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March 24, 2010
Why Patients Lose that "Loving Feeling" (For You)...
Most dental practices can tell you exactly how many new patients they added to their practice. However, ask them how many patients they lost that month and they are left scratching their heads.The truth is, most practices do not know how many of their patients leave each month, and even more disappointing, they don't know why patients leave!
Often the exodus of active patients is slow and subtle. In fact, it really doesn't seem to be causing any real problems for the practice...patients come and go. However, like periodontal disease that is left un-checked and un-treated, a dwindling patient base can easily become a very large and very expensive problem.
The average established practice looses about 10% to 12% of their patient base each year. Newer, less established practices can loose up to 20%. To put it in real terms, a practice with 1,200 active patients can lose about 120 patients per year...that's a lot of patients! Obviously, just to maintain the status quo, you must attract at least as many new patients into your practice as you lose (I'm hearing a loud and unmistakable, "Duh!"). And when you consider that it costs up to six times more to attract a new patient than it does to keep an existing one, your focus and attention needs to be on Patient Retention.
If coins keep falling out of a hole in your pocket, the answer is not to make more money...the answer is to fix the hole!
So why do patients decide to leave a dental practice? Based on a number of surveys, here are some of the top reasons patients give:
- Patients move - not much you can do about this.
- Practices do not LISTEN to patient concerns, needs, or wants - communication skills
- Fees not in-line with patient's perception of value - communication skills
- Dentists do not explain what is going to happen - communication skills
- Offices that are always running late - time management skills
- Insurance Issues - communication skills
- Dentists who try to "strong-arm" treatment - interpersonal skills & communication skills
- A dental practice that is not clean/orderly - housecleaning skills
- A practice where team is not friendly or caring - interpersonal skills
- Offices that don't apologize for errors - interpersonal skills & communication skills
- Practices that are more concerned about their schedule than patients - interpersonal skills
Take another look at this list and you will find that not one reason is related to clinical skills. Not one! And while nearly every dentist I know spends more time and more money on advancing their clinical skills, they often skip the classes on practice management and marketing. Don't get me wrong, improving and developing your technical abilities are important. Understand, however, that they are rarely the reason why patients stay with your practice - they don't "sway the pendulum" much if patients are contemplating leaving your practice. In addition, your clinical skills don't "weigh" that much when chewing-on (pardon the pun) your treatment recommendations. On the other hand, customer service, team building, communications, conflict resolution, and treatment plan presentation courses do impact your results.
And here is some really good news: recognize that the reasons patients give for leaving are "manageable." In other words, these issues can be dealt with by ensuring your team communicates more effectively, listens more intently, and makes it a point to understand your patient's needs, wants, and expectations.
Most dental practices focus a lot of attention (and money) on attracting new patients. Create an ad, send it out, and pray new patients beat your door down to make an appointment. The hope is that acquiring new patients will help "offset" the lose of those who leave. Hope is never a good strategy! Hope only works in Disney movies!
If you are interested in learning more about patient retention and what you and your team can do to maintain a healthy patient count, go to my website and pick up a copy of my book, "Building Your Dream Practice...Some Assembly Required." www.vista-practice.com. You won't be disappointed!
What Impressions do Patients have about You?
In the book Purple Cow, Seth Godin describes what it takes to create "remarkable experiences" with customer service . Seth says, "Cows, after you've seen one, or two, or ten, are boring. A purple cow, though...now that would be something. A purple cow describes something phenomenal, something counterintuitive and exciting and flat out unbelieveable. Every day, consumers come face to face with a lot of boring stuff - a lot of brown cows - but you can bet they won't forget a purple cow. And it's not a marketing function that you can slap on to your practice. A purple cow is inherent. It's built right in, or it's not there. Period."
Where do remarkable experiences come from? How do you transform your practice from a brown cow to a purple cow? Often, it comes from passionate teammates who are making a difference in the lives of their patients. It comes from the dentist who acts in accordance with his or her vision. It comes from asking patients what they expect and then applying focus and attention on exceeding those expectations.
So what about your practice...brown or purple?
Continued Success to you and your Team!
Sincerely,
Art Deden
Vista Practice Management
www.vista-practice.com
If I can be of further service to you, your family, friends or business associates - please let me know. Most of our business comes from referrals; please tell others of our services... DONT KEEP US A SECRET.
