While our team has a goal to hit for new patients, it is important that we make these first visits count. Since there is a negative connection with most patients and the dentist, it is our goal to make them feel at ease in our office. The patient experience coordinator is in charge of some of the office’s processes but we want them to be a live connection to the patients and the reason they feel better about going into a suite. The patient experience coordinator will go over the expectations on
How to:
It’s important to follow all of the check in steps when a patient is checking in for an appointment.
- Greet patient:
- Using a kind, friendly tone, welcome the patient to our practice. If it is their first time at our office, welcome them to our practice. If it is a returning patient, welcome them back and tell them it’s nice to see them again. You are always welcome to strike up a quick conversation with a patient. Noticing their nail polish, sports jersey, or a book they are reading are just a few examples of quick topics you can mention to start off the patient’s appointment with a warm level of comfort.
- Ask for dental insurance card & ID (scan into images)
- We need to have a patient’s insurance card on file for insurance purposes. It allows us to have the correct number to call for insurance questions, the address of where to send claims, and the patient’s name confirming their active insurance. There are occasions where insurances do not provide an insurance card and if that is the case, it is okay to not scan one in. If a patient did not bring their card with them when they come into the office, you can ask them to text or email a picture of the front and back of their card to our office number flex.
- Check for NP forms/HHS forms
- When you open Flex, you can have today’s scheduled patients pulled up on the browser. Patients will have notes that are on their appointment, an image of a cake if their birthday falls this month, etc. When checking a patient in, you should be looking for the blue forms symbol. This is an indication that the patient needs to fill out either a Health History Form (returning patients) or New Patient Paperwork (new patients). Health history forms must be updated every year. If a patient mentions they have already filled it out, you can let them know that this is just an update to their information and they can make any necessary changes. If they say there are no changes, let them know that the information is the same, but they still need to fill out the paperwork signing off that nothing has changed.
- Sleep consent forms
- The only consent form the Business Team is in charge of making sure the patient fills out is the sleeping and breathing consent form. These forms are only for children. When a child is on the schedule, make sure you check on flex to see if they have a consent form to fill out. Always have the parent fill out the health history first (if they need it), and then the consent form. After the health history is filled out, you can call the patient to the clinical team. The parent is allowed to finish the consent form in a suite. The children only have 30 minute appointments, so it is important not to hold up the clinical team.
- If patient has balance on account, let them know
- Our insurance and front office team work very hard on claims and billing. There are occasions where there is a balance on a patient’s account that would be the patient’s responsibility. If this is the case, it will be noted in their family financial notes in the account section of their patient chart in Open Dental. The financial note should indicate whether the balance is accurate or not. If the balance is noted as accurate, you should let the patient know about the balance at check in. The note should indicate the amount and the reason for the balance, so when you are explaining it to the patient, you can let them know why the balance is on their account. You can let the patient know that they can take care of that at the end of their appointment and that we just wanted to make them aware prior to their appointment with us. If the patient insists on paying it then, that is fine. You can walk the patient to the check out desk and take their payment.
- New Patient Tour
- At Mint Hill Smiles, we provide a tour of the office to every new patient. This allows the patient to learn the space and get familiar with their dental office. Many people are afraid of the dentist, so showing them around allows them to feel more comfortable. Another reason we give patients tours is so they can form a connection to the practice or the doctors specifically. The Business Team provides the patient with a full tour of the office, front and clinical areas.
- Patient pictures
- At the end of the new patient front tour, you should take a picture of the patient in front of the moss wall. This is a kind of profile picture for our system. This helps us in the future welcome them since we will know who they are when they walk in.
- Routing Slips
- Every new patient has a routing slip that goes with them during their appointment. The Business Team member begins the slip and then the clinical team member taking the patient to the back will take it and continue to add to it until the end of the appointment. The goal to the routing slip is to gather personal information from the patient to ensure that we get all of the best ways to help and communicate with them. It is kind of like asking them what their Kolbe is without them taking the test. That way, we can help them understand and schedule treatment they need to have a bright, healthy smile.
- Treatment Plan
- One of the many great things we have at our office is communication for estimates and balances. Every time a patient comes into the office and we estimate their is an out of pocket investment, we make sure that they know and understand. This is one of the ways we train our patients that they need to pay out of pocket investments at time of service.
