This is part five of my continuing series of articles about how to improve your dental practice. In this article, I discuss ways of developing a patient-centred practice.

1. 18 Practice Management United Kingdom Edition February 27-March 4, 2012
Why improving your practice is a
mystery - part five
Jacqui Goss explains how to develop a patient-centred practice
S
o far in this series I’ve a good impression and, in the Here, I’m continuing with the patient-centred practice. have been around for a while.
written about how poten- last article, some ways of find- last theme by discussing patient Indeed, from April 2010 all PCTs
tial new patient enquir- ing out what patients really consultation groups (PCGs) and In the health service and and SHAs were legally required
ies should be handled, creating think of you and your practice. why they can help you achieve a general medical practices, PCGs to explain how they have acted
upon feedback from patients
and the public – the buzz phrase
being “Real Accountability.”
CQC Outcome 1 (respect-
ing and involving people who
use services…) means it is
now a regulatory requirement
for dental practices to gather
Seeing
feedback from patients (but not
the public).
PCGs are a mechanism for
collecting face-to-face verbal
is believing!
feedback from patients in a cost-
effective, minimally demanding
(for the patients) way which, if
done properly, should generate
accurate and honest feedback.
Don’t think of PCGs as merely
ticking another CQC box – they
can prove vital in helping you
develop your practice.
Okay, so what is a PCG? Es-
sentially, it’s a number of your
patients meeting to discuss you,
Unique three tone your team and your practice.
They are encouraged to con-
plaque disclosing gel sider different aspects of your
service and make positive or
negative comments.
that identifies new,
Clearly, you will need to
mature and acid initiate such a meeting and en-
courage them to continue. Here
are some things to consider.
producing biofilms.
• How many patients should
be in a PCG? I suggest ten at-
tendees (see below) as a man-
ageable number for a meeting
Tri Plaque ID Gel • How do you arrange the first
meeting? Decide on a date, a
time and a location and invite
from GC. patients with a personal letter,
by telephone or when they visit
your practice. Outline the rea-
son for arranging the meeting
an explain that you value their
involvement and feedback
• Who should you invite? You
want a cross-section of patients
IDENTIFY PREVENT
– different ages, gender, ethnic-
ity and social class. You want
Part of GC‘s long-term patients and new
Minimum Intervention program. patients, patients who’ve had
RESTORE RECALL lots of treatment and patients
who’ve had little. They should
GC EUROPE N.V. be patients seen by each mem-
Head Office ber of your clinical team. Some
Tel. +32.16.74.10.00 will be working, some will not.
info@gceurope.com Some will have families, some
http://www.gceurope.com
won’t. Of course, to achieve
GC UNITED KINGDOM Ltd. such a broad cross-section
Tel. +44.1908.218.999 you’d need to invite hundreds of
info@uk.gceurope.com patients. In practice try for the
http://uk.gceurope.com best cross-section you can by
inviting 12 to 15 people – some
dtuk0512_12-21.indd 18 21/02/2012 17:28:13

2. United Kingdom Edition February 27-March 4, 2012 Practice Management 19
will fail to turn up on the night within the PCG needs to be both very open questions of the group that some people in PCGs declare
and you’ll probably have about the • Should they be paid? Advertis- directed and free ranging – an such as: “How could we improve themselves very happy with a
right number of actual attendees ing any form of payment or gift obvious contradiction. The fa- your visits to this practice?” In dental practice. Patient feedback
could be construed as an induce- cilitator needs an idea of the sort my experience the answers are is not always negative and is cer-
• Which days and times are best? ment to attend and might well land of things you want feedback on. often quite small things that are tainly not to be feared. The old
Avoid Fridays and weekends and you in trouble with the GDC. How- Maybe it’s your new appoint- easy overlooked. In one practice retail adage of ‘the customer is al-
dates when there’s a vital football ever, it would be polite to give par- ment booking system, the prac- the first afternoon appointments ways right’ (thought to have been
match or the final of Strictly Come ticipants some form of ‘thank you’ tice website or the range of ser- are at 2pm but the door is kept coined by Harry Gordon Selfridge
