Practicing with the Masters<\/em> podcast. I\u2019m your host, Allison Watts, and I\u2019m dedicated to bringing you masters in the field of dentistry, leadership, and practice management to help you have a more fulfilling and successful practice and life.<\/p>\nTonight we have Joy Millis. Joy is actually an expert in the business of implant dentistry, with a unique combination of specialty and general dentistry practice expertise. She is a professional speaker and consultant with more than three decades of hands-on clinical and business experience in the field of implant dentistry.<\/p>\n
Joy helps dentists grow their practices, train their teams, and influence patients to do the right thing, accelerating the incorporation of implant dentistry into their services provided. She is also on the visiting faculty of Georgia Regents University and the University of Texas, where she teaches the business of implant dentistry.<\/p>\n
Joy has earned the National Speakers Association\u2019s highest designation of Certified Speaking Professional, an accomplishment achieved by less than 10 percent of speakers in the world. I\u2019ve heard you speak, Joy, and I enjoyed every minute of it. It was funny, it was inspiring, it was not just all about implant dentistry. So if you’re on this call and you heard me introduce her, we don\u2019t have to talk just about implant dentistry, right Joy?<\/p>\n
Joy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019s right. In fact, you asked me tonight to talk about patient retention. I was all ready to talk about implant dentistry but it\u2019s very refreshing to talk about patient retention which is my other favorite topic to talk about. So thank you. Thank you very much for inviting me.<\/p>\n
Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Absolutely. We\u2019re happy to have you. I\u2019m thrilled and I know the audience is. Joy, I don\u2019t know where exactly you want to start. I know when you came you did talk mostly about patient retention and I loved a lot of what you said. I know for me, one of the things you hear dentists always talking about how we need more patients, more new patients, more new patients.<\/p>\n
Especially after listening to you, realized that we really don\u2019t make a lot of effort to keep people in our practice. We think we already know why they’re not coming back. I don’t know what that is, but what you started with with us was teaching us the value of the different levels of patients and how much value a lost patient\u2014or basically a lost patient base could bring. Do you want to start by talking about that? Then we can just go with the flow?<\/p>\n
Joy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Certainly. One of the things that happened to me years and years ago, I was very curious while working in a practice and coordinating care for patients that sometimes patients would not accept treatment. I thought, \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong with them?\u201d They come into the office, they go through a comprehensive evaluation.<\/p>\n
The doctor puts together a lifetime plan of good dental health for them, presents it to them. And they do nothing. Sometimes they come back for hygiene and then do nothing else. Sometimes they get caught in the loop of doing just hygiene and nothing else.<\/p>\n
I thought, \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong with them?\u201d So I started investigating and started giving patients calls and saying, \u201cDid you have any questions? What questions do you have about what we recommended?\u201d Or, \u201cDid I not schedule an appointment for you the last time you were here?\u201d Just trying to figure out what is going on.<\/p>\n
To my surprise, some of them were waiting for my phone call. Some of them were confused about treatment. Some of them were thinking they had to do everything or nothing at all. Some of them were afraid to ask the doctor questions but were not afraid to ask me questions. So the first time that I launched out on making phone calls to lost patients, not just recall patients, not just calling telling them they’re due for a checkup, but patients who actually heard the good news about what we could do and then did nothing. I called them.<\/p>\n
The first time I did that, I called 16 patients and was able to schedule $43,000 worth of treatment. I thought, \u201cHmm, maybe this is a good use of my time.\u201d The next thing that happened is I began to start consulting and working with practices specifically in the area of implant dentistry and complex restorative care.<\/p>\n
I was very fascinated that doctors would hire me to help market their services. I would go in to see how effective they were with their internal marketing, you know, talking to the patients they have, communicating care to them, moving patients forward into treatment and would find that as I evaluated the records of patients, patients were not accepting treatment. 50 percent of what they considered their active patients were filed and forgotten. And of course now with computers, invisible, out of sight and then out of mind and were not accepting treatment and were gone.<\/p>\n
So I would go to the doctors and ask, \u201cDo you really want to market, make the phone ring, get some new patients in here for you to just disappoint them and lose them and not have them receive care?\u201d So, I was curious. What in the world has happened? How did we lose these patients? Can we get them back?<\/p>\n
Many times, hygienists will tell me, and I\u2019m so glad we\u2019ve got some hygienists on the phone call tonight. Hygienists would tell me, \u201cI\u2019ve got too many to call and I don\u2019t have time to call. We leave it up to the postcard. We hope they come back. We can’t make them come back. We can’t make them accept treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Doctors would say to staff members, \u201cI\u2019m going on vacation. Why don\u2019t you guys while I\u2019m gone get on the phone, call some of these patients who need treatment, who need to come back. We\u2019ve got holes in the schedule. Give them a call.\u201d Doctors would leave the office and the staff members would look at each other and say, \u201cWhat a waste of time. If they wanted to receive care, they would have been here. This is crazy. This is stupid. I don\u2019t want to call them. Do you want to call them?\u201d<\/p>\n
Then maybe one would call them and say, \u201cDo you want to come back?\u201d Patients would not respond necessarily positively and the next thing you know we\u2019re pushing the archive button or we\u2019re getting boxes to put charts in and patients are being made inactive.<\/p>\n
This sparked a curiosity in me to see what if we could get them back and what if we could stop the losses? Now I\u2019m telling doctors all the time, \u201cWhat if you never got another new patient? Could you thrive and survive with the patients you have?\u201d<\/p>\n
In looking at the value of the patient, insurance companies think they’re on average valued at about $1,000 in value each year. Then the American Dental Association says that the average utilization of dental services is, right now, it\u2019s around $500. So if the patient is worth $500 to $1,000 based on the numbers that we\u2019re hearing reported, then what do we lose when we lose a patient? That\u2019s a lot of money if you think about it.<\/p>\n
If three patients, potential patients, call us in a day and one schedules, we\u2019ve gained about $500 to $1,000. And of course the doctors I work with in the field of implant dentistry and complex restorative care, it\u2019s much more than $500 to $1,000 that\u2019s gained if one patient out of three schedules. But if two patients out of three don\u2019t schedule, or they come in, have an exam, don\u2019t accept treatment. The loss is significant.<\/p>\n
