Emily Bovaird On Building A Strong Patient Experience
Today, Emily talks about the importance of asking questions and avoiding surprises. She shares what to expect as a new patient at Longworth Dental, where they strive to know YOU before getting to know your teeth.
A new client experience is that first impression of who we are and what we’re here for. This experience starts the moment you call our office. My hope is that everyone has a smooth experience from the moment you get off the phone to the moment you leave your appointment.
The first thing we do is greet you and ask you some questions to get to know you. We let you know what is going on in our office, our policies, and what to expect when you arrive. We always try to provide financial information ahead of time to avoid financial surprises. We typically ask you about your expectations so we can make sure to meet them.
We want to meet your expectations. Every. Single. Time.
We try to call again a couple days before your appointment to get to know you better and help our doctors better prepare for the appointment itself. We ask if you’re nervous and what your dental goals are. We want to make sure we have everything ready for when you come into your first visit.
We want to know what type of learner you are. We want to know if you want to know all the details or just be given option 1 and option 2. Do you want visuals? Do you want to see models? We want to be ready for you.
When you come into the office, you are greeted by two wonderful team members, Laura and myself, who will happily take you into our treatment coordinating room where we go over all of your medical history and concerns. We also check to make sure we have insurance information to make that process smooth. We know that can be stressful for clients. We like to submit your insurance for you. We are good at that part.
We provide a tour of the office and you can see the opeatories, the sterilisation centre and x-ray room. Then, we will introduce you to the assistant who will take some photos and x-rays. Following this, the doctor will come in to get to know you as well.
We get to know you. Then, we get to know your teeth.
During the diagnostic process, the administrator comes back into the room so there are no miscommunications and everyone is on the same page. This makes the process very smooth for you. There’s no lost information.
When you leave, you will see the administrator again and they will answer any questions, concerns. They will accept feedback and they are there to listen and provide any treatment information. If you want to know more about a certain procedure or about our team, or you want to book your next appointment, that’s what we’re here for.
There are no surprises! We leave you with a good—a straw or mug—little appreciation gift. We hope you leave with your next appointment scheduled and we look forward to seeing you again soon!