Technique Touchups 2023: Select a Financing Tool That Helps You and Your Patients
Dental Products Report
By Dr. Kathryn Alderman
Many dental practices today face common pain points, but 2 preventable issues have emerged as particularly troublesome. One is the difficulty in hiring, training, and retaining front office staff due to the labor shortage. The other is the inconsistency in presenting treatment plans, which leads to fewer completed plans and to subpar patient experiences.
To address these issues, I recommend creating a consistent, repeatable, and simple operations playbook that outlines processes, policies, and standard operating procedures. Eliminating inconsistency is crucial, as it leads to higher cost of running a business, lower revenue, turnover, burnout, and poor experiences for your team and patients.
A playbook does not have to be a monumental effort. By creating something useful and clear in a short time, you can address these problem areas and expect positive outcomes. Everyone in the front office quickly understands practice priorities, offering consistent experiences regardless of tenure. Bias is eliminated, ensuring every patient receives the same white-glove experience when presented with treatment plans and payment options. Financing is offered to every patient, and not just based on perceived need.
Our practices use Sunbit as the financing tool of choice. Our team knows that virtually every patient can get approved with fair rates and no fees. The process is fast, easy, and puts customers first, aligning with our high standards for patient experience. Sunbit also provides support to our team, with online training courses for new hires and ongoing training and engagement opportunities for existing employees via newsletters, webinars, and contests.
From the moment someone walks into the practice until they leave, your front office team has a significant impact on their experience. A thoughtful, well-designed, and simple playbook gives your team the chance to be successful, reliable, and fair, contributing to the bottom line and making everyone happy. Consistency is the key to success, and eliminating inconsistency will benefit your team and patients.