you chose to do Pre-Ds there are some advantages. In the past it could take weeks to get Pre-Ds back, during which time patients could easily lose interest. With real-time Pre-Ds now available, that issue is mostly a thing of the past. So what are the advantages of a Pre-D for your practice? One is that you get the perfect opportunity to educate patients about how their insurance works, which, IMHO, is rather vital. Another benefit is that you put your practice on the side of the patients by telling...
Most states are "At-Will," meaning, in essence you can let an employee go at anytime for any reason as long as it’s not discriminatory. Even so, you still want to document bad behavior and policy in case you decide to fight an unemployment claim. Dismissing an employee is never fun but, it can be less stressful if you keep the following points in mind: 1. Staff are the ones deciding whether they are to be dismissed by either playing by the rules or not. 2. It is the employee who is either making themselves valuable to you or not. If they are...
1. Require your front desk to report every daily on how many hygiene patients did not schedule their next appointment. No more than one a day is acceptable. 2. Keep a running list of those patients of those who did not schedule and follow up on them. 3. When calling the patient, if you do not reach them, let them know you will try back in about a week. Repeat a week later if needed. 4. After a month or so continue to make calls based on your knowledge of the patient without becoming obnoxious or seeming "desperate". How many calls...
