#842: How (Good) Handoffs Increase Case Acceptance

The Dental A Team Podcast

The right handoff can go such a long way. In this episode, Tiff and Dana break down why handoffs are so important for patients, how handoffs can extend from chairside to checkout, and the best way to know if your practice’s communication with patients and each other is working effectively.

Episode resources:

Reach out to Tiff and Dana

Virtual Consulting

Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast

Become Dental A-Team Platinum!

Review the podcast

Transcript:

The Dental A Team (46:09.582)

Hello everyone. We are back with some actual implementable things because I have my systems girl here. You know, I say it all the time. Dana, thank you for being here. Thank you for being such a rock star with everything you do. Honestly and truly you create so much content for this company. You create so much stuff for your clients on the daily. And a lot of what we put out there is from your brain. So thank you for being here. I truly think you're brilliant and you are such an asset to this company.

You've been all over the place lately. I feel like I we like cross paths. We were almost in the same place at the same time. A couple weeks ago when you were in Florida, you've been to Florida, you've been to Virginia. I don't even know you've had inclement weather. Where have you even been the last couple of weeks? I feel like it's like we're in the world of Carmen Sandiego. That's my daily. Yeah, I know. Where am I now? Let's see. Yeah, there was one week where I was in five states, all four time zones in a week.

So I've been in, let's see, Alabama, Iowa, Indiana, Florida, Virginia, North Carolina.

The Dental A Team (47:19.214)

Yeah, I think that's it. Wow. Yeah, that's a lot. That's like dip travel right there. Yeah. That's insane. March gets crazy, right? I don't know why. March gets wild. Every year for me, March is insane. So weird. Yeah. Well, we crossed paths a few times then because I was, I haven't been to North Carolina yet this year. No, I can't even remember. Yeah, I was. I was North Carolina in March. Yeah.

like this feels so long ago now. So I was in North Carolina, Alabama. Airlines stuck there. But yeah, we were there. Oh, that's right. Oh my gosh, you were stuck there. I should we should have called it. We should have called Jeff Andrew and just gotten you a night. So North Carolina we crossed that we would have crossed like at some point, Indiana and Alabama and I flew out of Florida when I was in Alabama. Yeah. Insane. So thank you for being such a road warrior. We get

such insane results and the feedback from your clients is always just so, so cool to see. And I know you don't go on the road of time because you do a lot of our virtual consulting. We have a ton of virtual clients. So Dana, Dana works one -on -one with most of them. But then we've got our other virtual clients that do kind of that group status that they're loving it. But I know when you are on the road, it's like once a quarter or so, and it's like slam together. So.

Huge, huge thank you for everything you do. I know your clients love it. And the dental team definitely, definitely loves it. So thank you. Now, one piece I know I always work on in practice because it's the best space to see it is that handoff, right? And increasing case acceptance with a good handoff. So Dana, you were on the road recently. I know you got to see a lot of things. One,

how do you feel like the handoff increases case acceptance? What does that look like? And then two, what are some things that you saw while you were on the road recently? Yeah, well, one, I think it's, I want you to recognize I see a lot of times in offices handoffs are done behind the scenes, okay? And the way that a handoff can help increase case acceptance is the patient actually hearing it.

The Dental A Team (49:35.342)

So I think we do a great job of, you know, hey, Dr. Smith, this is what's going on with this patient. This is what they said. This is their chief complaint. This is what we talked about, right? And we do it behind the scenes and you can do that. But where it really helps increase case acceptance is when the patient actually hears it. They're part of that conversation. And where I feel like it helps to build that is it's the trust and the relationship. When I say something and then I hand it off to you and then you back that up.

