Dental Tribune UK Edition, September 20-26, 2010, Vol. 4 No. 22

W e know that word-of- mouth referrals will always be your strong- est marketing tool and that pa- tients will only recommend your services to others if they have enjoyed a positive experience at your practice. So my next ques- tion to my clients is: ‘What score would you give yourself for your customer care when one is low and 10 is high?’ I allow a few moments, as they ponder the answer to this question before reminding them that it is only their patients who can provide the answer and that to try and judge it from their own perspective is actually a waste of time. So before I encourage my cli- ents to invest any money in mar- keting their practice, we assess the level of service being deliv- ered to ensure it is consistently excellent. In this way we can en- sure money invested in market- ing provides the best possible re- turn and that the business grows organically through increased Word of Mouth referrals. Step one: benchmarking Therefore, the first step to take before beginning any marketing project is to benchmark the cur- rent level of patient care. There are a variety of ways to do this. Try assessing the first impres- sion new callers have when they contact your practice or ask your patients informally to comment upon your service and care and establish whether there is any as- pect of their experience that could be improved upon. Or you can undertake more structured pa- tient satisfaction surveys – I rec- ommend all these methods are used to assess your service levels. Limitations in practice resources can make it almost impossible to find the time to carry out mystery caller and patient surveys, but I always urge my clients to find the means to carry out this vital benchmarking exercise. The re- sults can often be surprising and provide important business intel- ligence to help you develop your patients’ experience. Step two: develop your pa- tient experience You will need to act upon any are- as which patients have identified for improvement and work with your team to create a consistently excellent experience for each and every patient when they call or visit your practice. Don’t for- get, your patients will not judge you necessarily upon the quality of the dentistry you provide for them – in fact they will take that as a given. They will also judge you on your professionalism, ef- ficiency, warmth and many of the small human gestures that develop rapport and illus- trate the value you place upon them. The surround- ings, facilities, printed mate- rial and in fact anything which patients see and hear or feel will create an impact. A neutral experience Ask yourself a question. When do you begin to judge the quality of the meal you will eat in a restau- rant you have not dined at before? If you think about it, it is before you see, smell or taste your food. Humans are hard wired to absorb the visual and audible en- vironment around them and this together with the interactions we have with other people form Delivering patient experience If you have focused your team on delivering the best possible experi- ence to patients, your business is sure to flourish, says Lesley Bailey September 20-26, 201014 Event Review United Kingdom Edition14 www.thedbg.co.uk For more information and a quote contact the DBG on 0845 00 66 112 Please Note: Errors and omissions excluded. Any prices quoted are subject to VAT. The DBG reserves the right to alter or withdraw any of their services at any time without prior notice. Are you waiting to find out when the Care Quality Commission* inspect your practice? Your compliance with Clinical Governance and Patient Outcomes will be questioned with the introduction of the Care Quality Commission*, HTM 01-05 and the increase in PCT practice inspections. Would you like to know how you would fare when your practice is inspected and have the opportunity to take corrective action? The DBG Clinical Governance Assessment is the all important experience of a practice audit visit rather than the reliance on a self audit which can lead to a false sense of compliance. The assessment is designed to give you reassurance that you have fulfilled your obligations and highlight any potential problems. We will provide help and advice on the latest guidance throughout the visit. • Your premises including access, facilities, security, fire precautions, third parties and business continuity plans. • Information governance including Freedom of Information Act, manual and computerised records, Data Protection and security. • Training, documentation and certificates. • Radiography including IRR99 and IR(ME)R2000 compliance. • Cross infection and decontamination including HTM 01-05 compliance and surgery audits. • Medical emergencies including resuscitation, drugs, equipments and protocols. • Training, documentation and certificates. • Waste disposal and documentation and storage. • Practice policies and written procedures. • Clinical audit and patient outcomes including quality measures. The assessment will take approximately four hours of your Practice Manager’s time depending on the number of surgeries and we will require access to all areas of your practice. A report will be despatched to you confirming the results of our assessment. If you have an inspection imminent then we suggest that you arrange your DBG assessment at least one month before the inspection to allow you time to carry out any recommendations if required. Following the assessment you may wish to have access to the DBG Clinical Governance Package with on-line compliance manuals. The areas the DBG assesses are: Clinical Governance including Patient Quality Measures - Is your practice compliant? Have you addressed all 28 CQC outcomes? ? *England only. 20YEARSYEARS 20 9361 DBG ClinicalGov The probe 338x244.qxd:Layout 1 1/7/10 13:39 Page 1