Three months into 2026 and the Dental A-Team is already clocking how different patient flow is this year. Kiera talks about optimizing your practice for that unique 2026 patient.
Episode resources:
Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast
Schedule a Practice Assessment
Leave us a review
Transcript:
The Dental A Team (00:00)
Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera. And today I hope you're just having the best day. I hope that you're realizing things are so good. Things are amazing. I hope that you are just like on cloud nine. And today I'm really excited because this is a topic that I was like just so jazzed about. Cause I realize our patient flow is something that is different for 2026. Like we have it different. It looks different. And I...
I'm just really excited. So if you're new to the Dental A Team podcast, welcome. I'm super excited to be here with you. I hope that you are just jazzed. And I think that, like I said, this is going to be something that is going to be very fun for you. And I hope that you take it on. I hope that you look at it. I hope that you just get excited to like, Hey, amazing. We're going to be able to like fix our 2026 patient flow. So when I look at this, like 2026 is
very, very, very different than what it was even like when I started the company back in 2016. I think patients in 2026, they're not more difficult. They're just super aware of their time. It's not just enough to be good at clinical excellence. You know how to be really easy to do business with. And if patients feel like energy's off or the vibe's not there, they're going to possibly just leave without saying anything. And so I just wanted to come on today
talk to you about some things that I'm seeing in 2026, things that we're seeing with amazing practices that are doing really, really well to help you all, like let's optimize our patient experience, which I know I've talked so many years about patient experience, but I thought like the patient is different today in 2026, they're more used to everything being online. And I think let's not be foolish. We still sometimes have older patients and we need to make sure that we're not adapting everything and changing, but the new generation of patients are definitely a different breed.
than what we had before, which every generation is different. So looking for this, I just want you guys to really like get excited. Welcome to the podcast. I'm Kiera Dent and our job is to help you guys have thriving practices, possibly impacting the world of dentistry and to truly just like make it to where you guys feel like you get tactical practical tips on the podcast. I love hanging out with you. I wanna remind you, you're doing better than you think you are. And if this podcast has inspired you, touch your life in any way.
please be sure to leave us a review. Those five stars keep us top of mind for everybody. And also pop us in Facebook groups, us, tag us on Instagram. We will comment, we will respond to you and we always appreciate it because that is your subtle way of being able to help us infiltrate the world of dentistry in the greatest way possible. So with that, I just want you guys to know that like, ? this patient experience flow is going to help everything improve. And it's for our production, our case acceptance, our team energy, patient loyalty, all of that. So.
Getting this patient flow, I believe is so important. So I think like really, really, really working on the first 15 minutes of our patient experience because patients are gonna decide about your practice immediately and they're gonna look at Google reviews, they're gonna look at your social media presence and then it's gonna be on how they make the phone call. So what's gonna happen for it? Like how can we optimize this? And I think one thing is how is your like...
hello on the phone. So ? even if we need to record it, listen back to it. I put a mirror always with my front office team members. I want them sitting up straight. I want them smiling really, really big, like almost a cheesy grin. People can feel that energy through it. And then I look at like, how can I make it the easiest, smoothest check-in for them to where when they get to my practice, after I won them over the phone, when they come into the office, they feel different. So how can I make sure my check-in is very fast and personable? How can I make sure there's like minimal paperwork that's like
just annoying, iPads that don't work. My team is prep, so when they come and get the patient from the waiting room, they are concierge luxury without the like high price tag of that. Like I just want people when they come into the practice, I feel like people care a lot more about how they feel. They care about the experience of it. I mean, you guys have TikTokers, YouTubers, Instagram people, like that's the world we live in and they are walking everywhere around you. And so...
we make sure that they're going to want to showcase our practice and feel that way on time, getting seated on time. These are big things. feel like time is people's greatest commodity and feeling like they're important is the second. So when we look at it, I think that as I look at my processes, what can we do to speed up our check-in? What can we do to like make our paperwork that is clunky? Could we review? And I'm not saying like have anything where you're not legal. Like, of course we need to keep our standards there and we want to get our health histories, but
Like for me, when I send new patient paperwork, I ask them to send it back to me 48 hours before their appointment to make sure my team can be prepared. Just think of how nice it is for the patient. Like that's how they confirm their appointments. Totally ripped this off of IVF clinics. They're charging me 25 grand plus. And for me to even schedule my first appointment, my paperwork had to be submitted 48 hours before. Like I could not do it, couldn't schedule. And they just set the tone with me. Like this is how they operate. It was fine. I wasn't annoyed by it. Like, great. I got it right back to them.
