Enroll at Allied Medical School and be prepared to step into your new dental office assistant career with confidence and ease. Allied's Dental Office Assistant Program teaches you patient care, laboratory tasks and office duties - everything you need to succeed in your new role in a dental office. Provide the support dentists and dental hygienists require every day - you'll work alongside them to keep the office running smooth.
Does your state measure up? The Pew Charitable Trusts scored all 50 states and the District of Columbia - using an A-F scale - on how well the states are implementing eight proven policy solutions to ensure dental health and access to care for children.
The categories used to rate each state includes:
- Cost-effective ways to help prevent dental problems
- Medicaid improvements that enable and motivate more dentists to treat disadvantaged children
- New workforce models that expand the number of qualified dental providers
- Gathering data to improve performance
Here are the results:
Only six states earned "A" grades: Connecticut, Iowa, Maryland, New Mexico, Rhode Island and South Carolina. (These states met at least six of the eight policy benchmarks and had policies in place that met or exceeded the national performance standards.)
Nine states received a "B" grade: Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Maine, New Hampshire, Ohio, Texas and Washington.
Twenty states received a "C" grade. (These states met four or fewer of the eight policy benchmarks.)
Six states and the District of Columbia earned a "D" grade: Alabama, Indiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada and Utah.
Nine states earned an "F," meeting only one or two policy benchmarks: Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, New Jersey, Hawaii, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Wyoming.
Note: No state met all eight targets. New Jersey ranked lowest in the nation, meeting only one benchmark. Also, high grades do not mean that all people in the state have access to quality dental care services.
(Source: The Pew Charitable Trusts, 2/23/2010) more>>
Posted by Heather Brunson @ 2:17 PM • 0 comments
According to recent research by dental marketing experts, a whopping seven out of 10 people will, or will not, schedule an appointment with your office based on how they were treated on the phone. Furthermore, in today's global world, the telephone is still considered to be a key communication device and is deemed to be the most important advertising tool in any practice.
Do you measure up? In your dental office, make sure that you are creating the right impression each and every time you answer the telephone. Here's the criteria you can use to evaluate the quality of your office's phone communication:
- How is your phone being answered? Do you have a cheerful attitude? Is your voice clear?
- Do you answer the call in your office and provide the name of the dental practice as well as your name to the caller?
- Does you know how to encourage someone to come into the office?
- Do you have the ability to answer questions regarding financing or insurance? Can you provide the answers that encourage potential patients to come in for an appointment?
- Do you consistently try to convince callers of the benefits of coming to an appointment rather than canceling? Or do you encourage the patient to re-schedule at that time rather than calling back?
Need to make changes to your office's communication procedures? Remember, always be gracious and friendly to anyone that calls your office. You never know how far your courteous manner can go in helping you to retain and attract patients. more>>
Posted by Heather Brunson @ 5:01 PM • 0 comments
One of the most simple and effective ways to build and retain business at your dental office is still the practice of sending handwritten notes to your patients - particularly thank you notes for referrals and acknowledgement for something they have done.
The fact is that your personal correspondence is much more meaningful and appreciated than a generic note. After receiving your personal card or letter, the patient’s initial response is sure to be positive and grateful for your thought and consideration.
Long considered by the top professionals in the field of dentistry as one of the best, time-tested methods for building your dental practice, the writing of personalized notes can be especially effective with your most important patients. Since typewritten messages or e-mails are often looked upon as being impersonal and pre-packaged, they are usually discarded, and definitely do not make the same positive impact on the recipient.
Simply keep a stack of note cards at your desk and send them for:
- Birthdays
- Referrals
- Patients going through a difficult time
- Simple thank you's
- Holidays
You can also send your patients items that you know they have an interest in… maybe a recipe you came across that you know they would like to try or an upcoming event you know they would enjoy attending.
Simply sending a patient a "thinking of you" card from time to time is a nice gesture as well as the acknowledgement of something they themselves or members of their family have achieved – perhaps an item you read in the local paper or heard about. A personal note with your good wishes and congratulations is sure to be well received and create a positive impact on your dental office.
(Source: www.spiritofcaring.com) more>>
Posted by Heather Brunson @ 3:05 PM • 0 comments