I look at the value of a patient and I think, you know, we experience loss in the profession but what does the patient lose? I think their loss is great as well. If we\u2019re not good at communicating with them about the value of the dentistry and moving them forward into care and we don\u2019t have systems in place to stop the losses from occurring, then everyone loses. Everyone does.<\/p>\n
Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah. I love your conversation about the communication piece and how you positively state your verbiage. I thought that was very interesting and very different than what I’ve heard before. I don’t know if this is the place to talk about that but I know that you come to the conversation\u2014you mentioned that the staff would call and maybe the patient wouldn\u2019t be interested. When I hear that I think it all depends on how you come to the conversation.<\/p>\n
Joy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I know that one thing I used to do is answer the phone to stop it from ringing. It was an interruption. That\u2019s not the reason to answer the phone. The reason to answer the telephone in the dental office is to schedule an appointment, generate a new patient, and retain an existing patient. If the telephone is a nuisance, and many times answering the phone is given to the newest employee that hasn\u2019t had any training, it\u2019s just stop it from ringing. That\u2019s what they\u2019ll do. So we lose new patients because we answer the phone to stop it from ringing.<\/p>\n
When they call, if I don\u2019t schedule them, I want to know what I did wrong in the process. Many times it\u2019s simply we ask them, \u201cDo you want to schedule an appointment\u201d instead of saying, \u201cThe best thing I can recommend is let\u2019s go ahead and reserve an appointment for you. That way we can tell you exactly what can be done for you, what the fees will be, and how much time is necessary. Let\u2019s go ahead and do that.\u201d Recommend the appointment. Move them forward into the appointment instead of lazily saying, \u201cDo you want to?\u201d<\/p>\n
When a patient walks in the door and has the initial evaluation, if it\u2019s exactly the way it went at a previous doctor\u2019s office that they sit, they wait, we\u2019re not jumping over the counter enthusiastically greeting them, welcoming them to the practice. We\u2019re shoving a clipboard in their face with forms to fill out. We\u2019re having them serve themselves. Bring them back to us when you’re done. I mean if their experience is just like it is in every other office, we\u2019re going to lose them.<\/p>\n
If when we talk to them the only thing we schedule is hygiene and don\u2019t move them beyond hygiene, we\u2019re going to lose them or they\u2019ll just get caught in the loop of just doing hygiene. If when we\u2019re talking to them about money and they say, \u201cOh, it\u2019s just too much money. There\u2019s no way I can afford that\u201d and we end the conversation with, \u201cWell, that\u2019s it. They’re done.\u201d And we don\u2019t figure out how can we move them forward regardless of the cost, regardless of the insurance limitations, if they have insurance. If we don\u2019t figure that out, we lose them.<\/p>\n
Insurance certainly interferes. It creates a roadblock. But in the profession, we\u2019ve gotten in the habit of stopping at the max, of planning treatment around the insurance in many offices, of believing patients won’t receive care unless insurance covers it. So we lose them then. Patients start treatment, stop treatment, and we don\u2019t have someone to follow up on them to get them going again. We lose patients at that point.<\/p>\n
Also, if we refer a patient to another dentist for some reason, either a surgeon or a periodontist or an orthodontist, if the patient leaves the practice and we don\u2019t make sure they made the trip and also make the trip back to our office, we lose them in that cycle.<\/p>\n
Our recall system doesn\u2019t always work. We leave it up to a postcard and there\u2019s no one designated to follow up on the patient to keep them in the loop. We don\u2019t preschedule. Many times people think that if we preschedule they won’t keep the appointment but my opinion is that the patient without an appointment is not a patient in the practice. Patients who see the value of coming back for continuing care will schedule that appointment in advance and keep that appointment.<\/p>\n
When they say, \u201cI don\u2019t know what I\u2019ll be doing in six months.\u201d I say, \u201cI do. You’re going to be right here and here\u2019s why.\u201d We don\u2019t want to lose those patients who are in recall because those are patients who often need additional care and they could experience additional loss and be at risk if they are lost just because we leave it to a postcard.<\/p>\n
Patients are filed and forgotten. It\u2019s fascinating that now because many offices are going to electronic records, many of them have the hybrid system where it\u2019s charts and electronic records. I see that the easy button in the dental office has become the archive button. Before, we would give patients about a three-year survival rate in the office. We\u2019d put clever little date stickers on the chart so that we would know when it was time to get rid of them and put the chart in a box. If they haven’t been in in the last three years it was very clever to do that and it made it easy for us to get rid of patients.<\/p>\n
Now we can’t take those patients for granted. But now when I go into an office, I\u2019m finding that dental offices are just pushing the button and archiving patients every year. So they only survive a year. But in my research, especially with implant dentistry and complex care, sometimes it takes a patient a full year to make the decision to go forward. It takes a patient a full year to plan their time and their finances so they can go forward. If we\u2019re quickly getting rid of them, they lose, we lose. It\u2019s very sad.<\/p>\n
Sometimes we just purge automatically. We have a system for getting rid of them and it\u2019s so sad. And of course, the other group of patients we lose are the patients that could be referrals because we don\u2019t ask for referrals. It\u2019s so easy to ask but if you don\u2019t ask, you don\u2019t receive those patients.<\/p>\n
All of our language needs to be proactive. For example, if a patient walks in the door and they’re late for an appointment, what I used to say is, \u201cYou\u2019re late. I\u2019ll have to see if we can still see you.\u201d We lose patients because of the way we approach them with our language saying, for example, \u201cYou\u2019re late.\u201d Instead we could say, \u201cYou\u2019re here. Let me see what we can still do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Because we\u2019re excited to see them, \u201cYou\u2019re here. We were worried about you. Is everything okay? Let me see what we can still do.\u201d They will feel better about showing up because the fact of the matter is many times in dental offices we\u2019re late seeing them. Our language is important.<\/p>\n
Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah.<\/p>\n
Joy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I went on there and said probably more than you wanted me to say right there but our language is important.<\/p>\n
Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No, that was great. That was a perfect example. That was one that I really appreciated that you gave us at our meeting as well. I want to go back to something you said a little while ago. If anybody has any questions, you’re welcome to push *2 and jump in.<\/p>\n
