Dos and don'ts for quality control: Ask patients what they think about your practice

In today's more challenging dental market, customer service has become more important than ever. Even if you and your team have worked hard to deliver a WOW patient experience, you need feedback to know if your efforts are paying off -- and where further improvements can be made. You may have an impression of how patients feel about your practice, but you need a more reliable gauge. One way or another, you need to ask the patients themselves.

Create a simple patient questionnaire. Prepare a survey form that patients can fill out quickly at checkout or online, by email, or on your website. Ask for responses about staff friendliness, comfort, amenities, décor, waiting time -- anything that relates to the quality of their visit that day. Use checkboxes but also provide room for comments. Tabulate results for daily review so you can address any issues that come up consistently.

Don't assume that no news is good news. You may think that patients will complain if they're irritated or disappointed in any way. Actually, many people will avoid making negative comments unless they're very upset. You need to ask them how you're doing. Even if you decide against a written survey, at least use front desk scripting to get patient feedback at checkout.

Roger P. Levin, DDS, is the founder and CEO of Levin Group, the leading dental practice consulting firm in North America. For the complete list of dates and locations where you can attend his latest seminar, visit www.levingroup.com/gpseminars.

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