Treatment Plans Presented Wisely

    My boss frequently hands me something to read.  Sometimes it's a journal article, sometimes it's the entire journal, and sometimes it's a book that he enjoyed and thinks I'll find interesting.  He's always right and since he knows I'm an avid reader, he realizes that it's no imposition on me to be asked to read anything.  Since I only achieved one year of dental assisting school after high school, I consider myself to be earning my degree at the University of Linda Z.  All professors welcome, but the pay stinks. 

    The book I'm reading now is titled Words That Work - It's Not What You Say, It's What People Hear by Dr. Frank Luntz.  I am really enjoying this book, but I just read a sentence that made me sit up and think, "Hey, that's what anyone who is presenting treatment plans to patients needs to think about."  Here is the sentence: "Education must precede motivation, and even information."  Actually, I got so excited by that sentence (yes, I know I'm a geek, but geeks are generally pretty happy) I didn't read the rest of the paragraph which is equally relevant to us so here it is:  "This may be painfully obvious to read, and it is certainly painful to witness when it isn't practiced, but your audience needs to know the basic generalities before you can motivate them to respond to the specifics.  You can't short-circuit the communication process.  And to be a good teacher, you have to know from where the pupil is starting.  As my boss, Jeff Price says, "Meet them where they are."
    So, if you're wondering why you aren't getting anywhere with your treatment plan presentations, maybe you just aren't educating your patients first so that they can desire what you are offering.  Many times when I'm presenting a treatment plan a patient will drop into the chair and say, "Give me the bad news.  What's this going to cost me?"  When I first started doing this I would sheepishly slide the treatment plan to them and wait for the cry of anguish.  I would then, somewhat feebly try to start educating them.  I had it backwards and yes, it was painful.  Little by little I learned that I could control the pace of the presentation and the order of it.  After all, I had all the information.  I did this by putting together a folder with the patient's x-ray, review of findings, their dental chart and information sheets with pictures and diagrams of the treatment options I'd be presenting.  I would then respond to the above statement by saying, "Here, I've prepared some things that will show you what conditions are present in your mouth and what we can do to help you.  We will talk about the fees once we have looked at this information."  I then proceed to tell them what is in good condition in their mouth and what needs work.  Then I tell them what we can do to help and finally I present the fees.  If they say they can't afford something even though they desire the treatment, I try to find ways to phase their treatment or payment options for them.  Once they realize that I put some time and effort into the presentation, most patients are interested in seeing what I've come up with.  Once educated, they may still grumble about the fee, but they understand what they'll be getting and how much work goes into it.  Presenting a treatment plan wisely is worth the effort and is more likely to be accepted by the patient.