Building Relationships of Trust Through Effective Patient Education by Nancy Dukes

(Monday, November 22, 2010)

The journey to excellence for the hygiene department certainly begins with building relationships of trust and leads to enhanced patient wellness. This is the goal for everyone, hygienist, doctor and patient. The current focus on evidence based care enables the caregiver to individualize patient care like never before. Dental professionals are empowered to truly make a difference in the lives of the patients they treat.

Hygiene has historically been the vehicle by which we educated our patients. Hygienists recognize that they can not have tunnel vision; believing that they are only responsible for teaching oral hygiene. If asked, any hygienist will tell you they must have the skills and be empowered to use those skills to evaluate and educate comprehensively.

This very comprehensive approach is fundamentally important to increasing the dental IQ of a practice patient family. It is the responsibility of the dental professionals to inform patients of what exists in their mouths in the way of restorative and periodontal needs. In today's world, patients also rely on the dental professional to inform them of the latest advances in dental materials and cosmetic options available. Patients trust their dental caregiver to advise them as to treatment options that would be in their best interest. We are their travel companions in the journey to wellness.

So in this journey to wellness that we as caregivers embark upon with our patients, how do we develop plans for a safe and enjoyable journey? In patient education, we must give patients all the necessary information to make excellent choices concerning their dental health but they rely on us to be the trip planner as well. They are expecting that we will be their guide. Many times this may mean turning needs into desires. The average patient will accept what they desire long before what they need. Our challenge then is to do exactly that, turn needs into desires.

All patient education must begin with individualized data and personalized explanations. Data gathering must maximize two very powerful methods of learning, visual and auditory. The clinician must use powerful words such as, bleeding, infection, significant, bacteria, etc. Comprehensive data which has been verbalized as it is gathered will be perceived as much more thorough. Sharing this data with the patient with the use of visual aids is even more powerful. Once the patient has heard the gathering of the data, and experienced the individualized explanation by the clinician they are already beginning to make a commitment to accept the recommended treatment before it is ever presented.

Intentional detailed data gathering and presentation leads to patients who:

Make life long commitment to better health
Appreciate your comprehensive, thorough approach
Value time spent on their individualized situation
Better understand necessary treatment recommendations

Patients experiencing this type of evaluation comment that no one has ever been so thorough, taken so much time with them, or explained the information so well.

As dental professionals, we often fear telling patients "bad news" because we fear the patient will think we have betrayed their trust in some way. The relationship of trust we all value is what enables us to discuss findings regardless of their nature in a very caring and concerned manner. This very trust is what we must honor in our patient education regardless of the "news". The patient comes to us expecting nothing less. They have placed their trust in us by placing their care in our hands.

Being involved in this type of trusting relationship with your patients, is what will set your practice apart from all the other practices. Patients recognize they are receiving better care and are motivated to become your travel companion to oral health and wellness with you as their trip planner. The relationship of trust which is absolutely imperative to the success of both the patient and the clinician is strengthened beyond imagination. The journey becomes the reward.

At Jameson, we invest the time and energy into your practice to help you hone the necessary skills that make these types of relationship building efforts second nature to you and your team. Communication skills, clinical efficiency, case presentation, the new patient experience, these methods are worked on and sharpened with your Jameson coach so that you build solid relationships with your patients - allowing you to keep both your patients - and your practice - in a state of health.

For more information on how Jameson Hygiene Coaching can help your practice, call 877.369.5558.