THE EDITOR'S CORNER
Professional referrals usually account for 45-65% of an orthodontist's patients. It is generally agreed that the specialist benefits by working to enhance relations with general dentists, by providing dentists with timely communications about mutual patients, and by assuring dentists that referred patients are cared for skillfully and personably. These general concepts, unfortunately, do not always translate into effective day-to-day communication.
Our office has seven staff members: the orthodontist, two front-desk persons, three clinical assistants, and a part-time special projects coordinator whose job includes public, patient, and professional relations.
About a year ago, we decided to begin a bimonthly lunch program for referring dentists and their staffs. Because we treat patients from a number of dental offices, it will take many months for us to host all of them.
Our orthodontist calls the dentist far enough in advance so that both offices can adjust their schedules. The call is followed by a letter to the entire staff, inviting them to join us for some "toothsome treats" and signed by our entire staff.
Every lunch visit begins with an office tour conducted by the orthodontist. Each of our staff members is introduced in her area and explains a little about her job. We serve lunch in our own all-purpose room, which seats about 15 and provides a feeling of informality.
Lunch usually consists of pizza, salad, ice cream pie, and coffee. By dessert time, our doctor has told the group about some of the newer orthodontic procedures not seen routinely in a general practice. He also lets the referring staff know that we realize referrals often come from staff members, even though the official "thank you" note is sent to the dentist. We briefly discuss ways in which our two offices might work more closely, and particularly how we might be more helpful to the referring practice.
At one of our first lunches, the group decided that our practice could do more to remind patients about the importance of regular dental check-ups. This prompted us to add a special card to each patient file that includes the patient's dentist, the date of the last six month check-up, and the month when the patient is due for the next dental appointment (Fig. 1). We remind the patient or parent when that month arrives and keep track of whether the patient in fact saw the dentist. After we had these cards printed, we sent a letter with a sample card to each of our referring offices.
When our guests leave, they receive a brightly colored bag containing a book of dental articles for their reception room, some pamphlets about first visits to the dentist and the orthodontist, a photograph of a woman wearing clear appliances, a copy of our office newsletter, some orthodontic refrigerator magnets, and a supply of our office pens.
We know the referrals we receive from other professionals are important to the growth of our practice. We believe that communication is a two-way street, and that anything we can do for our referring practices will benefit all of us.