When you were talking about that people answer the phone because they just want it to stop ringing and that really one of the things we need to work on is that we need to figure out how we can move them forward regardless of cost, regardless of insurance, whatever. I’m curious how you do that. Not just maybe what your thinking is, but when you’re thinking, \u201cHow can we move them forward?\u201d Does that mean\u2026?<\/p>\n
Obviously you want to keep them active in hygiene. But you’re saying to begin to have a conversation about what\u2019s keeping them from moving forward and then figure out a way to break treatment down into bite-sized pieces. What does that look like when you’re doing that? When you’re trying to figure out a way how we can help a patient move forward?<\/p>\n
Joy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Over the telephone obviously the first thing we want to do is move them into an appointment. Many people answer the phone not just to stop it from ringing but we answer the phone, answer questions, and hang up without attempting to earn their business or earn them as a patient. We don\u2019t act interested. We just answer their questions.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much is a crown?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I can’t tell you that over the telephone because there are many different types of crowns.\u201d That\u2019s what I would say before.<\/p>\n
Then one day I got phone call from a dentist down the street. He said, \u201cJoy, thank you for the referral.\u201d I said, \u201cWhat are you talking about? We don\u2019t refer to you.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said, \u201cJoy, a man called you, wanted to know how much is a crown. You wouldn\u2019t tell him. Told him you had to see him for a thorough evaluation before you could tell him. The man just wanted to know how much money to bring. He paid us before we seated him. Thank you very much for the referral. We\u2019re prepping it now.\u201d<\/p>\n
It suddenly occurred to me, people are calling and asking questions that they ask other people. Like how much is that doggy in the window? If we sell many doggies, we probably know the price and certainly we can’t diagnose and treatment plan over the phone but we can answer questions better to better help them move forward into treatment.<\/p>\n
For example, in implant dentistry, someone would ask me,
\n\u201cHow much is an implant?\u201d I would want to say, \u201cYou idiot. I can’t tell you that over the telephone. We need to see you first. We need to know how much bone you have, the bone width, the bone height, the tissue integrity. We need to know how many you need. It\u2019s not just an implant per tooth. We need to know more, stupid.\u201d<\/p>\n
I wouldn\u2019t say those words but that\u2019s what I was implying. \u201cI can’t answer your question.\u201d So I wouldn\u2019t answer their questions so they\u2019d call someone else who could. Suddenly I realized maybe they\u2019ve seen other dentists and maybe they know what type of implant they need. So I would say instead of saying, \u201cI can’t tell you that over the phone.\u201d I’d ask them a question, \u201cCan you tell me what type of implant or implants you need?\u201d Then they\u2019d say, \u201cOh no, I don\u2019t have any lower teeth.\u201d And I’d say, \u201cOh, how did you hear about implants?\u201d<\/p>\n
Then I’d get into the discussion about implants are the best thing that\u2019s happened to dentistry. \u201cI\u2019m so glad you called our office. That\u2019s what we do in this practice.\u201d Then I would just get excited about hearing their story, hearing their challenge. That we could help them. We could provide the solution for the problems. \u201cWe’ve had many patients who have had that very same problem. The best thing I can recommend is let\u2019s reserve an appointment for you so we can tell you exactly what can be done for you.\u201d So I would move them into an appointment.<\/p>\n
When they’re in the office, many times they have never heard the good news or the big story. In implant dentistry, often you will hear a patient say, \u201cNo one ever told me that.\u201d Or, \u201cWhy didn\u2019t my other dentist recommend this?\u201d Or, \u201cI had no idea I needed all this.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the errors I believe that we make in dentistry many times is we put together the treatment plan and then the next thing we do is we have the list of fees on the treatment plan and we put all this information in front of the patient. Not only are they overwhelmed by all the treatment they need, but the focus gets diverted into the price of that treatment that they need.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when many times they’re lost. Because it\u2019s overwhelming. No one has ever gone this far with them. They\u2019ve locked in at that, \u201cWhat will insurance cover?\u201d Or them paying their copay and \u201cLet\u2019s do what we can based on your insurance limitations.\u201d We don\u2019t move them into more comprehensive care.<\/p>\n
When a patient says, \u201cI don\u2019t know if I can afford this,\u201d their focus is on the price. We want to move the price away and focus on the value of the treatment. I recommend to many doctors to put the treatment plan in front of them and discuss it certainly. But don\u2019t have the price on the same page when they’re talking about the treatment or the patient\u2019s eyes will never leave the price. It\u2019s like a menu at a fine dining restaurant. Many times they don\u2019t even put the price on there.<\/p>\n
If the price is there, we\u2019re trained, just psychologically we just glance at the price and that\u2019s sometimes where the patient\u2019s eyes lock. So talk about the value first. When they ask how much, I\u2019m not embarrassed talking about fees with patients. When we quote the fee, if it\u2019s overwhelming to them, depending on their reaction, many times we\u2019re able to say, \u201cWhat did you plan on spending for your dentistry?\u201d<\/p>\n
If they say, \u201cThere\u2019s no way I can do this,\u201d one thing I jump to the conclusion now about is they can’t do it right now because they haven’t planned on it. They haven\u2019t saved up for it or they had no idea it would be this or whatever. So there are two words that I used: when and what. When will it be appropriate for you to have this done? Because I figure just because they don\u2019t have the money today, maybe they\u2019ll have it tomorrow. So I say when.<\/p>\n
To my surprise through the years, patients have blown me away at how they have it sooner than I thought they would. You know, \u201cIt\u2019s after the wedding. It\u2019s after the kids get back in school. It\u2019s after the holidays.\u201d It\u2019s after this. It\u2019s, \u201cI don\u2019t have it now but my mother\u2019s got it and I\u2019ll see her next week.\u201d So it\u2019s not right now and they’re blown away today but that doesn\u2019t mean that tomorrow won’t be just perfect. So the first thing I ask is, \u201cWhen will it be appropriate for you to have this done?\u201d And they tell me based on their budget.<\/p>\n
Then if they say, \u201cI don\u2019t think I can ever get this done,\u201d then I ask them, \u201cWhat had you planned on spending for your dentistry?\u201d I\u2019ve discovered that patients don\u2019t save up for dentistry just like people don\u2019t save up for divorces, but they need dentistry. They don\u2019t necessarily need a divorce but they’re blindsided by the cost sometimes. So patients did not plan on what it was going to cost. Insurance has, with our help, patients have been led to believe insurance pays 100 percent. \u201cI\u2019ve got insurance.\u201d They think it covers everything.<\/p>\n
In dentistry, it\u2019s like, \u201cGive us 20 percent and we\u2019ll fantasize about the rest.\u201d They kind of began to believe insurance is going to pay for everything. Now we have to teach them that it has limitations. That there is a maximum allowable. That we want to work with you so you can receive care. So let\u2019s plan this out.<\/p>\n
