If you have a 98 percent collection rate, there is no question you are doing a lot of things right when it comes to ensuring patients are complete with payment. But have you found out what happened with those who weren't complete? If you're serious about growing and improving, they hold the secret to what you have to do. The 98 percent is great, but the lessons lie in that 2 percent.
This applies to just about everything that goes on in a dental practice; it's the variances that reveal the opportunities. The patients who are unwilling to pay, don't show up, and don't accept routine treatment shouldn't just be written off as nuisances. In their own way, these patients have great value because they provide clues to what you can do differently.
The same applies for variances above standard, such as the patient who asks for more treatment than you presented. In an environment driven by systems like a dental practice, any variance you spot should be cause for reflection. These are clues and they should generate questions:
- What happened that shouldn't have?
- What didn't happen that should have?
- What solutions did we arrive at?
And the most important question:
- Is there a lesson here we can apply to future situations?
See if you can spot the variances in patient behaviors today as they occur. Once you start noticing them, you're halfway toward finding a solution.