Points of Service in a Dental Practice

The points of service I will get to in just a moment, however first let me address a more primitive concept so that there is a clear premise as we progress through this article.

The premise is that of the patient versus the consumer. While it is true that all patients are important and deserve a standard of quality service, the idea of service must extend beyond the patient. Perhaps the clearest example of this is the child who is brought to the office by Mom. The child obviously did not spend time looking through the phone book hoping to fall on your office. It would also be my best guess that the child doesn't have their own checkbook just waiting to be depleted by the gals in the front.

The consumer is as important as the patient when considering service quality in your practice. In actuality there can be little difference between how anyone in the office is treated, from the most obnoxious patient to your favorite staff member (not that you have favorites mind you).

When considering the areas that affect a consumers impression of the practice, it is important to realize the interrelated nature of many aspects of your office. There is not one area in the consumer's view that can be considered anything but critical to the experience.

It might even be helpful to address this topic by starting with a change in paradigm.

Many practitioners are there to treat whatever is wrong with a person. If I have an ingrown toenail and wind up in your office, your job as the physician is to fix the toenail right? I have a badly neglected cavity on a molar, your job as the dentist is to fill it with a very expensive substance and make my pain go away.

That is the common view, to fix whatever ails you. Common is not always the right view however.

Perhaps a more accurate and certainly a more consumer friendly view would be one where all staff members and other parts of the practice understand that you are really providing a medical or dental experience to the consumer, not just fixing whatever they come in with.

With the new enlightened view of consumer services as being one of providing an extraordinary medical or dental experience to the consumer, the 3 points of consumer service in a medical office will make far more sense.

Each point is important to be sure, but there are times when one point will be of greater value to certain consumers than others. That is why it is critical to maintain all three realizing that they each contain value to all consumers, some more important at times than others.

The three points are Staff, Process, and Setting. The visual below will help you understand why they are referred to as points. Each point in the triangle is responsible for a portion of the experience, some of which you have no opportunity for human intervention.

It is important to realize that each of these three critical areas are interrelated. You can have a great staff, but that is not able to make up for a bad process or poor setting. Each one is independent in that sense. Consider driving up to a building in which there is much trash and is just not visually appealing. You get out of the car and step in a pot hole or at least a puddle of water. Finally you reach the door which has some kind of sticky substance on the handle with a significant number of hand prints on the glass door. Even the best receptionist is going to have a difficult time overcoming this experience so far, and it promises only to get worse from here on out. I would naturally assume that the receptionist did not create the trash, puddle, hand prints, or put candy remnants on the door, but she was aware of a rambunctious little boy running around the office earlier with candy.

I would like to now focus on each of these three areas, providing you with a far more thorough understanding of what each area represents to consumer services and perhaps provide a few ideas along the way.

Staff:

This is the area that generally (and rightfully so) gets the most attention. It is critical how the staff communicates with the consumer, but also with everyone else. Let's start with the basics…

• Does each member of your staff wear a name tag that is clearly readable from at least 15 feet?
• Does each staff member introduce themselves by name and call the patient and consumers by name when they interact with them - personally and on the phone?
• Do staff members and the doctor explain what they are either doing or going to do and why?
• Do staff members communicate with one another as though they value the relationship and role each plays?
• Are the words please, thank you, and let me help you used frequently with all staff?

I was in a dental office last week where a child was being treated. As I listened carefully to the assistant who was administering to the child, it was clear that this attendant understood, either consciously or unconsciously that she was solely responsible for this child's experience at the dentist. Sure, others will contribute to the experience, but at that moment this assistant and this child were all that mattered. That is extraordinary service. Later at a staff meeting I pointed out how this type of interaction that was so natural between the assistant and child would be a great way to treat all consumers.

Your staff will improve in the areas that they know to do so. There are some areas that are more critical than others, of course, and attention to those would be the best idea. The areas of need should be based on data gathered in a variety of ways, then focused to the real need.

I would also like to establish and emphasize the critical role of the staff in creating a consumer service culture. You see, having one peppy staff member is neither a culture or sufficient to provide a great service experience with your practice. Service must permeate the entire culture. Service must be foremost on the minds of each person who works in the office, and yes, I said foremost.

