Why don’t people visit the
dentist sooner?
Have you ever wondered why people
don’t visit the dentist sooner? I can
remember being frustrated when patients
came in with an emergency needing acute treatment only to take a history to
hear that they had been having niggles or discomfort for many months and they
had ignored it or overcome the pain using painkillers. Unfortunately, not
seeking treatment at the first sign of a problem, often resulted in treatment
that was more expensive in terms of time and money.
So why do patients put off
treatment? This can be for many reasons,
·
Busy
lives and don’t have time
·
Fear
about what the dentist may say
·
Not
wanting to accept responsibility and unwilling to change unhealthy behaviours
·
Concern
about how much it will cost
·
Not
understanding what the pain means
·
Not
knowing where to find expert help
·
Fear
about what the consequences may be
·
Ability
to find and use quick fix short term remedies to mask the problem.
Curiously this week I have had
two conversations with different business experts, an accountant and debt
management specialist, this week asking me “Why don’t business owners seek help
sooner, it would save them so much time, money and even their business?” They
also commented “If business owners started working with a trained coach, like
you, before or as soon as they noticed there was a problem it would prevent so
many.”
And I think the reasons most
business owners don’t seek the expert help from a business coach are very
similar to why your patients don’t come to you sooner.
·
Busy
lives personally and professionally so think they don’t have the time
·
Fear
about what the coach may uncover
·
Unwillingness
to accept responsibility
·
Unwillingness
maybe due to lack of knowledge of what to change
·
Concern
about the level of investment, required to solve the problems
·
Not
understanding the business of business
·
Not
knowing who to turn to
·
Fearful
about what they may have to do to correct the situation
·
Ability
to find quick fix short term solutions, e.g. overdraft extensions, changing
staff, attracting new clients etc.
From an early age I remember my
grandmother telling me that pain was a good thing, because it meant something
was wrong and that you had an opportunity to put it right and I think that this
applies to business too. The knack is to spot the pain early because it really
causes an problem and costs you a lot more in time, energy and money.
So what are the early signs of
pain in a dental practice or business?
These could include
the following;
ü Drop in income
ü Cheques and payments
bouncing,
ü Overdraft and other
debts increasing
ü You are unhappy and so
are your staff
ü High turnover and high
absence rate of staff
ü Missing your UDA
targets
ü Your partner is
unhappy at the amount of time you spend at work
ü Equipment failure
ü FTA’s late
cancellations and gaps in your appointment
ü Patients declining or
putting off treatment plans
ü Drop of in new
patients
And the signs
and symptoms of a practice and business in more severe problems could include,
ü The bank has withdrawn
your overdraft,
ü You can’t pay your
bills on time
ü High level of sickness
and absenteeism
ü You lose several staff
at the same time,
ü High turnover of the
staff
ü Your PCT cancels your
contract,
ü Your partner leaves
you because they never see you,
ü A vital piece
equipment fails and you can’t work,
ü Your clients and
patients have left you for the competition.
ü Patients quibbling
over fees and treatment plans
ü Spaces in the
appointment book.
ü Patient complaints
ü Broken personal
relationships
ü You become physically
or psychologically sick and can’t work
ü Abuse of or dependence
or on alcohol or drugs
ü Insomnia
ü In extreme cases
suicidal thoughts or action.
ü Any of these sound familiar?
What are the
consequences if your patient puts off seeking treatment for toothache? At best
it is a filling, larger than if it were treated in the first instance and yet
relatively easy to restore, other consequences could be root canal and a crown
or an extraction followed by a bridge or implants; all of which are
significantly more expensive than if the tooth ache were treated early.
What are the
consequences of not seeking professional coaching advice early? At best it is
the same philosophies just more difficult expensive and time consuming to
implement at worst it could be that the business fails and you lose everything.
Which would you choose?
Dentists and
dental team members, like you, do amazing work and so it saddens me when I hear stories about practices with financial problems, insufficient patients and
staff that are not working as a team, principals that are struggling to keep on
top of running the practice and the clinical work, working early mornings,
lunch times, evenings and weekends. Does this sound like you?
My job is to
help you make your good practice great,
Be kind to
yourself, take a look at what is happening in your practice, recognise any
painful experiences for the useful messages they are and enlist the help of a
professional coach ASAP.
To help you
identify the health of your practice, I have create the Brilliant practice
evaluation (BPE)
When you are ready to resolve the pain in your practice or business e mail me on Jane@IODB.co.uk or call me 07989757884 to find out how we can help you with our coaching packages, we have one designed to fit your needs and budget.
