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Dr. Brown makes sure her patients are aware of her practice’s technologies which include digital x-ray, patient education and communication via the Internet. “Educating them on what is out there, what’s available and what you have in your office is important,” Dr. Brown said. “You need to let them know how it benefits them. Maybe it’s a diagnostic tool or maybe it’s something more visible for patient education or maybe it allows more pain-free dentistry or it allows quicker healing. Whatever the case may be…but technology is crucial and because patients are so educated and looking on the Web, if you don’t implement it, they perceive it as if you’re old-fashioned or antiquated or out of date.” Communication is key “Opportunities are not one size fits all,” Hegarty explains. “Success and practice growth are not happy accidents. As the expression goes, success is about preparation meeting opportunity. The best opportunities are the ones you create. So, what are you doing to prepare your practice for opportunity?” The trick is to identify what will enhance your vision for your practice and take your team’s performance to new heights, Hegarty says. You don’t want to waste time, energy and money chasing opportunities that don’t enhance your vision for your practice. “Be clear on what advantages patients will enjoy from your practice. You can choose two of these three practice values: price, quality and service. Explain your decision to the team so they can support your plans. Is your practice more like Ritz Carlton, Courtyard or Motel 6? All three models work and can be successful, choose one, define it so everyone ‘gets it’ and then support that choice with the plans and investments you make,” she said. “Bring the team together and brainstorm: what’s going well, what can you build on, what’s the smallest change you could make that will have the biggest impact? This kind of meeting will create an energy that will help the team want to embrace change. Bring in an outside facilitator if you’re unsure of how to successful run this type of meeting.” Dr. Brown uses staff meetings to make sure all team members know how to take advantage of the latest technology additions to the practice. “We just had a meeting Wednesday and it’s crucial to have them on board,” she said. “You want them thoroughly trained on the technology, implementing it and knowing how it works into the practice. One way we can take care good of patients is to make sure that we give them correct information and that we follow up on what we need to follow up with…make sure on our end that everything is signed sealed and delivered.” Dr. Brown uses her Dentrix practice management software’s DX Web to conduct surveys, produce newsletters and to communicate with patients via e-mail. “It’ a patient education tool and it makes our job easier in terms of contacting patients and communicating with patients,” she said. “Patients love it. We’ve been taking surveys and asking them, ‘Hey do you like this method of communication?’ “ Additionally, she uses Demandforce Dental to help get the word out on her surveys and to improve the practice’s exposure. “The other part of that with the surveys is it’s not just for our information, but it’s also published on the Web and Demandforce submits that to Google as a legit survey and that helps our ranking on the search engines,” Hegarty, who has more tips and information on her Web site, adds that communication and technology go hand-in-hand with practices that excel today. “Soft skills drive performance. All your clinical skill and technology will fall short if you can’t communicate well with patients,” she said. “Investing in improving people skills, developing communication skills and emotional intelligence will pay dividends in both improved case acceptance, practice profitability and less stressful personal/team relationships.” Hopefully you can implement some of these ideas into your practice to assure that you don’t miss out on any opportunities.
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