3 ways patient complaints benefit your practice

When patients complain, it tends to bring you and your team members down. No one wants to hear about what they're doing wrong, especially from irritated patients who are unhappy with your practice. That's why most team members shrug off the complaints they hear, chalking them up to cranky patients who are just having a bad day.

While complaints can be annoying, ignoring them is a huge mistake that could really cost your practice. You should look at complaints as a gift, and use them as an opportunity to make positive changes in your practice.

Still not in the mood to deal with patient complaints? Here are three ways taking complaints seriously can benefit your practice.

1. Patients will be more loyal

If patients take the time to tell you about a problem, they expect you to take some kind of action -- and nodding your head and smiling until they've finished talking isn't what they had in mind.

Instead of doing your best to end conversations with complaining patients as soon as possible, thank them for bringing the problem to your attention and assure them you'll work to find a solution. This will make patients feel like their opinions and their business are important to your practice (which, of course, they are) and that will make them much less likely to start looking for a new dental home.

Remember, if one patient is upset about something, chances are other patients are too -- they just didn't take the time to tell you about it. Addressing issues will help keep these patients happy as well, and they'll also be more likely to continue entrusting you with their dental care.

2. You'll get more referrals

Not only do unhappy patients tend to look elsewhere for a dentist, they're certainly not going to spend any time referring you to family and friends. In fact, if they're upset enough with the practice, they might even start telling people about the horrible experience they had -- which isn't going to help you get new patients in the chair.

Sally McKenzie, CEO of McKenzie Management.

When patient complaints inspire action, your practice will become more efficient. Problems that held the practice back will no longer be an issue, and that shows current patients you're committed to making necessary changes and to providing optimal care. This leads to happier patients, and we all know that happy patients refer. And when patients actively refer, that's good news for your production numbers and your bottom line.

3. You'll improve your practice systems

Maybe you didn't realize patients had to wait 35 minutes to see you, or that it often takes three or more weeks for patients to get an appointment. These types of complaints illustrate problems with your systems that are keeping you from meeting your full potential.

When you know about these issues, you can make a plan to fix them. Instead of holding you back, your systems will become more efficient. That means less stress for both you and your team members and the opportunity to grow production and your bottom line.

As much as you'd rather ignore them, I suggest you and your team members start writing down every patient complaint you receive. Talk about these complaints during team meetings and work together to develop a plan of action.

I also recommend that you actually start seeking out patient complaints. How? Task one of your team members with soliciting patient feedback. Send surveys that ask patients about the experience they had at your practice and what they would improve, and then take action on the valuable information they provide. This is something you can set up through most patient communication systems.

Don't take patient complaints personally or look at them as an annoyance. Treat them as the gift they are, and use them to create positive change in your practice. If you don't take complaints seriously, you'll start losing patients who don't feel valued -- and that costs your practice money. Production will slump and new patient numbers will start to go down.

But if you take complains seriously, patients will know you're committed to providing the best care and customer service possible. You'll improve your systems and offer an overall better patient experience. Patients will appreciate your efforts and will reward you with loyalty and maybe even referrals, helping to grow your practice and your bottom line.

Sally McKenzie is the CEO of McKenzie Management, a full-service, nationwide dental practice management company. Contact her directly at 877-777-6151 or at [email protected].

The comments and observations expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the opinions of DrBicuspid.com, nor should they be construed as an endorsement or admonishment of any particular idea, vendor, or organization.