Right, that builds trust. There is something to be said for like shock dentistry in that like, I'll play the hygienist, right? I'm familiar with that role. And it is a patient just spent 40 minutes with me. And then the doctor comes in and doctor has five minutes. Well, if the doctor comes in and starts saying, you know, you need this treatment, or I see this area of concern, or I see this, and I haven't said anything, right? Well, it not necessarily is on purpose, right? Or that the patient starts to build distressed.

on purpose, but in their mind, right, it's I just spent 40 minutes with in and she didn't say any of that. And so now the doctor comes in and I'm a little bit shocked that there's something going on. And then I started my head to be like, well, do I really need that? Because she didn't see it. And she didn't say anything. Right. And now doctor comes in and I'm a little bit surprised. And I'm starting to doubt. And so when patients feel surprised by things when patients don't actively hear themselves,

it starts to downgrade the trust that we just worked really hard to build. Yeah, yeah, totally agree. I love that. I love that. So you're thinking or speaking on even like chair side handoffs. And I do agree, I think, and I used to do that as an assistant, I'd run back and I'm like, talk to me, these are all the things that you need to know, right? And then we'd walk in together and you'd start talking. But in consulting, I've noticed the same thing. And I think you can do both.

I don't think that we're saying not to do behind the scenes, because oftentimes too, there are some things that need to be said that the patient shouldn't hear, that they need to be prepped on personality or something that was embarrassing that they told you that they don't want to hear again, right? There are things that need to be prepped behind the scenes, but having that conversation and seeing it over the patient solidifies it. So if you're co -diagnosing, right? So you should be talking to the patient and saying like, these are things I'm seeing.

The Dental A Team (51:58.83)

call it doctor knows the doctor is taking a close look at it. While he or she is looking at everything. So you're kind of they call it like pre heating or co diagnosing, you're making sure the patient's warmed up. And then when doc comes in, saying those things again, right. And then they're like, Oh, she didn't forget that must actually, that actually needs to be addressed, right. Then doc's like, Oh, gosh, did you guys talk about that? And the patient's like, Yeah, yeah, she kind of, you know, she'd let me know that this is what it looks like. And now doctors diagnosing it.

And that patient's heard it now three times, at least by the time he gets the diagnosis, right? So one, I think making sure that it's said over the patient is huge. And two, you guys have to think about how many times it takes somebody hearing something before they're ready to believe you, right? We're very skeptical humans, okay? And we are sold at it every corner. I tell a lot of my practices, look at your phone, open up your Instagram, open up your TikTok, like every other thing.

Every other, I feel like every third TikTok I go through is a sale. Like they're trying to sell me with something. And how many times have we heard, um, I bought this off, I bought this from TikTok or because of TikTok, right? So we're constantly being sold to and we're primed to say no. So we have to get over that. We're in the back of our minds when somebody says something, this happened to me. I was in the dentist chair and he's like, Oh, you got, you got something over here. We need to redo these fillings. And I was like, Oh, I don't think I do. I'm a dental consultant. And I was like, I don't think I do. Right.

And then he never said anything to me about it, the high dentist, right? So then I, you know, get my second opinion at a practice that I consult. And he's like, no, you got it. You're missing a piece of the filling here. And I'm like, are you kidding me? That's what it was. Like, I didn't believe this other doctor. And I didn't trust them just because I'm a skeptical human being. And I was like, I think I would know if I needed a filling. No, I wouldn't. I'm not in my mouth. This is a dental consultant. It means nothing.

But I'm a skeptical human being when it comes to things like that. Now you tell me Dana comes on here and tells me I need a new protein powder, a new pair of shoes that I'm going to run in a couple of times. Some new leggings, some new Lulu. She's like, guess what Lulu just came out with? This new scuba jacket that Costco has that's not Lulu, but like it. Guess who's buying all of those things. But you tell me I need a filling. I'm like, a couple hundred dollars. I don't know about that. I think you're lying. No, that's who we are by nature.