And then when I got there, they knew all of my history. They took me right back on time. I just felt like it was such a different experience versus someone who's like having me fill out paperwork in the waiting room. I've gone to others. I went to a psychiatrist the other day and I was like, fill out the paperwork in the waiting room. It's just versus the IVF clinic where it's all online, it's seamless, it's very easy. It's not clunky. They text it right to my phone. I can fill it in. I don't have to print things out. I just think, how can you make it to where when they walk in,
It's the feeling and experience you want them to have. And I also think for a lot of practices, identifying what feelings do we want our patients to have. If you need help, go look at your Google reviews, have ChatGPT help you and say like, are the top five feelings that our patients feel when they come in here? And then look to see, is that what I want them to feel? And if it's not, change it up. Like how I feel when I walk into a spa versus when I walk into a dental office versus when I walk into an amusement park, there are very different feels that they want me to feel. And each of them needs to curate it. So for yourself, how can I do that?
Some practices actually have curated scents. So when you go into the practice, all of their practices smell the same. Some people have coffee bars. ? I just think it's, what do want? Do want them to feel like high end luxury? Do you want them to feel like we are your family practice in the neighborhood? All of it's gonna go into effect on your decor, on your paperwork, on your experience, on how we answer the phone. So really making sure that that's dialed in and that's very solid is going to help a lot. The next thing is going to be...
Well, and a way to like, just put a nice pretty bow on that is ask yourself, like, where do patients slow down when they, when they come to our practice or when they're trying to schedule, that's going to help you figure out where can we maybe optimize that? Is it through phones? Like we could use a phone center. Where is it that patients slow down when they're trying to get here? Are they trying to arrive? And then where as we, as a team, are we slowing down? What's taking us the longest? That's going to help you like, just really optimize this patient experience. The next thing is going to be on like clinical momentum. You guys have heard us talk.
heavy about block scheduling. And I don't just do this for production. I do this for ease and flow of a practice. Like we tell people all the time, a great day for you is a great day for a patient. And they might want the 10 o'clock, but what they really wants to get in and out on time and they want our doctor to do the best work. So we just guide them to the schedule and say like, perfect. So Dr. Mike does crowns at 10 a.m. on Mondays and 2 p.m. on Fridays. Like whatever time you want it to be, but we guide them.
So our schedule is there. I'm not kidding because what this does is doctors are not bouncing between room to room. Hygienic is not waiting on a super long exams. Assistants are trying to like get from room to room and then we're out of materials or we're out of equipment that we can't use because we didn't schedule appropriate. We only have one thing for implants. We've got two implants next door to each other. Patients feel that you might feel like you are a duck on water smooth and you're paddling like crazy underneath, but patients can feel when it's tension and chaotic. So how can we put into place block scheduling?
How can we like utilize assisted hygiene, use our hygienist to help numb our patients? What can we do for exams? Like we are big on hygienists, all have the exact same exams. So when doctors walk in, we just tell them the same thing. We have the same handoffs. We use route slips, different things. We make sure we've got like, when's our doctor the most optimal at different times? So we build a schedule that's like our doctor's most optimal working time. We build SRPs when we're doing new patients. Like it's, how do we get a good flow and rhythm in the practice?
because patients feel that it feels like, wow, I've said it before on the podcast, I'll say it again, people feel perfection. And so how can we make them feel that the practices in sync, that we're flowing, that we're vibing, that we're jiving. And when we found out, a lot of times hygienists are complaining when we work with them and rightfully so, that doctors are taking forever to get to exams. So what we do is we streamline the hygiene appointment, we streamline the hygiene exam. So when doctor comes in, we actually role play these handoffs really clearly.
