Sally McKenzie, CEO McKenzie Management Printer Friendly Version

New Patient, Or Never To Be Seen Again?

You know the feeling you get when you sit in a new car, walk into a new home, or try out that new gadget? There’s an excitement and anticipation that you feel, and a potential and opportunity in that newness. You can see yourself enjoying the car, the home, the “toy.” New patients are no different. They also can be excited about the potential and new opportunity that your office has to offer, provided you help to encourage rather than discourage that excitement.

How do you really handle new patient calls and the overall new patient experience? Do you have time in the schedule to accommodate them? Are you creating both a welcoming and positive experience for new patients from the first call they place to your office to the moment they complete their first visit? Are you paying attention to the details or just going through the routine? If you’ve had your share of “new but never to be seen again patients” it’s time to dust off the top five “best practices” for welcoming new patients into your practice.

1. Be prepared to handle the demand. The worst message you can give anyone who calls your practice – new or existing patients – is that you don’t have time for them. Ensure appointments are available. To determine how much time you need to allocate in the schedule to accommodate new patients, look at new patient activity over the last six months. If you saw 60 new patients, that would be 10 per month and 2.5 per week. Reserve at least that much time in your schedule to handle immediate new patient demand. Be sure to reserve new patient time during the hours in which your practice experiences the greatest demand for appointments, typically, late afternoons, evenings, and Saturdays.

2. Never underestimate the expectations of prospective new patients. From the first phone call to your practice, new patients are judging every aspect of your office and your team. Patients expect their concerns and needs to be addressed expeditiously. They expect the staff to be welcoming and accommodating.

3. Manage the new patient’s expectations through excellent phone communication. Develop a script for the scheduling coordinator to use when handling new patient phone calls. Her/his voice should convey warmth, understanding, and a positive demeanor. She should come across as unhurried and helpful. If the receptionist answers the phone with a curt, hurried, or exasperated tone, the caller is immediately put off. If the receptionist is sincere and empathetic, the caller responds accordingly.

4. Send every new patient a Welcome Packet the same day they call to schedule their first appointment. This includes a brief letter from the doctor indicating his/her commitment to providing the best possible care for patients. It also emphasizes specific qualities about the practice that set it apart from others. Include the website address so the patient can learn more about the practice and complete necessary forms online. The Welcome Packet also should contain a business card and a map to the office with the phone number.

5. When the new patient arrives, they should feel like they are the most important person in your office. If the patient has not already submitted necessary forms via fax or online, politely explain to the patient precisely what needs to be completed. When the paperwork is finished, the treatment coordinator should escort the new patient into a consult room where the forms are reviewed and, most importantly, the coordinator can discuss the excellent care available in the practice – again according to a well-developed script. Pay attention to the questions the new patient asks and the comments they make. These provide insight into their oral health goals, objectives, and possible concerns.

The assistant then introduces herself to the patient and seats them in a treatment room, followed immediately by the doctor. The doctor then asks the patient a series of questions beginning with, “What brings you to our office today, Mrs. Jones?” The objective is to learn what is motivating the patient to seek dental care, and determine the patient’s wants, needs, and expectations for their dental care. The focus is on what you can do for the patient, not what you are going to do to the patient. Yours may be the most clinically superior practice in the entire region, but how the new patient feels about the doctor, the staff, and the experience overall will determine if they are a returning patient or never to be seen again.

Sally McKenzie is CEO of McKenzie Management, a nationwide dental management, practice development and educational consulting firm. Working on-site with dentists since 1980, McKenzie Management provides knowledge, guidance and personalized solutions that have propelled thousands of general and specialty practices to realize their potential.

Interested in speaking to Sally about your practice concerns? Email her at sally@thedentistsnetwork.net or call 1.877.777.6151.

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