When they tell me what they\u2019ve budgeted for their dentistry, many times they\u2019ll say, \u201cOh, about half that.\u201d I\u2019ve heard that so many times it\u2019s amazing. \u201cAbout half that.\u201d Then I\u2019ll say, \u201cGreat. Well let\u2019s go ahead and put together a progressive treatment plan for you so you can get this done. Let\u2019s talk to the doctor and figure out exactly what the priorities are with you, what should be done first. Let\u2019s plan your treatment so you can get this done.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you can’t do it all now, which would be the best thing to do because of time and finance and so on, it would be the best to get it done, everything now. But if that\u2019s not appropriate for you, if you can’t do that let\u2019s put together a plan so you can get this done.\u201d I want to assume that patients want the best of care without compromise.<\/p>\n
Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yes, me too. You\u2019re just helping them get that. You know, some people would feel like that\u2019s pushy but I actually think that\u2019s really nice. I think it\u2019s a really nice thing to do what you’re saying.<\/p>\n
Joy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Many times speakers and consultants will say, \u201cLet the patient make up their own mind.\u201d I think that\u2019s well and good if the patient knows as much as we do so they can make an informed decision. I think that many times we get into the habit of putting so many alternatives in front of a patient that the alternatives confuse a patient and they end up doing nothing. I ran into that when I started calling patients. \u201cI was so confused when I left. It\u2019s like I didn\u2019t know what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
I teach risk management and one of the things that you’re required to do is inform the patients about the alternatives of care. But I think that\u2019s more a part of informed consent which can occur very close to the consultation about care. But what has gotten confused is that doctors will go into a case presentation with at least three alternatives already outlined. It\u2019s treatment plan number one, treatment plan number two, or treatment plan number three.<\/p>\n
In the mind of the patient, the only difference between those three treatment plans is the price. I tell doctors if every one of those options is as good as the other, put the same price at the bottom of each column. Then the patient will make a decision based on value. They\u2019ll be forced to look up on the page to see the value that\u2019s listed instead of just focusing on the price at the bottom of each column.<\/p>\n
You want to move patients forward into doing the right thing instead of just doing the cheaper thing, the alternative that many times is just what insurance will pay for. I would rather a patient wait until tomorrow to do the right thing then to simply do the cheaper thing today or what the insurance will pay for today.<\/p>\n
Insurance has limitations and it doesn\u2019t always help the patient receive the best of care. Insurance is not bad, it just has limitations. I see so many patients who were underserved and not cared for with life-changing care because the focus is on the price instead of on the value.<\/p>\n
If treatment coordinators working in a dental office can work with a patient, with the doctors hand holding as far as what the priorities are, if the treatment coordinators can work with that patient to move them forward to receive the best of care instead of compromised alternative care, I think it\u2019s a better idea.<\/p>\n
I recommend alternatives in time versus an alternative in treatment. It\u2019s easy to sell something cheaper. You have to work to help the patient understand and see the value of something better. But when I\u2019ve worked with peer review committees or boards of dentistry, one of the things that I\u2019m told is that the reason doctors get in trouble is when they compromise. When a patient talks them into doing something cheaper. When a patient talks them into not doing something that\u2019s necessary.<\/p>\n
Something as simple as x-rays or images, doctors get talked into not doing them all the time. One of my clients told me she would never allow a patient to refuse necessary x-rays or now certainly the images that are used. She would not. I said, \u201cWhy not?\u201d She said, \u201cBecause I had a patient die because I’d been chewed out by a general dentist because I took a full series of x-rays on a patient that had been referred to me. The general dentist just chewed me out for doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n
But this was a periodontist. She said, \u201cI felt it was necessary and I did what was necessary. The referring doctor had not done any images and I just did it to do a complete periodontal evaluation and he chewed me out.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe next patient as a young periodontist that I saw,\u201d she said, \u201csaid that I don\u2019t think I want x-rays.\u201d She said, okay, then. And she didn\u2019t do x-rays. If she had taken the images for that patient, she would have seen that starburst that was in the mandible that was\u2014what is that, a blastoma?<\/p>\n
Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I don\u2019t know. I don\u2019t know my oral pathology that well. That sounds right.<\/p>\n
Joy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cancer. The woman ended up dying. So she said, \u201cI wish I had not compromised and let the patient talk me into that.\u201d But I\u2019ll go into offices and they\u2019ll have stacks of forms for patients to sign saying, \u201cI don\u2019t want the images. I don\u2019t want the x-rays. I don\u2019t want this.\u201d The easy thing to do is not do that. My belief is that do the right thing. If it means taking extra time to educate and inform the patient, then do that. Do that. Do what is necessary.<\/p>\n
Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When you’re talking to a patient about ideal treatment and you want to do the informed consent properly, are you saying, basically present to them the best treatment plan?<\/p>\n
Joy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Right.<\/p>\n
Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Then go back and forth to try to move them forward doing the best thing for them. Then right after that, you just need to mention that there are alternative plans. What does that look like?<\/p>\n
Joy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Obviously you get to know the patient. Every doctor has a different interviewing process finding out what are you looking for, what type of care are you looking for? If you could change your life in some kind of magical way how do you see dentistry helping you do that? That sort of thing.<\/p>\n
You get to know the patient and find out what they’re looking for as far as their dentistry is concerned. Are they just after emergency care? Just stop the pain? Are they after, \u201cI\u2019m tired of this. I\u2019m sick of living like this. I\u2019m sick of looking like this.\u201d You get to know them.<\/p>\n
Then you treatment plan the best of care based on what you would do for yourself, your mother\u2014if you love your mother. You treatment plan that. You sit down. You recommend that treatment, not with three alternatives pre-prepared. I tell the doctors I work with that\u2019s the ultimate form of judging a patient. That they don\u2019t want the best of care. You treatment plan all these alternatives in advance. That I have a problem with.<\/p>\n