And then we have it set on the handoff with the doctor and also with the front office team. So that way everybody's getting the information as soon as you get in. We make it very easy for the doctor to connect to the patient, very easy for the hygienist and the patient to be very clear on next steps, and then very clear for the front office of what we're going to need to take for that patient. You better believe it's amazing when we get this dialed in, patients literally walk up to the front desk and they say, hey, Dr. Mike wants to see me back in two weeks for a crowd for an hour and a half. I need to get that scheduled. And you just sit back and like.
this just happen? The answer is yes. And a patient feels so good because they're clear on treatment. They're clear on where they need to go. I think a lot of times when we're looking at treatment and exam times and that people think it's quantity over quality. When it's like you can have a three minute exam and that patient can feel so seen, loved and heard. If we're clear, we're to sync and like everybody's working in a system and a process, they feel it. And doctors are more focused, hygiene's more on time and the team stress drops.
This is what happens. Like we're not adding extra. We're just doing it in a different flow. And so I would just say like, you can look at yesterday and figure out where was it most chaotic. Look back at the last couple of weeks. Where did we get into those traffic jams and what could we do to change this? Could we change up our hygiene exams? So that way every time doctor walks in hygienist, you're all different shades. So we need to like make sure that doctor, when he comes into hygiene room, one, two, three, four, or she, each doctor, that it's at least something similar and consistent because hygienist just like you.
like doctors need to give you the same type of exam, doctors need the same type of handoff no matter which hygienist they're working with. So look at that to see where can we figure that out? Where can we make our clinical momentum even easier with block scheduling, with hygiene exam consistency, with correct handoffs? Patients feel that and they love that. And then the next piece is like, this is tricky of like, what's gonna cause a patient? Like, okay, we figured out how to make it speedy when they come in.
We figured out how to make it more flowing throughout their appointment. Now what's going to happen at the end of our appointment that they're going to remember. And what I found is people don't like to wait. People don't like a lot of follow-ups. People like to have it very like tied with a bow and people want to move on with their life. say every time when people are in the office or thinking about dentistry outside, good luck. It's a free for all. So I think when you look at it, what's going to turn a patient off will be
waiting a long time to get out the building, like they're done, get me out. So how can we streamline our checkout? I sometimes call it like the HOV lane, like that's just fluoride payments. Sometimes we can even put that in the back versus we need to schedule you for a treatment plan and like go through more in depth. So can we have speedy checkouts for easier patients? Easy way to do it. What about like our treatment plan, making sure that handoff is really clear and then our treatment coordinators are super, super, super thorough and it's like, perfect, we schedule you.
We go through your questions, we present clean financials and we make it very easy for scheduling, very easy for financials, very easy for patients to get the treatment done that they want without a lot of headache. I coach a practice of five locations. We do multi, multi, multi millions. I will tell you those treatment coordinators are top, top, top notch. I work with them constantly two times a month and we have this dialed down to where it is so smooth and we close patients and we have been reviewing, we've been doing this for almost six years. And I just want you to know that type of like reps on your checkout process,
A patient experiences like bookends, the beginning and the end or what they're going to remember the middle. It can sometimes make or break, but usually it's the beginning and the end. So what can we do to make it where it's like an amazing, like I left you with a huge warm hug. You felt so loved, so valued, so appreciated, and I send you on your way, but I'm very efficient with that too. It's not taking me like 30 minutes to get there, but I want to make sure you're thorough. So that's going to be, I think convenience is no longer impressive. It's expected. And I think when we realized that like,
We used to think we're going above and beyond when we make it convenient and we have online scheduling and online bill pay. It's expected now. So I think when you ask yourself like, at the end of our appointment, is it easy for our patients to move through? Do they feel like they left our practice with like a warm hug? Is there anything that we could do to make it more convenient for patients that they might be expecting? If you're not taking online payments, online scheduling, you need to update that. Like that's, it's no longer an option anymore. We're not taking checks anymore. We need to have online payments for patient.
