Improved Patient Experience Starts With The Dental Office Receptionist
Your Dental Office Receptionist Make a Lasting First Impression
First impressions are important. When patients are walking into the waiting room, have that area reflect the practice’s attitude toward overall patient comfort. It should be clean, calm, and relaxing.
This also reflects on the receptionist’s appearance. To establish a lasting and professional impression, receptionists should dress neat and clean, providing patients with a warm and welcoming smile.
Calming a Patient’s Worries Over the Phone: What your dental office receptionist should know
- Nerves don’t start when the patient arrives.
- Patients often worry about going to the dentist before they even pick up the phone to make an appointment.
- The telephone interactions are important in dental patient experience and decisive if the patient will keep the appoint or no-show later.
To help patients feel comfortable about talking about their dental problems, phone etiquette is important. The greeting should be clear, concise, and friendly. Ideally, phones should be answered away from the front desk to allow the receptionist to focus on the present patient.
Being Friendly to Patients and Other Staff Members
Patients in the office should be welcomed with:
- Positive interaction
- Eye contact
- Nice smile to build client relationships and trust.
Patients who trust their receptionists feel at ease and are more likely to enjoy their check-ups and look forward to returning. Receptionist relationships amongst themselves should also be clear and have consistent systems to ensure positive patient experiences that lead to cooperative and collaborative relationships. Another important key to improving dental patient experience is how the staff and receptionists communicate with each other.
Speaking Properly to Patients
Receptionists tend not to use “medical terms” with patients who have questions or are just receiving information from the clinical team.
As such, receptionists should understand the information given to the patient by the clinical team and reinforce that information. It’s easier for the patient to understand and is also beneficial in creating client relationships, trust, and the right impressions.
The importance of improving dental patient experience is crucial for first-time patients. Still, it is also very significant in improving that experience with patients who have had bad interactions in the past with other dentists or with patients who fear being at a dentist’s office.
Whatever the dismay might be, it is essential to keep the same amount of awareness and care for each patient and continue to work towards a greater dental patient experience.
About NGT Academy
We are one of the very few turnkey-Learning Management System providers that specializes in the dental industry. Currently, with a library of more than 30 courses created for dental teams, our eLearning platform is easy to use. Simultaneously, eLearning typically costs at least 30% less than conventional training, making for a truly efficient solution for your dental organization.
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