So go in there. Tell the patient what your best recommendations are. That\u2019s what they want to hear in my opinion. When they say, \u201cThat sounds great. That\u2019s what I want to do. I wish my other dentist had told me that,\u201d then you move into informed consent.<\/p>\n
The beginning process of letting the patient know, \u201cI am required to inform you that there are alternatives. For example, one alternative is doing nothing, which I don\u2019t recommend. Because if you do nothing, here\u2019s the loss that you might experience. You could lose this or that or the other thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what I mean by present the best of care then when they say yes to that, move into, \u201cI am required to inform you about these things.\u201d There are about 12 different things in consent that need to be covered but this is another step in preoping a patient and certainly I work in the field of implant dentistry, we want to make sure there are no questions at all before we do treatment.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s more complete informed consent, which if you get used to doing consent you want to make sure you cover all the bases without having questions after the fact. Just answer the patients\u2019 questions. When they say, \u201cHow much?\u201d Then tell them what the fee is. When they say, \u201cThat\u2019s great. I thought it was going to be much more,\u201d then you move them into treatment after you\u2019ve gained consent, make financial arrangements, do all that sort of thing.<\/p>\n
When a patient says there\u2019s no way, then you look at, \u201cThere\u2019s no way today to do this, when will it be appropriate?\u201d If they say, \u201cThere\u2019s no way I can do all that.\u201d Then you find out what had they planned to spend. Then you give them an alternative in time. \u201cWe\u2019ll do this now and then we\u2019ll do that next.\u201d<\/p>\n
I worked with a delightful office manager out in California who was a client, I spoke for their study club. They also had a Seattle study club. I spoke for their study club. This delightful office manager, Luanne, 70 years of age, still managing a practice, said to me, \u201cI don\u2019t like the word \u2018phases.\u2019\u201d Dentists are always saying, \u201cWe\u2019ll do your treatment in phases. Phase one is this and phase two is that,\u201d and so on.<\/p>\n
I said, \u201cWhat word would you use instead, Luanne?\u201d She said, \u201cI love the word progressive.\u201d I said, \u201cWell use it. Use it in a sentence for me. How do you say that to a patient?\u201d She said, \u201cWe\u2019ll put together a progressive treatment plan so you can get this done.\u201d I love that language. So you can get this done. It\u2019s not, \u201cWell, okay, well your insurance doesn\u2019t cover it. You say you don\u2019t have the money.\u201d Then we do nothing for patients.<\/p>\n
Many times we file them, we forget them. Or we say, \u201cWell just call us if you change your mind.\u201d Or, \u201cJust call us.\u201d Or, \u201cYou just think about it and let us know when you’re ready.\u201d We do that and then the patient gets lost, filed, forgotten. Nobody follows up. We wouldn\u2019t know what to say if we did follow up. So they\u2019re lost. They\u2019re lost. So move them into something.<\/p>\n
I was in an office where the doctor told me, \u201cPatients are only doing hygiene.\u201d They hear the good news, they hear the full treatment plan then they schedule hygiene. I evaluated his records in the office and sure enough everybody was scheduled for hygiene but they weren\u2019t moving into the other necessary care. So I evaluated their exam process.<\/p>\n
The hygienist was involved in the consultation, certainly answering questions and talking about hygiene. Then the hygienist would take the patient to the business office for a financial conversation and scheduling. On that walk from the consultation to the business office, on that walk many times patients would say, \u201cUgh, I had no idea I needed all that. There\u2019s no way I can do this.\u201d<\/p>\n
The hygienist would say, \u201cWell let\u2019s go ahead and schedule your hygiene appointment. You do that while you’re thinking about the rest of the treatment.\u201d The patients would schedule the hygiene appointment but there was nothing in place to move the patient from hygiene into treatment.<\/p>\n
So I suggested a simple fix there. \u201cAnd while you’re here for that appointment, we\u2019ll reserve some time again for you to sit down, it can be with either the doctor or a treatment coordinator to answer your questions and to make a decision about what\u2019s next.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of my clients said her office manager came to her and said, \u201cYou blow these people away. They’re blown out of the water. You tell them all this treatment they need and they’re totally blown out of the water. Yes, they need it all but they’re blown out of the water and they don\u2019t schedule anything because they’re just so overwhelmed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Suddenly it was agreed that we need to tell them, \u201cI recommend you do this first.\u201d Then when they do that, \u201cI recommend you do this next.\u201d Keep them moving and they will be more likely to receive care. If they get caught in the loop of just coming back for continuing care without completing care, they\u2019ll be a hygiene patient forever.<\/p>\n
Hygienists that I interview, and thank you, Jill, for being on this call. The hygienists that I interview tell me that on average everyday they\u2019ve got at least two patients who had been diagnosed needing treatment that had not done the treatment but continue to come back for hygiene. So we’ve got to figure out how to move them forward into treatment instead of having them get caught in doing nothing. They get stuck.<\/p>\n
Jill:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I did have a question. How do you feel about when people refuse x-rays and the doctor says, \u201cOh, it\u2019s okay\u201d and they sign a form? That form really is not legal is it?<\/p>\n
Joy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019s a great question, Jill. The attorneys that I work with say that if you have a patient sign the form, the doctor okays that, that the doctor is agreeing to neglect. What will happen when you go to court on a case like that is they will say to you, the patient\u2019s attorney will say, \u201cWhat if you had taken this x-ray?\u201d What if you had gotten this image, doctor? You just let the patient sign that away.\u201d<\/p>\n
The attorneys will say that the doctor is agreeing to neglect. Negligence is the omission of reasonable precaution or carelessness. When I see stacks of forms in operatories and hygiene rooms for the patients to sign saying they refuse the images, it becomes a habit.<\/p>\n
My sweet husband went to the dentist, the hygienist said, \u201cEddie, do you want x-rays?\u201d He said, or he asked, \u201cDo I need x-rays?\u201d She said, \u201cWell, we can just get them next time if you want.\u201d My response to that quite frankly, Jill, is lazy hygienist.<\/p>\n
Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah.<\/p>\n
Joy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You know, does he need them or not? Let me tell you the rest of the story. That year, had a minor stroke. I flew him out to Spokane, Washington, The Heart Attack and Stroke Prevention Center. While I was there, one of my clients is a fabulous periodontist in Spokane, I said, \u201cIs there any possible way\u2026\u201d She\u2019s booked up six months with four hygienists. \u201cIs there any possible way that you could work him if you have a change in the schedule, if it works while we\u2019re here.\u201d We were there for a week. I said, \u201cIf there\u2019s any possible way, get him in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her hygienist did a comprehensive exam with the doctor. They found a 5mm and a 6mm bleeding pocket on one tooth. He\u2019s been seeing a hygienist every six months for the last 28 years. Every six months. More faithful than I am. They did the bacteria test to determine what type of bacteria was living there. The bacteria had the indicators for stroke or heart attack. So do we want to be lazy or do we want to stop and educate and inform these patients about\u2014you know, maybe this time we won’t do it, but let me show you some things.<\/p>\n