The Dental A Team (54:24.238)

So this handoff, right? Hearing it multiple times solidifies the fact that it actually needs to be done. And the patient's like, okay, okay, okay, now I understand. Now I've heard it so much too that I'm comfortable enough to ask questions. I'm comfortable enough to say, how come I didn't notice that? Like, what should I have noticed? Right? What could I have done to prevent this? How can I make sure this doesn't happen again? Now I'm more comfortable.

to ask more questions. So that chair side handoff is huge. And then Dana, I know you train a lot on the chair side, but then after that, you train a lot on making sure that the handoff continues. And we don't have to go into super detail, you guys. There is, we call it NDTR, Next Visit Date Time Retire. It's probably at least one, maybe 16 podcasts that talk about NDTR. So if you go to our website, you go to the podcast spot, or I think you can do it in your iTunes app as well, or whatever it is, the podcast app.

If you search NDTR, guarantee it'll pop up or handoff, all of those will pop up. So we're not going to go super into DTEL because we've done it a million times. But Dana, that handoff for even checkout, right? Support staff to support staff, my dental assistants and hygienists to my front office. I feel like that builds trust in the patient again, because they're hearing it again, you guys. Statistics years ago said they needed to hear it seven times. I think this year I saw a stat that said 13.

I don't think we're ever going to hit 13. Please don't. I don't, I actually don't want you to, but five to seven times, I think it's probably pretty key. So they're hearing it again. But then Dana, I also feel like when I forced those handoffs, right. Or when I was in my dental practice here in town and I forced my hygienist to have that handoff with me and my dental assistants, I felt like my relationship with them increased because I was talking to them so much during the day. I was more comfortable as a team member with my team.

and having more conversations with them on a personal level that increased our relationship. So it wasn't even just helping the patients, helping the patients relationship, but it's helping our relationship. And so Dana, I feel like maybe you agree or disagree or think it's maybe not as important, but I feel like if that relationship between you and I is ramped up because you're constantly talking to me at checkout, our patients experience is more positively impacted.

The Dental A Team (56:47.31)

impacted because our relationship is so tight. So how do you, what do you think about that? And how do you train practices to do something like that? Absolutely 100%. I always use Jeremy, my husband as an example from this during COVID. He had like, pretty bad heart side effects that like were super concerning. He had called cardiologists for an emergency appointment, right on the phone. They're like, Hey, are you having pain? Okay, we'll bring you in for an emergency. So he gets there and he checks in and she's like,

Oh, I see you're here for an emergency. Are you having any pain? And he's like, Yeah, I am. So then the medical assistant comes out and gets him and he's like, Hey, you know, you're here for an emergency. Are you having pain? And he's like, Yep. And he's like, well, rate your pain. So he says, you know, nine, then they're walking back in the person seating and is like, Hey, you know, are you having pain today? And he's like, for the love of everything, like, yes, right. And I remember him turning to me and being like, I don't think I want to be here because these people don't seem like they know what they're doing. And because I do what I do for a living, I'm like,

Well, no, I'm sure that they do, right? Like this person is gone and is a certified cardiologist. These people have degrees. I'm sure that they do. It's just, it feels like no one is talking and no one is on the same page. And 100 % it immediately flipped the trust to be gone. And so I think we have to look at Kandos as continuity of care and patients want to feel like...

Team members are communicating and team members are all on the same page when it comes to their care. And handoffs are the easiest way to form that. And to form that truly, right, we need that communication from team member to team member to make sure that we aren't missing anything, that we aren't dropping the ball, that we have passed on that information and we are treating our patients to the best of our ability because we can communicate.

