Reviewing a treatment estimate with your patient can be a very informative and overwhelming process for your patient. Have you ever wondered if you were providing too much information and how much of that information the patient will recall at a later time?
According to Edgar Dale, developer of the Cone of Experience, it depends on how the information is presented and how involved your patient is in the process. Dale concludes that we remember 10% of what we read, 20% of what we hear, 30% of what we see, 50% of what we see and hear and 70% of what we discuss with others.
Offices that I train will ask for ways to improve patient case acceptance. One way to promote case acceptance is to build on your communication platform, and the very best way is to have a discussion with the patient. Ask your patient questions, address those questions and engage your patient in the conversation. After all, the patient is more likely to recall details of that discussion if they are involved in the process (by 70%, according to Dale).
Another communication platform and way to increase case acceptance is to provide the patient with a written estimate. This estimate will contain a description of procedures along with associated cost. Easy Dental provides a very user-friendly application to produce and print a written treatment estimate for your patient. The Estimator tool 
provides an option to include a treatment plan note with your printed estimate. This note is completely customizable, so you can include any expiration timing, office policies, signature lines, etc.
Implementing a process that includes a discussion of treatment along with a take-home reference of planned treatment and office policies will leave your patient feeling informed and confident in your services. Confident, informed patients are more likely to return for the care they need and be successful with their treatment.
David Broom is Senior Director of Product and Business Development. David has a master’s degree in Information Technology (IT) from the University of Texas in Dallas and has more than 35 years of experience from many global companies such as Hitachi Vantara, Methode Electronics, and Keane, Inc. In his current role, he is responsible for all aspects of the product management and field service teams at Henry Schein TechCentral, which identifies the ideal advanced technologies to meet the unique needs of the dental market and ensure that dental offices are using the right IT to be more efficient and effective.