I tell doctors to collect images of what you could not see with the naked eye. Collect images. Show them the blown out bone. Show them what\u2019s in between teeth. Collect images and put it up on the screen. Take a picture of the tooth, what you can see without the images. Then take a picture of the tooth with the, whatever the disease is, or whatever is in the mandible or maxilla.<\/p>\n
Take pictures and save those so when a patient refuses, say, \u201cI\u2019m concerned. Here\u2019s what I\u2019m concerned about. Let me show you something.\u201d I didn\u2019t think it was that big a deal until I started seeing these things and recognizing that this is an issue. Did I answer your question, Jill?<\/p>\n
Jill:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yes, I\u2019m sorry. I got disconnected so I kind of caught the last end of that.<\/p>\n
Joy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I tell doctors if they\u2019ve got a stack of forms sitting there for patients to sign, they are agreeing to neglect. They should take those forms and put them in the furthest corner of the office so they have to take a long, slow walk and think about the consequence of taking the risk and putting the patient at risk of experiencing unnecessary loss.<\/p>\n
It is a choice that a doctor makes but I think it\u2019s high risk not to do the right thing. Doctors don\u2019t probe. \u201cWe don\u2019t have time.\u201d Jill, you know from experience what you find if you do. I went into an office one time that didn\u2019t even have a perio probe, I asked the hygienist, \u201cHow do you know that this patient has periodontal disease?\u201d She said, \u201cUsually if the tooth is loose.\u201d<\/p>\n
Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Oh, god.<\/p>\n
Joy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You know? So I think we get lazy. We don\u2019t tell the patients what they need to hear. Now of course, I’ve worked in implant dentistry now for 37 years. The thing about working in implant dentistry is I see the patients that have been thrown away from the mainstream. They\u2019ve been told it\u2019s bad, all these teeth have to go. Or maybe the teeth are even gone. \u201cThis is a bad and that\u2019s bad.\u201d<\/p>\n
These patients walk in with their hands clasped against their mouth. They have their lips locked around their teeth. They don\u2019t want anybody to see their teeth. They\u2019re dentally disabled and they’re basket cases. I look at them and I think, \u201cThis was unnecessary. This is negligence and it\u2019s not always the patient\u2019s fault.\u201d If someone didn\u2019t get them excited, you know, someone just criticized them and they couldn\u2019t take it anymore.<\/p>\n
I tell hygienists, find one clean tooth please. Make a big deal about it. Show them what stippled tissue looks like. Get them excited about how they did a great job here. Say, \u201cI know you probably know how to brush your teeth. Let me show you how I do it.\u201d Educate them. Spend time with them. Show them good technique and good methods.<\/p>\n
Some offices I work with that have multiple hygienists actually encourage the patients to go from hygienist to hygienist to hygienist so that they learn more different techniques so they can figure out what works for them because hygienists use different techniques. Different educational techniques even. Different methods for getting to this spot or that spot. It\u2019s kind of nice for patients to pick up on what works for them.<\/p>\n
So do the right thing. Just do the right thing. Always question, am I taking the easy way out? Am I taking the habitual way out? \u201cJust sign here and then when we\u2019re not responsible.\u201d We are responsible if the patient experiences loss. We might not be called on the carpet for it but we are responsible. Just do the right thing.<\/p>\n
Jill:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I totally agree.<\/p>\n
Joy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thanks, Jill.<\/p>\n
Jill:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 My phone stopped and I had to call back. I don\u2019t know, I was getting another call or something and my phone cut out. But anyway, how much does it cost a practice really to take the x-rays, the necessary x-rays, and not charge the patient?<\/p>\n
Joy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Not much at all.<\/p>\n
Jill:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah. But you need that not only for just them and their purposes but legally too.<\/p>\n
Joy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah. Jill, that\u2019s another great question. There\u2019s a lot of controversy in the industry right now because of cone beam technology which I absolutely love. It\u2019s amazing to be able to see three-dimensional images. I love love love that. Well some doctors are using the cone beam as a marketing tool and they’re not charging for that in order to get the patient, in order to be able to do the evaluation.<\/p>\n
Other doctors get real upset. \u201cI paid a lot for this machine. I think I need to charge for this.\u201d So there\u2019s a lot of dialog going on about, do we charge? What do we charge? Well they’re not charging that much and we\u2019re charging. So there\u2019s dialog going back and forth and a lot of controversy there. That always peaks my interest.<\/p>\n
I have to ask, and this is to your point, Jill, that who are we taking the x-rays for? Who are we taking that image for? Who are we doing that for? Is that for the patient or is that so we can better diagnose and treatment plan what needs to be done? We\u2019re doing it so that we do the right thing. Now certainly the big question comes up, how do we bill for it? How do we bill insurance for it?<\/p>\n
Quite frankly, I think we do it so we do the right thing. In my opinion, that can be kind of the loss leader that we do so we do a better job. So we do it so we do the right thing for the patient. I always suggest that you have a token standard fee for the initial evaluation and it depends on how covered up you are.<\/p>\n
You know, if you do free evaluations, there\u2019s no perceived value. They think, \u201cI don\u2019t really have to make it. They’re just trying to get me in there.\u201d Then a lot of patients get real upset if you’re telling them on the phone there\u2019s no fee and then they come in and doctors say, \u201cTo really be able to tell you, we need to do this big image and that\u2019s going to cost this and that.\u201d So patients get mad and they don\u2019t come back then.<\/p>\n
So I say decide on a fee. Make it a fair fee that covers everything in order to provide you with a very thorough evaluation and recommendations for treatment. You decide what that is. Then make sure that it includes what you need to do in order to be able to determine what the patient really needs. You can’t guess work complex restorative care. You just can’t do that.<\/p>\n
Whether you eat part of the cost or you recognize that I\u2019m doing this so I can do the right thing and absorb that part, or whether you charge for it, depending on the demand. I have worked with clients to determine what they need to charge based on how many new patients can they even handle.<\/p>\n
