BACK TALK SYSTEMS, INC. 14998 W. 6th Avenue, Suite E-500 Golden, CO USA 80904-5025 USA 1/800/937-3113 CANADA 1/800/461-0100 UNITED KINGDOM 44(0)1202-534-986 AUSTRALIA 1/800-800-963 www.backtalksystems.com Team Tip #55 REACTIVATIONS (PART III) by Susan Hoy There is no way we can keep all of our patients, but if we always endeavor to give them quality care and service, even the patient who discontinues care, they may actually become good will ambassadors and refer others to us. While we all should be concerned about our bottom line, because if we can't stay in business, we can't help our patients, our motives should be about service, not money. I believe there is nothing more effective than a telephone call to the patient and, if handled properly, those calls should reap abundant rewards for your practice. If I contact ten patients, I usually am successful in getting at least five of them to schedule an appointment. A relatively new CA helped her chiropractor reactivate many patients who had dropped out of care. She noticed that their inactive files were full and overflowing. She couldn't understand why so many patients had dropped out of care. She believed her doctor was an excellent chiropractor and gave wonderful care to his patients. She began calling the inactive patients, making a few calls each day. Her script went something like this: "Hi, Mrs. Jones, my name is Tiffany. I'm calling from Dr. __________'s office. I've only been working with Dr.______ for a few weeks, but I noticed that you dropped out of care before your treatment plan was completed. I believe that Dr. is an excellent chiropractor, so I was wondering if there was some particular problem with our service or if there was some other reason you did not complete your care." Some of the patients cited standard reasons for dropping out, but the majority of them were honest about their lack of follow through. It seems the previous CA was extremely rude, negative, and difficult to deal with and they just chose not to continue care. I have said many times, a negative staff member will have devastating results on a practice and should not be tolerated. It is better to have no staff at all, than have a staff who is disinterested, rude and uncaring. Tiffany went on to explain that the negative CA was no longer employed and that she would make sure that she would receive proper service from now on. Tiffany was able to reactivate a large number of the patients she contacted. The reason was that she called from pure concern for the patients and her chiropractor. Here are some additional reasons to contact a patient by telephone: 1. Personally take the time to thank patients for their referrals. I believe the chiropractor should do this, however, this can be accomplished effectively by a staff member if the referring patient is an active one. But, never miss the opportunity to speak with a inactive referring patient! It is always gratifying to me when we receive a referral from a patient we haven't seen for a year or more. Even more amazing is receiving a referral from someone we have never heard of! When this happens, get the name and the phone number of the referring person from the patient who was referred, and without fail, the chiropractor should make a call thanking the referrer. This will result in future referrals and possibly a new patient. Script for an active patient: "Hello, Mrs. Thomas, Dr._________ asked me to call to thank you for sending our new patient, Mary Jones to our office. He just wanted me to tell you that he will take good care of her and that he sincerely appreciates your confidence." And, if the referral person is an inactive patient and the staff is making the call: "Hello, Mrs. Thomas, this is Susan from Dr. _______'s office. He asked me to call you to thank you for sending our new patient, Mary Jones, to our office, and to tell you that he will take good care of her and that he sincerely appreciates your confidence. He also asks how you are doing. He said to tell you that if you can come in within the next week, the adjustment will be complementary in appreciation for your referral. Would you like to set that up now?" 2. Contact patients who are inactive and are listed under an insurance program that you are now accepting: "Hello, Mrs. Smith. This is Susan from Dr. _______'s office. He asked me to contact you. We are now accepting XYZ insurance and you are listed under that insurance program. If you're still covered by that company, you would only be responsible for a $10 co-payment if you resumed care in our office. Do you still subscribe to that program? If the patient says yes, say, "Would you like to resume care at this time?" If the patient is not interested, say, "That's fine. We just want you to know in case you were in need of care and didn't realize that we are now participating in your insurance plan. May I verify your address and phone number so we can include you on our informational mailings? Make sure you verify home address, home phone, and work phone to update records. 