Streamline the Health-Based New Patient Appointment

I want to walk you through a Total Care Dental Physical appointment at our office to give you a peek into how this can work, during a busy day at your office!

1. New Patient phone call – the goal of this call is always to get the patient scheduled – it’s not to teach them about everything they ask questions about!  If your team says the new patient phone call takes too long, they are answering too many questions!!.  The answer to all clinical questions on this phone call is “That’s a great question!  I’ll make sure Dr. _______ answers that at your appointment!”
2. Diagnostics – these are completed by a dental assistant.
3. Intraoral findings – these are also all completed by a dental assistant.  If you have a hygienist available to perio chart, that is a bonus!
4. Interview – this is completed by the team member that will be helping you with the treatment plan.
5. Comprehensive exam – this is when you enter!  Have your team member read off the interview information and all the intraoral findings.  Verify the findings, then add the treatment plan (teeth, gums, joints).  Don’t explain anything yet – that comes next and slows you down at this point.
6. Co-diagnosis – go through all the findings, including the CT scan, with the patient.  This is the time to share and have the patient help diagnose and create a plan.  Reinforce the oral-systemic connection. Create a treatment plan and tell the patient how glad you are that they came.  Plan for 10-15 minutes.
7. Finances and Scheduling – This is also handled by your team member and you are helping another patient by now.