And so I always use it as an example because I don't think we necessarily catch that breakdown, right? And like, we're all doing our parts and we're asking, right? They were all asking and making sure, you know, we knew he was in pain, but when no one was communicating in the office, his trust instantly fell to the point where he considered walking out of the appointment. Yeah. To his own health, like,

The Dental A Team (59:02.062)

I don't know where to use that, right? Like his health is on the risk, like you guys, this is not being downplayed whatsoever. This was a very scary situation in Dana's life. And for him to be to the point of distrust where he was in a really bad situation, he needed that appointment and he needed multiple appointments, but he needed that appointment for him to be in a space where it was like, I don't feel safe here because I don't trust them. I'd rather go somewhere else. He needed to be somewhere in that moment. He didn't have

He didn't have time to go other places. Like he didn't have that. So for that to have pushed him that far in a space of emergency, think about the spaces where it's not an emergency and patients can casually make that decision, right? When they leave. So I totally agree. I think that's huge. And that is such a good way to frame it and brings it to reality, right? So that trust is huge.

you guys having conversations like you guys being friendly with one another and repeating information talking about the patient with the patient, right? Talking about the patient with the patient there makes a huge difference. So I think those are huge. I think handouts are everywhere. I tell my practices constantly. You have a chair side handoff, you have a checkout handoff for sure. You have a handoff every time someone new is entering.

the space of communication with your patient. If your patient's gonna be working with someone else, if you're a dental assistant and you're assisting and someone else is gonna take over so you can go trim that model, right? So you can go deliver the retainer or the denture that someone else can't do. You should be introducing that assistant as that assistant comes in. Your patients should be aware of what's going on and there should be a handoff every time there's gonna be another support team member having communication.

with that patient, you should be transferring it. And a lot of practices, right, we'll call that the trust transfer or transfer of trust or transfer of care. That's all it is. You guys should make sure that no matter what your patients feel comfortable, confident, secure, and that they trust the situation because they can see that your communication is top notch. A lot of practices are doing things like this. And again, if you're doing the behind the scenes one, do them both. Just move it to in front of the patient too, in a way.

The Dental A Team (01:01:24.174)

right? That's not so rushed or hurried or short or negative sometimes, right? Do it in a way that the patient should hear it. So, careside handoffs in front of the patient, Dana said, and then that checkout handoff to the TC, checkout, filler, whoever's sitting there taking the patient at the end of the appointment, they could have a handoff as well. My biggest action item for these, Dana, I love role play. Do you love role play? Yeah, I love role play with these because we don't always know

what we sound like. And a lot of times, we're like, I do that. I do that already. I hear this constantly. I do that already. Totally. Let's tweak it a little bit. Let's tweak it a little bit. Let's see what we can tweak to get a different result. Role play it, record it, watch it back. Put people in those positions who aren't normally in that position.

so that you can hear how it is, so that they know how it should go, so that everyone knows how to do this. Have a front office person do a chair -side handoff, right? Now they understand you're gonna get more comfortable in your handoff when you're comfortable in someone else's handoff that you're not actually touching. So role play, okay, get it down, role play it, role play it some more, and then role play it again, and make sure you put it in action. Handoffs will increase case acceptance, you guys. When a patient trusts you,

When a patient trusts where they're at, when a patient has heard it multiple times, they are more willing to get the treatment done. They are more willing to say, yeah, you're right, I do need that. I got the treatment done by the second guy who told me because I heard it again. He confirmed it. Had the high dentist said it and the doctor confirmed it, may have been a different situation, I'm not sure. But I had a doctor say it and I was like, I don't know. And then I had a doctor confirm it and I said, yeah, you can do it. Okay? So.

Go do the things, go role play, get your handoffs in check, care side, and that checkout handoff. Let us know how it [e-mail] and go search the podcast. Again, it's NDTR or handoff. It's all in there guys. It's all in there and reach out to us [e-mail]. Let us know how it goes. Let us know if you need more information. If you want the NDTR sheet, I'm sure we can send it over to you. And don't forget to drop us a five -star review. Share some love with Dana. They have.

The Dental A Team (01:03:42.062)

come out on the other side, thankfully, but that story is very true, you guys. It's a very heartfelt situation, and we're just so happy to have both of you here with us, Dana. So thank you, everyone. Good luck. Let us know how it goes. We'll see you next time.