In 2018, Forbes wrote an article which made a lot of companies think twice about their approach to business.
The article titled ‘The 10 Most Customer Obsessed Companies in 2018’ included many household names like Harley Davidson, Amazon and Ritz-Carlton, and highlighted the importance of structuring your entire company around customers and their needs.
This is the same attitude that creates the difference between a good dental practice and a great dental practice. Today, consumers have high expectations and are more informed than ever. And with 2020 just around the corner, this patient-centric approach is vital.
Read 3 Keys to Being a ‘Patient-Centric’ Dental Practice in 2020 below:
Go the Extra Mile
There are lots of little things you can do to make your patients feel valued. Below are some examples of how you can go the extra mile:
- Greet each of your patients personally and by their name
- Make a point of calling each new patient and welcoming them to the practice
- Asking patients about what their goals are in terms of their dental appointments and oral health
- Make notes about your patients and aspects of their lives which aren’t related to dentistry. If they mention a special occasion or event like a birthday, wedding, new baby etc., make a note so that you can ask them about it at their next appointment
- Purchase some stress balls for those patients who have a fear of the dentist
Install a baby changing station in the bathroom
Communication
The whole idea of your front office staff playing phone tag with your patients and leaving voicemails back and forth is pretty outdated. Not only is it inefficient, but it can also get pretty annoying for your patients and is likely to take up a lot of your staff’s time. To achieve a patient-centric practice, try to transfer most of your communications to email and text. You will find that most patients prefer these methods of communication and are more likely to respond as they can do it quickly and at their convenience.
Fun waiting rooms are a great way to keep kids engaged and happy
Create a Vision Statement
Get all of your staff and colleagues together and come up with a specific patient-centric vision statement for your practice and the various things you can do to put this statement into action. Often, you may have a great, hard-working team and we assume that everyone has the same mindset or goals as us, but your staff can’t read your mind. Setting a clear vision statement ensures that everyone is on the same page. Make sure you lead by example when it comes to following through with the statement and recognise those staff members who go above and beyond for their patients.
Dental Concepts are one of the largest dental equipment specialists in South Australia with decades of customer-centric work experience.
We take pride in our work and have built numerous client relationships over the years.
If you would like to learn more about how we can help you and your clinic, call us on 08 8177 0600 or get in touch via our contact form.