I believe service to be of greater importance to the experience than the actual dental care provided. Remember, people expect competence. That will not create any kind of lasting memory if done acceptably - or even exceptionally. That is simply what any patient expects when being treated. Beyond the fact that competence is expected is the notion that when extraordinary service is practiced by all staff, it will also lead to higher levels of focus on all aspects of staff performance. Excellence becomes the norm, but the only way that happens is when a culture is created. Extraordinary service then becomes expected by the staff rather than being an occurrence of a staff member.

Process:

Every office that I have worked with has processes that they are drilled to master. How to clean the exam room or prep the operatory for the next patient. How to deal with those who are not able to pay. How to work with the doctor. Each of these is a process in itself, each affects the consumers perception of service.

Let me provide you with another example that I have seen time and again in dental practices. You are the patient sitting in the chair and the doctor is working on a filling in your mouth. She is huddled over your head and you have a clear view of the color of the doctors eyes, mouth, and even what is in her nose. If you are attentive to your peripheral vision you can see the assistant attentively awaiting the next command. You then hear an unseen person ask a question of the doctor that is clearly unrelated to you and the work that you are having done. After a short pause, the doctor without breaking eye contact with your mouth answers the question which has now lead to yet another question or even a conversation. You don't know exactly why, but you sense that your confidence in the work has decreased from when you were the only attention point of the doctor.

How often have you experienced exactly what I just related above? How often have you actually caused what I just explained?

This scenario is very common and reflects a process, not staff. There is no intention on anyone's part to distract or in some way hamper the work of the doctor. In fact, the work of the doctor has not been hindered in any way, however the perception of the consumer has been altered and that is what is really important. It may be something that seemingly insignificant that causes this person never to return to the office.

Think of it this way…You spent $4,300 sending out new patient post cards and you got 30 new patients out of it, and this person in the chair was one of them. That means that this patient cost you $143 dollars to get and they will go away and tell approximately 13 people that your office doesn't pay attention to their patients so their friends and family should find someone else to go to. Ouch!

Process is very important to the consumer experience and must be attended to from a consumer standing. To begin, simply ask the staff if your processes are consumer friendly. From there you will proceed through each process, starting with processes used on the phone all the way through those used to end a patient experience, and each point between. I believe that a even a cursory examination of your processes will discover many areas that are not consumer friendly.

In some research I discovered a wonderful process employed by a hospital that works to provide extraordinary consumer services. It told of the lab in the hospital and a process that they use when a mistake is made. I am certain that most can identify with going to a lab and having blood drawn only to have to return because either an inadequate number of tests were performed on the draw or a mistake was made. In this circumstance at this particular hospital, a lab tech is sent to the home or office of the patient where the blood is then drawn again and tested - all at no additional charge from when the mistake was made. Now, imagine the stories that are told from an experience like this one!

Setting:

You are well aware of the impact of the surroundings on the overall experience you have when you are somewhere. You go to check into a hotel and while walking over the tile in the lobby your feet stick as if you were in a dollar theater. That is an impact moment. You enter the Magic Kingdom at Disneyworld or Disneyland and your eyes are drawn to a person dressed in white diligently sweeping the spilled popcorn as if racing with the birds for what they can each get. That is an impact moment.

For good or bad, the setting will impress you.

You must of course keep the setting clean, that is a given. But beyond clean, it must be consumer friendly. Can you imagine a pediatric office with only People and Sports Illustrated magazines on the shelf? What about the impact moment when you enter a dental office only to be greeted by plate glass that seems 3 inches thick and on the other side of the glass is an equally impressive receptionist - when you can get their attention.

The physical facility should reflect what your practice is all about, and your practice should be all about service. Service should be at the center of everything you do, as well as where you do it.

What about the office that is neat, new, clean, and warmly painted, but is a maze on the inside and when your patients are finished they have to somehow find the cheese contained at the same desk in which they will leave you money.

Look around. Ask. That is how you will begin to identify areas of improvement in setting.

In our process of data collection we ask staff members, patients, and our trained mystery patients what they think of various parts of the setting. You can do the same. You may be surprised at the answers that you will get. You may find that what you thought was such a beautiful office may be beautiful, but does not appeal to your patients.

Remember that the setting is the first part of a new patients experience and will continue to be a lasting portion of what occurs. It clearly is an area that you want to pay attention to.

Now we have been through all three sections of Points of Service in a Dental office. While some may be more important than others, you can not accurately predict who will believe that setting is more important than staff or process more important than setting. If we are dedicated to providing extraordinary consumer services, we must be concerned and take action in all three areas.

Written by: Mr. Travis A Frederickson
travis@creatingchange.com

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