Endodontics Hour

​Endodontic Hour: How Endodontists Improve their Endgame
Want to ensure the financial growth of your endodontic dental office? Patient follow-through can be especially difficult when it comes to endodontic practices. Many patients fear root canal therapy and similar endodontic treatment more than other restorative procedures. In addition, insurance often pays lower percentages for endo treatment compared to basic restorations, and so they can sometimes be cost prohibitive. Unfortunately, if patients come in for an endodontic consultation, but don’t schedule or complete their needed treatment, patient outcomes get worse, and the endodontist loses income. As dedicated specialists in endodontic dental billing, SB Dental Billing Solutions Dental Billing Company cares about improving the lives of patients and endodontists alike, so we’ve put together these three tips for encouraging patient follow-through:

Use Relatable, Positive Language
Your endodontic patients usually won’t be members of the dental profession. Be careful of the language you utilize when explaining treatment. Retrain staff to consider patients their first priority, and emphasize speaking plainly, avoiding technical jargon, and prioritizing patient comfort. Encourage your staff to spend as much time as it takes to work through financial concerns. Use creativity and compassion in financial counseling and emphasize the important health outcomes of their investment.

Get Staff On Board
Patients consider staff like an extension of the dentist, so it’s important to help everyone get on board with your business goals and values. Teach your staff how practitioners can ease patient fears and help patients envision positive results from their treatment. Ensure that everyone is knowledgeable about treatments, side effects, possible complications or risk, and why procedures are needed. Every employee—from hygienist to receptionist—must know how to describe treatment in a clear, accurate and reassuring manner. When everyone on your staff knows what they’re doing, that comes through to patients who will feel confident in your care.

Follow up with patients. 
Proactively contact your patients with treatment plans who haven’t scheduled. This helps the patient understand the importance of the completing care. In addition, it assures them that your endodontic practice is reliable and professional, increasing their trust for your practice. Use open spaces in your schedule as a chance to reach out and follow up on unscheduled procedures. Tell your patients you care about their dental health and invite them to come back in. This has the double positive effect of showing patients that you care while helping to improve your daily production by reducing open chair time.