Indian Dental Network

We all know that dentistry starts not when patients come in for their first dental visit, but when they call to get information about your practice. This FIRST call is the impression a new patient may have of you, and it’s when most patients ask a few common questions that can be a deciding factor, whether or not they book the appointment with you or not. Do you know what these questions a r e and how to handle this first call and how you and your staff can turn it around so you are in the driver’s seat and get the outcome you want — a booked appointment. “How much does this service cost?”, “Do you take my insurance?”,”What is your consultation charge?” “Can my treatment be done today itself?” are usually one of the most common questions a new patient asks. How these questions are answered can make or break the call. There’s so much more that patients should know about your practice to help them decide if you are a good fit. That’s why building rapport and trust with th...

A new walk-in …yay! What an amazing start to the week. You complete the consultation, talk about the time the treatment will take and move on to the payment of the treatment. Suddenly this polite patient turns into satan’s apprentice and starts screaming at the top of his voice asking for reasons why your treatment charges are so “high”. We spoke to a few dentists and found that these situations are encountered by most of the dental practitioners. One of the few reasons that we found why this kind of behavior was faced by more dental practitioners than medical practitioners. Dentistry was always treated as the stepchild of medicine, in India for ages barbers, blacksmiths and cobblers were the people who used to perform the dental treatment. Whereas for medicinal purposes patients used to visit the local “Vaidya” or “Rishi” who were the people who knew medical plants and treatment. However, dentistry always got the short end of the stick or the respect, which they deserve...

  No dentist likes to lose patients, especially when those patients take your business to competing nearby practice. Patient walkout cannot be prevented altogether, however, there are steps dentists can take to drive their former patients back into your practice and prevent other patients from leaving in the first place. Take feedback before separation If a patient calls your clinic to ask for previ o us treatment records, X rays or otherwise just to inform you of them leaving, instruct your staff to ask whether there’s anything they can do to encourage the patient to stay. The conversation should be empathetic but firm. If the patient is not open to staying, talk to the patient directly, do not be dependent on your staff to reason with the patient. There is a possibility that a staff member might be the reason for your loss. Ask specifically why he or she is leaving. Perhaps the person found the front office staff to be rude, or he or she is dissatisfied with the lon...

Liability is giving people the tools to help them develop as professionals so that they can do their jobs. It’s up to you as the boss to make this happen. Hearing the word “accountability or liability” makes employees nervous. They believe it involves assigning blame or providing excuses. But it doesn’t and it can’t. Playing the blame game doesn’t help anyone. True Liability is giving people the too l s to help them develop as professionals so that they can do their jobs. Unfortunately, most leaders don’t understand how to instill a sense of liability in their teams. But if you want to have a great team, one that runs like a well-oiled machine, liability is key. And it begins with you. Three ways to increase team liability Developing accountability within your team will never happen on its own. You must take the steps to build it in your staff. Follow these strategies for increased team accountability: Consistently check the deadlines Whenever you assign a task, you must gi...

Make her Smile Give out pamphlets for a free dental check up for all the women near your clinic, the ones who come with your flyer can get discounts on the treatment too. This is a good way to gain popularity and new walk-ins. Care for her You can connect with the doctors, hospitals and path labs and give your women patients special discounts on check ups ,blood tests and scans. That way they will be updated with their current health situation and will be thankful for such a caring initiative. Pamper Her You can have a tie up with the nearest or the best salon in town and share discount coupons for the patients who get themselves treated at your clinic.Its a win-win situation as the salon will get new walk-ins and your patients will feel special. Entertain Her Show your cool and fun loving side to your patients. Let this be a surprise,try to bring your patients together and have a get together wherein your patients can network and have just a day of relaxation. Hold Awareness Camps...

How many times has it happened in your practice that a patient in severe pain is persisting on an extraction, he won’t listen, get an X-ray and might even blame you that you want to fill your pockets and nothing else? Even though these allegations are hurtful and pinching in nature, you have to understand the patient psyche behind this. THEY ARE IN IMMENSE PAIN!! Ignorance is Bliss ……Really? Ask any dentist how they feel w h en a patient adamantly gets salvageable teeth extracted. It is more painful for us than them. Patients tend to ignore the dental pain, cover it up with OTC analgesics, making it bad to worse. Then one fine day, a patient enters your office with a dental emergency, swelling the size of an eggplant asking nothing but extraction of that tooth (which in many cases is not the culprit and in most cases can be rescued). In most cases, we can do an emergency access opening, but the remaining ones, they win over with the extraction. No pain…. No Dentist! Some t...