3. Contact the patient when mail is returned to your office due to an incorrect patient address. In this case, it would be best to contact the patient at work because the home number is probably incorrect: "Hello, Mr. Jones. This is Susan from Dr. _______'s office. We recently had mail returned to our office and we like to keep our records up to date. Have you moved recently? After updating with the correct information say, "I know that Dr. ________ is going to ask me how you're doing. Is there anything you want me to tell him, with regard to your health, or anything else you want to pass along to him? Do you mind if we keep you on our mailing list?" 4. Contact patients when something special is happening in your office, such as a patient appreciation day, family day, or special new patient incentives. Often this works better than sending flyers out. The personal, enthusiastic phone call may bring the patient back into the office as a patient: "Hello, Mr. Jones. This is Susan from Dr. _______'s office. Dr.________ asked me to contact you personally to let you know about a special program we are having in our office. She thought you might be interested in participating". 5. If some of your patients had purchased an orthotic device previously, it is a good idea to contact them to have the orthotic re- evaluated for wear. Invite them to stop by the office (at no charge) so your doctor can do the evaluation. This would be a good time to let them know that you are having a special, to buy one pair, and get the other at half price from the orthotic company. Make sure the patients are aware that this special will expire and that they will need to come in as soon as possible for it to be in effect. Whatever the reason for the telephone call, be sure to ask patients how they are feeling. If they are not doing well, ask if they would like to speak to the doctor. Make sure you write all pertinent information into the patient's file and communicate that information to the doctor. Make a note in the file that you spoke with the patient and any conversation you had. Be sure to date (including year) and initial all notes. That way, when someone finds the need to call again, they will have information on your call (this may be done on the computer if your software allows room for notes). Always ask if you have the correct address and telephone number and if their insurance has changed. Ask if the patient would like to be included in your reminder service, and, if the patient indicates that he or she needs to come in, get the appointment in the book right away. If the patient is not ready to schedule at this time, ask him if he would mind if you call him back in a few days as a reminder. Note: If a patient indicates that he or she has changed to another chiropractor, it would indicate some sort of dissatisfaction with the office. Ask your doctor to write a letter to the patient and include a survey form. Following is a sample of the letter: Dear Mrs. Jones: Susan has indicated that you have decided to seek help from another chiropractor. I sincerely appreciate and respect your honesty! I am enclosing a patient survey form with a self addressed stamped envelope if you wish to communicate either satisfaction or dissatisfaction with our office. Your opinion is important to us and we want to give our patients the best possible care and service. This will help us pinpoint areas needing improvement so that we can provide quality care. I hope you will take the time to complete it. My staff and I enjoyed having you as a patient. While I respect your decision to try another doctor, I want you to know that you will be welcome to resume care at any time. In the meantime, if I can be of assistance in any way, please feel free to contact me. Sincerely, Realistically, there is no way you can keep all of your patients, but if you always endeavor to give them quality care and service, even the patient who discontinues care may actually become a good will ambassador and refer others to you. Always let patients know that they are welcome to come back at any time. TEN COMMANDMENTS OF KEEPING PATIENTS I have a very dear 87- year- old aunt who has been following my career. Whenever she reads something she thinks I can use in my seminars or newsletter, she writes it down word for word and sends it to me. The other day I received about 25 handwritten pages of inspirational "stuff" from her. I decided that if she can take the time to write it down, I can certainly use it. So here it is, I'll call it Wisdom From "Aunt Anna" Following is some very useful information we all can benefit from with regard to keeping our patients: The patient is the most important person in our office. The patient is not dependent upon us...we are dependent on him. The patient is not an interruption of our work. He IS our work. The patient does us a favor when he calls... we are not doing him a favor. The patient is part of our business, not an outsider. The patient is not a cold statistic, but is a flesh and blood human being with feelings and emotions. The patient is not someone to argue or match wits with. The patient is deserving of the most courteous and attentive treatment we can give. The patient is the lifeblood of this and every other business. The patient is someone who is depending on our help and kindness. Remember...life is about people! You may order our new TEAM TRAINING AND PRACTICE MANAGEMENT MANUAL package, from which this article is taken, by calling 800/937-3113 today.