And so I think it's a, we're not just competing with other dental practices. We're competing with every other experience. So we're competing with Chick-fil-A, we're competing with Target. We're competing with Amazon. We're competing with anything that people are using day in and day out. Like I love working with Amazon. If I ever have an issue, I just message them and I get my refund and I don't have to worry about it. Like that's great. I'm going to shop with them a lot more versus hotels.com is super annoying to me. And anytime I have an issue, it's never fixed. It's never done. Now back.
prior to 2020, they were amazing. Now they're just junk and I don't want to work with them. Not because they're not great, but because they're just not easy to work with. Airbnb, VRBOs, like airline places. Everyone wants to make it as easy as possible. People get very frustrated. And I don't think we have a culture as rigid or as willing to like, I don't know, like almost plow through the noise like we used to. They want it to be decisions are easy. I felt loved.
I felt welcomed. I felt cared for. I felt like I got the best dental experience ever and I'm going to go on my way. So I think it could be a really great benefit for maybe you guys have a secret shopper, have a family member come through and give feedback on it. Maybe one of you goes through like call and make an appointment. How hard was that? How easy was that? And don't be nice because we're friends. Like we're genuinely wanting to give feedback so we can be the best practice. And how was my appointment? How was me sitting in the chair? How was checkout? How was follow up?
where could we make those just a little bit easier and make it to where we can still be so personable and really connected to our patient, but very efficient and convenient as well. So I think as a quick recap, looking through this of how do I make my bookends? Like what's my like first impression and arrival experience? Then what's our middle, like the clinical momentum and the experience and our handoffs. And then the end is how can I like minimize the lack of convenience, the inconvenience, the taking a long time? we...
separate our patients out and have a different exiting flow? Can we make it to where it's just a simpler process? Can we schedule it in the back more? Thinking of all these areas because it's not about moving faster, it's about being more intentional and making patients just feel like almost like this invisible thread where it was like seamless to go to the dentist and it was fun and it was enjoyable and whatever you want them to feel, helping patients have that. And so when people feel comfortable, when they feel wanted, when they feel seen, when they feel heard,
They actually say yes to treatment more. it's a double win. Not only are they going to like, leave you great star reviews, but they're also going to want to say yes to treatment because they like you. People say yes to people that they like. People say yes to experiences. People want to come back when they enjoy being there. And you have an opportunity because most people don't like the dentist. So even just doing a smidge of this is going to make you stand out. But I really think like, look at your 2026 experience. Look to see where are we maybe not serving the clientele as we had.
Be careful because you can accidentally get outdated very quickly if you're not willing to adapt, but make sure you're adapting to your culture, your experience that you want. Really have that as a clear core value, vision statement, mission statement. Here's how we want patients to feel when they come in. With Dental A Team, we want you to feel like it's easy. We want you to feel like you're loved. We want to make sure it's fun for you. We want to make sure that like, you know, that we're always going to do the right thing. That's Dental A Team. Like I'm not here to create like one off raving fans. I want you to be lifetime.
I want you to like love it. I want you to feel like we just got a review the other day and they said you're one of the greatest parts of our entire team and we're such a value to have you on our team. That's what Dental A Team is. It's because we make it easy. We make it fun. make it where it's like there's like we're your little fairy godmothers. We know where to take you. We know how to drive you. That's what I want in our core values like fun, ease, ownership, do the right thing. Those are all part of it. Grit. You figure it out. That's our culture.
and that's what I people to feel when they work with us. So if we can help you optimize your patient experience, optimize your practice, just be a, sometimes even having an outside, like literally I was paid a ton to go into an office and just fix their exit flow. That was their number one pain point that they didn't know they had. I watched it and I saw it, we fixed it. Case acceptance radically went up, patient experience radically went up, reviews radically went up. Small, simple things because you don't know what you don't know. You also can't see because you live there. So.
I'd love to help you out. team would love to help you reach out. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. Go to our website, TheDentalATeam.com book a call. I'd love to work with you. And as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.