If a percentage of those patients are accepting treatment, how many cases can they start and finish in a month? Determine how many new patients you need that way. Then you can determine what kind of fee we need to charge in order to manage that load. So I would do the images for us.<\/p>\n
Jill:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah, that\u2019s what I’ve been used to recently.<\/p>\n
Joy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 One of the challenges with that, Jill, is going to be that the word gets out. Where you didn\u2019t charge my friend and now you’re charging me. It\u2019s like years and years ago there was a little fad of giving a flower to a patient when they would leave the appointment. Funny thing that happened then was that the flowers didn\u2019t arrive and a patient didn\u2019t get a flower, then they would get mad. So it worked against us.<\/p>\n
So whatever you want to do for one, you want to do for another. You want to make sure that you’re being fair. The way I look many times at insurance is, is it really right for us to discount the fees for one group and not discount the fees for another?<\/p>\n
Jill:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What I\u2019ve been saying to patients recently is your insurance is like a coupon. Some people that come in, they have insurance. Some people come in that don\u2019t have insurance. You have to be fair, I understand that. So where do you draw the line on what you’re going to charge or not going to charge? You want to give the patient a full comprehensive exam and you can’t do that without the necessary x-rays.<\/p>\n
Joy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I agree with you on that. You just have to decide how can you charge for that. There\u2019s a whole analysis that needs to be done with regards to insurance, that\u2019s a whole other topic. There are many times when I go into an office, if practices are participating with insurance, we look at what are the doctor\u2019s fees compared to what the reimbursements are? What are the write offs? Is it cost effective to work with this insurance company or that insurance?<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t think insurance is bad. I just think that it can quickly take over a practice and all of a sudden you start recognizing it\u2019s costing you more to treat the patient than the payoff is. It\u2019s all of a sudden the nature of practice changes and it\u2019s all insurance driven. Just like giving things away can become a habit. It\u2019s the same thing, the same truth with insurance, treating insurance patients.<\/p>\n
The challenge with insurance, one more thing about that, the challenge with insurance is it has limitations. Patients are less likely to receive comprehensive care if the focus is on the insurance. Just like patients are less likely to receive comprehensive care if the focus is on the price.<\/p>\n
You want to turn the focus to the value of the care, the benefit the patient will receive. Why they need to have this done. Patients don\u2019t buy what they need. They buy what they want. So you need to switch that into this is something they want because whatever that benefit would be to them that far outweighs the price.<\/p>\n
Jill:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Got ya. It\u2019s a fine line because I don\u2019t deal with insurance or things like that. I mean, I know a little bit about it but the doctor wants the x-rays. Period. I don\u2019t usually have too many people but there are those people that refused x-rays but then you can’t treatment plan, or the doctor cannot treatment plan properly without them.<\/p>\n
Joy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I have seen doctors walk in and when the staff members would say that the patient doesn\u2019t want x-rays, doctor walks in and says, \u201cWell I guess I won’t need these glasses either. I can’t see what needs to be seen in order to be able to treat you without compromising on the quality of care. We need this in order to be able to see.\u201d<\/p>\n
They just need to be educated. I think many times seeing is believing so showing them examples of what could not have been seen is important. It\u2019s important. Well it looks like we only have about five more minutes on this phone call.<\/p>\n
Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I know, that was what I was just noticing.<\/p>\n
Joy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I don\u2019t know if there are any other questions. Thank you, Jill, for those questions.<\/p>\n
Jill:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thank you, I didn\u2019t mean to take up all your time.<\/p>\n
Joy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Oh no, it was great. Thank you.<\/p>\n
Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah, that was great. Thank you. I did have a question but I think it is too long for you to answer.<\/p>\n
Joy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Then let me make a couple of suggestions, Allison.<\/p>\n
Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah, that would be great.<\/p>\n
Joy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Since we\u2019re talking about patient retention, we can’t talk about that without also saying something about how to get patients back once they\u2019ve been lost. A few things that I want to mention, quickly, briefly. The best way not to lose a patient is to schedule an appointment for the patient before they leave.<\/p>\n
The best way to schedule an appointment for the patient is to schedule the appointment for the patient before they leave the clinic. The further away they get from the clinical chair, whether it\u2019s the hygiene chair or the doctor\u2019s chair, the further away they get from that chair in that long walk to the front desk, to the business office, during that walk they get lost.<\/p>\n
So when they’re in the clinic, we can also talk to them without being concerned about privacy, HIPAA considerations. We can talk to the patient about what loss they might experience if they don\u2019t do this, if they don\u2019t schedule this. So I\u2019m suggesting, keep them in the clinic. Don\u2019t have those private conversations in the business office about why it\u2019s important for them to schedule and not walk out and schedule an appointment.<\/p>\n
Next thing is schedule beyond hygiene. I briefly discussed this early in our conversation. Schedule beyond hygiene. If a patient needs hygiene, schedule that and the next thing, or, and at the same time something else. Or, and a consultation to sit down and decide what\u2019s next. Schedule beyond hygiene.<\/p>\n
Another thing is stay in touch with a patient. My uncle taught me to fish. I love to go fishing. One thing that he taught me is never let the line go slack. If there\u2019s a lapse of time, there\u2019s a loss of interest. You want to make sure you stay in touch with these patients. Have a method for staying in touch with these patients and contacting them.<\/p>\n
Then of course, bring them back. Make the phone calls. Give them a call. Say something like, \u201cI\u2019m concerned. I was worried about you. Did I not schedule an appointment for you the last time you were here?\u201d Schedule an appointment if they somehow got away without scheduling an appointment.<\/p>\n
In an office, a practice can take about two years to recover all the lost patients. About 50 percent of the active patients are lost. They’re not scheduled. They’re filed. They’re forgotten. They’re invisible on the computer. About 50 percent of the active patients are lost.<\/p>\n
There are far more lost patients that have been archived, put in boxes, and about to implode the doctor\u2019s attic or something. About 50 percent of the active patients are lost and they can be recovered easily if it\u2019s been within three years since they were there. They’re probably thinking you forgot them.<\/p>\n