Dancing on television. Early even- at the end of the meeting.How vices you offer. You may also wish closed from 1pm to 2pm for lunch in the early 1900s) applies equally
ing, say 7.00 or 7.30pm, is prob- about negotiating some vouchers the facilitator to preview things – so patients arriving early (as to dental practices. Initiate regu-
ably as good a time as any. State a from a suitable local shop? you are considering introducing most do) have to wait outside in the lar PCG meetings (perhaps with
finish time (and stick to it) – about – a practice plan, finance terms, cold and rain. Opening the door at the membership changing a little
one and a half hours is the maxi- As preparation for the first later opening hours and so on. 1.55pm solved this problem. each time), act on the feedback
mum time the meeting should last meeting, you’ll need to liaise and you’ll soon fulfil the ideal of a
with your facilitator. Discussion The facilitator can usefully ask You’ll also be pleased to learn patient-centred practice. DT
• Where should you hold it? In
your practice is both the best and
cheapest option. It’s good for pa-
tients to visit your practice for oth-
er than treatment as it helps lower
any barriers to communication. Ex-Demo CB500-HD
Second choice would be to hire a with 1 year Warranty
private room in a smart local hotel
• Who should run it? Not you! Pa- • HD Flat Panel – superior image quality in both 2D
tients will be most unlikely to ex- and 3D with resolutions from 0.125mm to 0.4mm
press honest opinions if the dental • High-End HD 2D Panoramic – a traditional
principal hosts the meeting. The low-dose 2D OPG using i-PAN™ image capture
same applies to members of staff. technology
Use a facilitator – somebody good
• 8cm scan height – perfect for implant planning
at controlling meetings while
scans
£79,000
involving everybody and with
• Extended Diameter Scan – unique adjustable +VAT
£55,000
some knowledge of dentistry and
your practice. Importantly, even 8cm or 14cm diameter scans
though they will be receiving a • Adjustable scan heights - custom scan
fee and/or expenses, the facilita- heights of 2cm to 8cm +VAT
tor can declare themselves in-
• Fast scan times - 8.9 to 23 seconds 60 Payments of
dependent and assure the group
members of confidentiality • Low Dose - with doses as low as an OPG for £1320 (inc VAT)
standard quality single jaw scans per month
• Should staff attend? This is a
tricky one. On the one hand you
want there to be dialogue and in-
teraction during the meeting so
that issues raised by patients can
be addressed. On the other hand,
you don’t want patients to feel
uneasy at the presence of people
they may be indirectly (or even 2nd Hand i-CAT Next Gen
directly) criticising. Giv- 4 years old, fully maintained unit
en that clinical matters are
not to be discussed, I sug- with Warranty until January 2013
gest your practice manager
and/or patient coordinator • Flat Panel Sensor Technology – superior 3D
and maybe a member of your front image quality
of house team should sit in – with • Large Scan Height and Diameter – scans up
the proviso that they leave the to 13cm in height and 16cm in diameter - perfect for
room if doing so will aid openness craniomaxillofacial scans
• Medium Field of View Scans - reduce the scan height
• What about refreshments? Of-
and width to 8cm x 8cm - perfect for implant scans
fering light refreshments such as
tea, coffee, soft drinks and biscuits • Adjustable scan heights - Custom scan heights of
is a good idea and would certainly 2cm to 13cm
be deemed courteous. Of course, • Fast scan times - 8.9 to 23 seconds
you’ll wish to make sure what you
£109,000 +VAT • Low Dose - measured by SEDENTEXCT to be one of
£75,000
offer is both nutritious and good
for their teeth!
the lowest dose CBCTs in both the maxillofacial and
single jaw categories
About the author
+VAT
A proven manager
of change and
60 Payments of
driver of dramatic £1800 (inc VAT)
business growth,
Jacqui Goss is the per month
managing partner
of Yes!RESULTS.
By using
Yes!RESULTS den-
tal practices see
an increase in treatment plan take-
up, improved patient satisfaction and
more appointments resulting from
general enquiries. Yes!RESULTS turns
good practices into great practices.
Jacqui Goss Partner, Yes!RESULTS www.ctscan.co.uk
Tel: 08456 448066 IDT Dental Products Ltd, Unit GC Westpoint, 36-37 Warple Way, London W3 0RG. Tel. +44 (0)20 8600 3540
Mob: 07795 562617
Email: jacqui@yesresults.co.uk i-CAT is a Trade Mark of Imaging Sciences International LLC
Website: www.yesresults.co.uk
Only one of each available so call now!
Twitter: @Yesresults
www.facebook.com/Yesresults
http://uk.linkedin.com/in/jacquigoss
10203_DT Advert.indd 1 07/01/2012 13:48
dtuk0512_12-21.indd 19 21/02/2012 17:28:20