GSDM Calls on Front Office Staff to Better Patient Experience

On December 21, you could find about 22 GSDM front office staff laughing and having fun as they role played in room 309. The group took part in a day-long telephone training designed to increase positive patient experiences at the School’s Patient Treatment Centers from the first time a patient calls for an appointment.

This includes developing prospective patients into new patients, reducing no shows and cancellations, and making patients want to come back for future treatment.

The training encouraged staff to be “the best of the best,” Clinical Administrative Manager Lori Brady explained, in line with the School’s goal to “provide outstanding oral health care to the community,” as detailed in the Applied Strategic Plan.

Training was provided by The Scheduling Institute, a company that helps practices grow and bring in new patients by improving staff’s interaction with patients. The Institute’s trainers focus on five stages of a phone call:

Greeting

Answering question briefly

Transitioning the call

Offering a schedule

Capturing data

“Our Patient Treatment Centers will provide the best possible patient experience and further improving our staff’s interaction with new and existing patients is certainly a step in the right direction,” said Dean Jeffrey W. Hutter. “I applaud the efforts of all of our staff and faculty in the GSDM Patient Treatment Centers.”

Photos of the training are available on flickr and facebook.