Focus: The dental treatment co-ordinator

Everyone talks about meeting and exceeding customers’ expectations yet it is rarely achieved. Despite it being inexpensive to implement and requiring only the most basic of approaches, it is rarely well executed in practice in this country.

However achieving true customer satisfaction probably generates the greatest return of any sales or marketing activity a practice can undertake.

To address this yawning gap, Lina Craven of Dynamic Perceptions is staging a series of two-day workshops this autumn aimed at the entire team.

During the course, participants will learn how to create and deliver the kind of culture, processes and practices that underpin an effective new patient process and truly utilise the role of treatment co-ordinators.

Lina Craven set up Dynamic Perceptions after arriving from the USA, where the role of treatment co-ordinator is highly valued, to find that no such function existed in UK practices.

She set about educating dental professions about the benefits of improving the efficiency and profitability of the practice by training members of the team to become treatment co-ordinators.

As a result the practices saw an upswing in case acceptance ratios and a marked improvement in patient satisfaction and recommendations. 

One such practice was Teeth in Line Orthodontics.

After inviting Lina to conduct an in-house training workshop, orthodontist Mark Tobin csaid: ‘Lina introduced the concept of treatment co-ordinator to my practices two years ago.

‘It has been without exception the single most important and influential change we have made since setting up 10 years ago.

‘We now have two fulltime treatment co-ordinators and I do not know how we managed without them, the answer is that we really didn’t manage the patient journey very well at all.

‘The systems that Lina introduced have essentially paid for themselves as the uptake in private treatments has gone up by a third, whilst at the same time providing patients with a better overall experience. My only regret is that we didn’t make the changes earlier.’

The two-day workshops Lina is running are designed for practices looking for ways to maximise the effectiveness of their team and keen to introduce the role of treatment co-ordinator.

They are equally applicable for anyone new the role looking for ways to fully embrace their new function.

There are three parts to the workshop and in the first, delegates will learn about the function and benefits of a treatment co-ordinator; those best suited to the job and their roles and responsibilities.

Phase two addresses the customer and sets out to explore what the ‘new’ dental patients of today expect; how to meet and exceed their expectations; to understanding the true nature of the products and services practices provide and the role of the entire team in the new patient process.

Stage three tackles the business approach needed by the dental practitioner and treatment co-ordinator from the verbal skills needed to provide a powerful case presentation; the techniques that break down barriers before and after case presentations; how to create a winning ‘patient journey; how to use technology for enhanced case presentations and finally how to schedule the treatment co-ordinator into the practice appointment diary for maximum benefit.

Dr Dai Roberts-Harry said: ‘Competition in the dental practice market is now more ferocious than ever. With the additional burden of the economic downturn it is vital to focus on customer care and support.

‘Four of my staff, have been through Lina’s excellent treatment co-ordinator programme which has worked wonders for my practice.

‘They are now much more at ease dealing with patients and confident in handling tricky interpersonal situations particularly where finance is involved. This makes my life less stressful and enhances their role in the practice, making them feel an integrated part of the team.  I thoroughly recommend this programme to all my dental colleagues.’

Delegates will be able to earn 10 hours of verifiable CPD over the two days of the workshop which are taking place in the autumn:
• Orthodontic practices: September 1 and 2 – Hotel Du Vin, Henley on Thames 
• Orthodontic practices: Septemer 8 and 9  – Stormont Hotel, Belfast
• Dental practices: October 14 and 15 – Hotel Du Vin, Henley on Thames

As places are limited and with entire teams attending, reserving a place early, before the summer break is strongly recommended.

For more information, Dynamic Perceptions can be contacted on 01296 748692 or [email protected].

Favorite
Get the most out of your membership by subscribing to Dentistry CPD
  • Access 600+ hours of verified CPD courses
  • Includes all GDC recommended topics
  • Powerful CPD tracking tools included
Register for webinar
Share
Add to calendar