Hygiene Re-care Activation

In response this week to an inquiry about re-care activation scripts, I offer the following short list of suggestions:

Preface: If the right system is in place, a hygienist will know enough about each patient that will be documented in the chart that she will be able to talk to the patient's heart, not just the head. They really don't want to come in and get their teeth cleaned! They do want something that they perceive the cleaning will give them...health, peace of mind, no pain, etc. All of that should have been discovered when the patient came in the first time. If that is not in place, then there are some prerequisites that need to be added to the practice protocol in order for any re-care program to be successful.

Script:

Step 1: If someone from the office calls and has to leave a message, the message simply says: "Mrs. Smith, this is Pam from Dr. Dentist’s office. Dr. Dentist asked me to give you call. Would you please give us a call back at: (Phone #)"

It is important that she says it just that way. The call needs to have its origin with the dentist. Patients will take it more seriously that way.

This accomplishes 2 things:

1. It is HIPAA compliant. You are not disclosing any sensitive information in case anyone else hears the message. (Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but it is a good reason to do it this way.)

2. Most people are going to return a call to the "Doctor" especially if the reason is unknown.

Step 2: Conversation with the patient:

"Mrs. Smith, this is Heather from Dr. Dentist’s office. How are you? Dr. Dentist asked me to give you a call to schedule your necessary dental hygiene appointment and check up. Do you have your calendar handy? Which day of the week, Monday thru Friday (or whatever days your practice is open) are more convenient for you? Are mornings or afternoons better? Great, we have ___ o'clock next ______ available or _____ o'clock on _____ available. Which one of those would work the best?"

A couple of points here on why we do it this way:

1. Again, the call is originating from the highest authority in the office - the doctor. Most people are going to be more respectful of a request that is coming from the highest authority they trust in this area.

2. Assumptive close. Don’t ask them if they want to come in, assume that they will schedule by stating the purpose of your call and then asking if the person has a schedule close by. More people will respond to this than the tentative alternatives to this.

3. If more information is available about the patient, use it during the conversation. For example, if it is a perio maintenance appointment, then a discussion can be had about the importance of staying on track with the regularly scheduled appointments in order to do everything possible to prevent more extensive perio treatment in the future, etc.

4. Always give them a choice, not a chance. At every step in the conversation, choices are going given between alternatives:

“Which day of the week?”

“Would this day or this day work better?”

“Morning or afternoon.”

Those are just some tips that come from a much bigger system. There is as much to learn here as there is about many parts of clinical dentistry. Everyone can benefit from some great training in this and all the other related areas of case acceptance training. It makes a HUGE difference every day when everyone on the team is trained in the best ways to help the patient say “yes!”