Are your patients receiving the treatment journey they expect?

More and more practices are making the move to become more patient centred – but what does this mean and how can it be achieved? Business of Dentistry Events, part of and run by Practice Plan, will be holding events in March to help you create the perfect patient journey.

Changing your practice to become more patient focused starts by seeing the process through the eyes of the patient and tailoring your service to ensure that they have the best experience possible. It’s a daunting task for many dental professionals, but changing your viewpoint means you’ll be able to communicate better with patients and ensure that they feel comfortable and confident with their treatment.  

Consultant Sheila Scott has been a driving force for recognising patient experience. Working within the dental industry for nearly 25 years, Sheila is one of the speakers at ‘The Perfect Patient Journey’ workshop. Sheila explains: ‘The only thing that really matters to practice success is how patients feel about the practice service. If patients are unhappy, or worse, indifferent about how a practice looks after them, there is no chance of practice growth, success or profit in the future. Everything has to be built around the patient.’

Putting your patients at the core creates a win-win situation where the patients are happy and will return to your practice. They will also tell friends about their positive experiences, bringing more business your way!  

These simple steps could help you get off the ground on your journey to becoming more patient centred:

  • Identify – Go through the patient journey and identify any problems that may arise. Try to think about ways problems can be avoided before they even happen
  • What do you expect? – Manage your patient expectations at every step to ensure they remain up-to-date and happy with their treatment
  • Get personal – While the patient has come to you for dentistry, it is all the little personal touches that will enrich their experience. Get to know them, not just their teeth
  • Engage with them – Make sure that the patient is involved at all stages of the treatment process to ensure that you are providing them with the service and treatment they want
  • Make things enjoyable – This will not just make the patient happier, but will increase motivation across your entire practice team
  • Own up – Mistakes happen, but by facing up to them and managing them properly, honesty can help to increase loyalty from your patients
  • Evaluate and evolve – Ensure that you are constantly evaluating your service and changing things to meet with new challenges
  • Go team! – The whole practice team needs to change their focus. Communication and coordination between all the team is essential to ensure that patients receive the best service throughout their journey.

If you would like practical advice on how your practice can make the move to becoming patient centred, you can join respected consultants Sheila Scott and Michael Bentley as they host ‘The Perfect Patient Journey’ workshops in March. Events are taking place in Heathrow, Southampton, Nottingham and Exeter, with discounts available for Practice Plan members and multiple bookings.

For more information or to book your places, visit www.practiceplan.co.uk/events or call 01691 684135 to speak with a member of the events team.

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