Use Your Walk-Out Statement As a Marketing Tool By Udell Webb, DDS

Does your walk-out statement read like your insurance form? Do you list services or commodities? If you enter code D1110 on your computer, the printout says, “Adult Prophylaxis.” I’ll give you one dollar for every person in your church who tells you they think “adult prophylaxis” means to clean teeth in a healthy mouth, if you will give me a quarter for everyone who thinks it is a condom. Try it! Before you think I’m being crass, remember–my walk-out statement doesn’t say this, YOURS does. I have experienced much greater acceptance of my cases in the hygiene department since I started selling the benefits of our services such as a “cleaning,” versus a “prophylaxis.” Don’t you think you would too?

Use words patients understand
I gave up my front office, the same year I changed my terminology. No front desk meant that we had a printer in the operatory. We did a code 0110–Initial Exam. The walk-out statement didn’t say that, it said, “Cancer Screening.” One patient, when presented with the walk-out statement, actually read it. She said, “You did a cancer screening!” I said, “Yes, we think it is very important.” She said, “I am the president of the Washington County Cancer Society and I am going to tell all my friends!” And, she did! How many referrals have you received for using the terms “exam or “evaluation”? Tell the people what service you have rendered. They will refer their friends. That is the best marketing tool that exists, period.

What the patient hears
What service do you provide when you do a “prophy?” First, the term means “to prevent.” You now have three choices for a better description than “prophylaxis.” Call it a “healthy-mouth cleaning,” thus differentiating it in the mind of the patient (and the office) from dental therapy for a mouth exhibiting disease. Or, for the more marketing-minded, “Teeth Cleaning–looks better, smells better, feels better.” “Evaluation and prophy”–which people value less and misunderstand, becomes “Oral cancer screen, check the gums, check the bite, check the jaw-joint, check the teeth” and “Teeth Cleaning–looks better, smells better, feels better.” Now, let’s add code D1330-Oral Hygiene Instruction. I can hear the screaming from here. “The insurance company doesn’t pay for code D1330!” Remember, we are not treating the insurance company, we are helping our patients. “The patient won’t pay for it!” How much would you pay for “oral hygiene instruction?” What if you said, “Mrs. Smith, would you like the peace of mind knowing you can control your bad breath? Sherry, my assistant, will show you how, it takes about seven-and-a-half minutes and the fee is $30.” Not only will the patient probably accept it, you’ll have a halitosis profit center in the making that provides a much wanted service. Calculate the amount of money that a patient pays during a six-month period for breath mints and gum to cover the bad breath and make them aware of the amount. If you’ve made a diagnosis, and told the patient how to take care of the problem, you have also covered yourself legally. Where is the basis for a lawsuit for undiagnosed and/or under-treated problems? You have shown the patient his or her problem and shown him or her how to take care of it. In my experience, the patient will pay, and with gratitude.

For instance, there may be a resistance to your prescription for a “crown,” not because of the fee, but because of what is being sold. Patients often think crowns are Chiclets with a black line around them. The only anterior crowns that your patients have seen look bad, so that’s what they perceive as crowns. If the crown looks natural, the onlooker doesn’t know it is a crown “We can make this tooth look like the tooth next to it.” A crown becomes a “tooth-colored restoration. You may want to include the words ‘repair’ or ‘replacement.’

I know from my own personal experience that case acceptance goes way up when you present dentistry in terms that the patient understands and in a way that creates solutions to their problems versus selling commodities.

Before you spend big money on external marketing to attract new patients, why not make some simple changes to your vocabulary. It will be less expensive, and generate increases in case acceptance immediately. There is no value in getting more people through the door if you can’t sell the dentistry when they get there. Change the way you describe your services. In fact, stop trying to sell commodities, provide services and tell the patient they received a service. People will buy health and a better-looking smile with gratitude. How much more money would you make, starting immediately, if you started to market services?

Your Assignment
Maximize your in-office marketing tools. It is much cheaper to increase your residual case acceptance to existing customers, than it is to go after new patients. Don’t let the CDT-3 and insurance codes fool you. You don’t need to talk that way. You don’t have to use that vocabulary for your walk-out statements. The insurance company is not interested in increasing your case acceptance; they would love to decrease them. Use patient-friendly vocabulary. Gain acceptance and recognition from your patients and your practice will prosper.

Dr. Webb is a 1976 graduate of the Baylor College of Dentistry, Dallas, Texas. Del is married and has seven children. Contact Dr. Webb at (877) 628-3366.