It’s all about the experience.
That’s one of the key messages Dr. Mark Hyman wanted attendees to take away from his morning general session talk “Inspire Before You Expire: Practice Leadership.”
Dr. Hyman gave an energetic, participatory talk about what it takes to be a successful dental practice, from asking the right questions to going that extra step to let a patient know you and your team really care. The first-time talk with new patients about why they left a dental practice, taking the time to buy them a smoothie if they haven’t had breakfast before a procedure and throwing in an occasional freebee are all ways to make your patients happy and your practice more successful.
Through his talk, Dr. Hyman stressed the importance of showing patients what’s going on in their mouths, emphasizing the key role intraoral cameras play in case acceptance. Show them what’s going on at the before, the during and the after stages. The “power of the picture” will help lead to more case acceptance.
Offering two for one whitenings to graduates or patients who are recently engaged, asking patients if they want to know what modern dentistry can do for them and really knowing the type of patient you’re working with—whether it’s a baby boomer, a millennial or a senior citizen—are all things successful dental practices do. Strong leadership, expressing appreciation to everyone on your team and true compassion for your patients also are commonly found in the most successful practices, as is a willingness to change.
“If you go home and do things the way you’ve always done them, you’ve wasted your time and mine,” Dr. Hyman said.
Instead, he encouraged attendees to get fired up, to make the necessary changes to keep their practice learning and growing and their patients happy.
“Change is opportunity,” he said. “Your opportunity to make a decision.”
Leave a Reply