"You Have to..Fix My Tooth!...
...You Have To...Fix It...Now!...And...I'll Have Insurance...In...
...Three Months!"...
“Let Me first Preface
by saying that
I love My Patients
and I am
so Passionate about
Dentally-treating them
that,
when I think about it…
I’d probably do it for Free…
...Well..
..not Quite Free…
...but you know what I mean!
And we,
as Practicing Dentists,
with
Offices to support
and
Financially Profit from,
usually can hum to the frequencies of
our ‘Clinical Personalities!
As we go about performing
the flow
of the productive work,
and things,
for the most part,
we like it when it all
runs smoothly,
with some satisfactory predictability…
However,
in a small number of cases,
a patient or two may
present themselves as
‘obstacles ‘
to achieving an
efficient work pattern.
Now,
I can understand
when Patients
have some
minor complications
every once in a while,
yelling loudly
on the cell phone
in the chair,
but then...
there are others that
are definitely not
‘good fits’
with my Practice Philosophies!
And when things get
too out of hand,
those Patients
are encouraged,
verbally and in writing,
to find their Dentistry elsewhere!
And Show them the Door!
So, yes...there are some people that
I would like to see
leave My Office,
not only sooner or later,
but
Sooner and Sooner Than That!
And dental Offices are
'Smoke-free Zones!'
Some complain about
how they are
wrongly treated by
the Receptionist every visit!...
Others may think that the
World is unfair to them,
so they must
‘Return the Favor!’
And some of them
may actually be ‘too coo-coo
for Coco Puffs!”
And some come up
with all kinds of reasons
for
not
paying on their accounts!
Of course,
Open Hostility
is an
Immediate Disqualifier!...
And some patients say that
everybody is Rude...
when
they are the Problem!
And I have some 'Flabbergasted Colleagues' that
share some of these
Same Issues!
I can understand Disruptors of Technology, but not
Disruptors of my Office Business!...I give them all
referrals to satisfy Legal requirements....
So,
however
the unruly Patients
walk out of the Door,
as long as
they are gone...
...that's all that Matters!
.....
....Other Dentists also
share their thoughts on
the types of Patients that
'deselect themselves'
as clients
of the Practice:
"Look!...I run a very busy practice, and...
I need the people who I treat
to act like
'part of the Family,'
...not... the
'Problem Child
of the Family!'"
"Most of my Practice depends on
'soothing the psyche'
of the Patients...
...not
psycho-
analyzing them!... No matter
how much they
may need it!"
"Now some of my long-term Patients
always ask,
"Does that Procedure
really have to
cost
that much?"
"One time, a Patient who
seemed to doubt my abilities
was offered a choice to
put up with me
or go to the other
Dentist across the hall!...They stayed!"
Another dentist chimes in:
"Some Patients try and ruffle my feathers!...
One of them
told my Hygienist
that her
breath was really toxic! And...she reacted by
leaving for the rest of the day!...
...The same patient tried that
same thing on me,
then...
...I whispered the same
in her ear and
she
just 'lost it!'"
"But...no matter...my Dental Practice
is a dynamic place,
because...
...sometimes I need my patients more than they
need Me!"
When things get a little
'unhinged' in the Dental Setting
many Professionals take
'preventive actions!'