[Spotlight] Designing the Perfect Patient Experience (and Making It Profitable)

What if the way you handle your most anxious patients could become the foundation of your entire practice?

In this spotlight episode of Just4Dentists, Dr Ruth Baidoo shares a key moment from her conversation with Dr Celia Burns, founder of Nothing But the Tooth.

In this clip, Celia walks through exactly how her practice works from the very first contact with a nervous patient, including:

• Why she takes new patient calls completely off the reception desk and what happens instead
• The patient care coordinator model and how it creates a relationship of trust before a patient ever sits in the chair
• The one signal that is completely non-negotiable in her practice — no matter what
• Why the upfront time investment in nervous patients delivers what she describes as a massive return — financially and professionally

It's a masterclass in patient centred dentistry from someone who has spent nearly 40 years quietly perfecting it.

🎧 Listen to the full episode on the Just4Dentists feed for the complete conversation, including the financial expert panel with Martin Febery and Andrew Brown on the commercial reality of running an experience led practice.

Have a question or want tailored expert advice? 

📩 Email info@j4d.co.uk or visit www.j4d.co.uk

💬 Join the Just4Dentists Facebook community to continue the conversation: https://www.facebook.com/just4dentists

Presented by Dr Ruth Baidoo 

Produced by Your Podcast Producer Ltd for the Just4Dentists team

Additional Information:

Dr Ruth Baidoo: https://dr-ruth-dentist.com/

Nothing But The Tooth: https://www.nothingbutthetooth.co.uk/

Just4Dentists: www.j4d.co.uk

Your Podcast Producer: www.yourpodcastproducer.com

Disclaimer: The information provided in this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute formal financial or legal advice. Every dentist’s career pathway and financial situation is unique; therefore, you should not rely on this content as a substitute for professional advice tailored to your specific circumstances. The value of investments can go down as well as up, and past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.

Transcript

Dr Ruth Baidoo 0:00

Hi, I'm Dr. Ruth Baidoo and welcome to Just 4Dentists. Every fortnight I like to spotlight a moment from one of my recent conversations, something that's really stayed with me after sitting with my guests. In the latest episode of Just 4Dentists, I spoke with Dr. Celia Burns, whose entire practice is built around a calm and supportive experience for nervous and anxious patients. We talked about what it really takes emotionally, clinically, and financially to design a practice around trust rather than speed. And also how those choices and decisions shape everything from appointment times to team training and even business decisions. Here's a moment from that conversation with Celia that gives you a real sense of how and why she does things differently.

Dr Celia Burns 0:40

So the the first point of contact is reception, but we take the new patient calls off the reception desk. So I have a Patient Care Coordinator. Most people call them TCOs or treatment coordinators. And I've got a thing about that term because they're not coordinating treatment. They're coordinating the care that the patients need. So they're a patient care coordinator. And that patient then has a link with that PCC, that patient care coordinator, and they're the person they can link with and ask questions to and so on. Because the PCC is on the payroll, the PCC can spend as long as we like with them on the phone, on Zoom. They can come in for an appointment, they can have a cup of coffee with her. We have people who've come in four or five times for free half hour, hour-long chats with the PCC. Once they are then comfortable that they trust us enough and they like what they see enough, they can then come in and see the dentist. Some patients aren't like that. Some people say, no, I'm ready to see the dentist straight away. But when they do come in to see the dentist, the key thing there is building trust. Many, many people come in with the comment that, oh, I had a terrible experience years ago. I was telling them it was hurting and they just carried on. Or I was told, no, it can't be hurting, you've had an injection, you can't it you're making it up or you're imagining it. So we take as long as is necessary on the first appointment. We tell them before they even come in that if they don't want to sit in the chair, they don't have to sit in the chair. If they don't want to open their mouth, they don't have to open their mouth. And if they open their mouth, sit in the chair, open their mouth, and I'm looking and they want me to stop, they put their hand in the air and I will stop. And the key thing that we have to get over to them, and that everyone who works for me has to know, is that that signal is non-negotiable. Now, obviously, I do explain to people if I'm literally at a point where it will be dangerous for them for me to immediately stop what I'm doing, you know. But in general, you know, you can stop when a patient says stop. So once they've had that first appointment, we then work out what's right for them, what treatment do they need. Often they need lots of treatment. They've not been for 15 years because they're so anxious. And what you do is you stage it and you talk through with them how you stage it. You say, we do a comprehensive examination here. So we'll tell you everything that we feel you would benefit from, but that does not mean that's what you've got to have, and it does not mean it's what you've got to have now. And then we work with the patient and the patient care coordinator with a program that's right for them. And if it means that the first appointment for treatment they come back for is to polish their four upper teeth, that's fine. That's what the appointment is for.

Dr Ruth Baidoo 3:41

That's a really, really good approach. So it really seems and comes across that control is in the hands of the patient as opposed to it being the other way around, you know. But in that as well, let's talk about honestly about giving more patients more time and support. It potentially comes at a cost. So, how do you work that out in terms of like maybe getting into like the finance aspects of it, like the hourly rates and things of that nature and what it costs you to run your practice? Because it is a business at the end of the day. So as much as you want to give the best care possible, and I think as clinicians, we should be aiming for that. You're also running the business. So, how did you how do you find that balance without it feeling like it's he win the scale one side versus then the other?

Dr Celia Burns 4:22

Um, there's a few points to that. The main one is if we take an example of let's say you're providing implants and you want to advertise for implants, and then you get the patient in for their implants, that advert, pay-per-click, whatever, the cost per acquisition is going to be high. But the payoff because of this implant case is good. They're profitable treatments. I look at nervous patients the same way. My investment in them at the beginning is higher in time and money than it would be with a similar patient who wasn't nervous. But oh my goodness. Firstly, these patients become lifelong raving fans. They they tell all their friends and family, you stop needing to advertise at all because everybody tells it, you've got to go and see Celia, you've got to go to Nothing But the Tooth, you've got to go and see whichever dentist they saw. They're great. So if you think about it on a sort of 10-year period, because these people do, they stay. I've got people who drive down to me from Bridlington, from Exeter. I'm in the Midlands. I had one who used to come from France. Um, people will really make an effort to see you and you alone and will stay far longer than a non-nervous patient who moves away or is a little bit further out as a result. And so, because of that, over 10 years, even a patient that only needs exam and a couple of hygienes and the odd filling is going to be worth five, six thousand pounds to you. Someone who needs a big course of treatment or a couple of big courses, you're talking 10,000, 15,000. So spending an extra half an hour, hour, hour and a half at the start of your journey with them, massive return, massive return.

Dr Ruth Baidoo 6:12

If that resonated with you, you'll find the full conversation with Celia on the main Just 4Dentists feed where we go deeper into how patient experience and business connect. And if you'd like to keep the conversation going, you can join the Just4Dentists Facebook community group. It's where dentists are sharing experiences, asking honest questions, and learning from one another. You can also get in touch with me directly if there's a topic you'd love to hear us explore in further episodes. Just email me at ruth at j4d.co.uk. I'll see you in the next episode of Just 4Dentists. Bye.