Ensuring the healthy and safe treatment of the patients of your practice, naturally, your number one concern. But there’s a difference between being safe and feeling safe, and it’s also important to know that difference. A lot of patients have varying levels of anxiety about going in for any treatment, and here are a few ways that you can help them combat it.
Establishing Trust
Before people can feel like they are safe in your hands, they need to be able to trust that your health care services are going to do right by them. Building a sense of trust that your practice is dedicated to their wellbeing and peace of mind can then help them feel more comfortable with going in for treatments. One of the best ways to build trust in your practice is to simply be transparent on the details of how you operate. Be sure your website offers information on your qualifications, be clear about costs and any payment plans offered on the site. The more information you can provide your patients with and the easier they can access it, the more likely you are to build their trust.
Offer Options to Make Treatments Easier
It’s only natural that you want to limit your use of anesthetic as much as possible when it comes to treating patients. While it is vital in many forms of treatment, there are always risks associated with it, so it has been more and more widely adopted that doctors and dentists don’t use it when it’s not necessary. However, for those that experience severe anxiety, especially dental anxiety, it can be difficult to treat without it. As such, you can offer services such as sedation dentistry by partnering your practice up with providers like Premier Anesthesia. You will hopefully not have to rely on it too often, but simply having the option can help patients feel more at ease with you.
Embrace Other Forms of Treatment
One of the big concerns that patients are likely to have, nowadays, is the risk of exposure to infections, including the coronavirus, when visiting the practice. There are, of course, all manner of policies you are likely to have already put in place to combat the spread of the virus in your practice. However, to continue to offer your treatments to patients who might be especially concerned or vulnerable, then you may want to consider embracing online consultancy technology such as Cliniko that will allow you to offer alternatives as in-person care. It can’t be relied on for all patients of consultations, of course, but it can help you reduce the burden on patients, too.
It’s your responsibility to keep your patients safe and healthy in the ways that you can. However, if you’re not also helping them feel comfortable and secure, then you might have a harder time keeping them long enough to do the former. If you can’t help them feel safe, then they will go to someone who can. Hopefully, the tips above help with that.