My friend Bobbie said, \u201cJoy, you still work with dentists?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell I’ve got a new dentist.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cReally?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I went to a dentist for 25 years but I’ve got a new dentist now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened? Why\u2019d you change?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI got a coupon.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean you got a coupon?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI got a coupon from a new dentist. I get 20 percent off.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c20 percent off of what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know, but I\u2019m getting 20 percent off.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou left a dentist you were with for 25 years because you got a coupon?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s right. My other dentist didn\u2019t give me anything. They would send me a card telling me when I was due and it was up to me to call and schedule. They didn\u2019t do anything to try to keep me so I guess they won’t miss me now that I\u2019m gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s exactly what she said. And she\u2019s not alone in that thinking. If we don\u2019t care enough to call or if we don\u2019t say, \u201cI\u2019m worried about you, are you okay?\u201d Wrong reasons to call are because the doctor told us to or there are holes in the schedule or we don\u2019t have anything else to do or the doctor needs the money or the doctor is on the vacation. Those are the wrong reasons to call.<\/p>\n
The reason to call is because that would be the right thing to do. Follow up on them. Say, \u201cI was worried about you. Let\u2019s go ahead and reserve an appointment for you now.\u201d Get them back in and practices will thrive and survive.<\/p>\n
One of my clients who fully implemented my lost patient system told me recently, she said, \u201cJoy, we\u2019ve had to back off on calling these people.\u201d I said, \u201cWhy is that?\u201d She said, \u201cWell we call it the treasure chest now.\u201d She is booked up six months in advance with all the hygienists that she has as well as six months in advance with surgeries that she does. Six months in advance.<\/p>\n
So now the lost patients are actually what she might call the treasure chest. Just there, available, if they need to fill in here or fill in there. Isn’t that amazing? Isn’t that wonderful to have that in this economy with what\u2019s going on in this country? It\u2019s just absolutely amazing that if you care about the patients enough to stay in touch with them, to schedule them, to not let them leave without an appointment, and grieve about them if they’re lost.<\/p>\n
Take responsibility for that loss and not blame them. What could I have said? What could I have done? What word could I have used that would be different? Instead of saying, you\u2019re late\u2014you\u2019re here. \u201cOh, we were so worried about you.\u201d Just caring about these people and valuing them as a patient. Then they will receive the life-changing care that we can provide them.<\/p>\n
Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Awesome. I wish we had time for more.<\/p>\n
Joy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Well thank you so much for including me in this conversation. I appreciate it.<\/p>\n
Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thank you. I appreciate your time and your energy and your willingness to be on here.<\/p>\n
Thanks for listening to Practicing with the Masters<\/em> for dentists, with your host, Dr. Allison Watts. For more about how Allison Watts and Transformational Practices can help you create a successful and fulfilling practice and life, visit transformationalpractices.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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I am thrilled to welcome Joy Millis to the show today. Joy is an expert in the business of implant dentistry with a unique combination of specialty and general dentistry practice knowledge. She is a professional speaker and consultant with more than three decades of hands-on clinical and business experience in the field of implant […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[303],"tags":[309,305,304,307],"yoast_head":"\n
Ep #38: Saving Your Lost Patients with Joy Millis - Helping You Live Your Brightest Life From The Inside Out<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/allisonwatts.com\/ep-38-saving-lost-patients-joy-millis\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Allison Watts\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"45 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisonwatts.com\/ep-38-saving-lost-patients-joy-millis\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/allisonwatts.com\/ep-38-saving-lost-patients-joy-millis\/\",\"name\":\"Ep #38: Saving Your Lost Patients with Joy Millis - Helping You Live Your Brightest Life From The Inside Out\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisonwatts.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisonwatts.com\/ep-38-saving-lost-patients-joy-millis\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisonwatts.com\/ep-38-saving-lost-patients-joy-millis\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/transformational-practices-llc\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1587010421\/PodcastArtwork300\/PodcastArtwork300.png?_i=AA\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-08-11T11:00:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-23T00:32:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisonwatts.com\/#\/schema\/person\/83062dfac15b33cd0e3cce96b4d9db3a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisonwatts.com\/ep-38-saving-lost-patients-joy-millis\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/allisonwatts.com\/ep-38-saving-lost-patients-joy-millis\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisonwatts.com\/ep-38-saving-lost-patients-joy-millis\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/transformational-practices-llc\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1587010421\/PodcastArtwork300\/PodcastArtwork300.png?_i=AA\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/transformational-practices-llc\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1587010421\/PodcastArtwork300\/PodcastArtwork300.png?_i=AA\",\"width\":300,\"height\":300},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisonwatts.com\/ep-38-saving-lost-patients-joy-millis\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/allisonwatts.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ep #38: Saving Your Lost Patients with Joy Millis\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisonwatts.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/allisonwatts.com\/\",\"name\":\"Helping You Live Your Brightest Life From The Inside Out\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/allisonwatts.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisonwatts.com\/#\/schema\/person\/83062dfac15b33cd0e3cce96b4d9db3a\",\"name\":\"Allison Watts\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisonwatts.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5e781eff0923bc735ed9ce0eeeeb21d3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5e781eff0923bc735ed9ce0eeeeb21d3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Allison Watts\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/allisonwatts.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/allisonwatts.com\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ep #38: Saving Your Lost Patients with Joy Millis - 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