Practice Focus with Scott

Highlights:

In this Practice Focus, Scott narrows in on the new patient experience. Building on earlier focuses like treating every patient like a new patient and 7x7 Patient Impact Meetings, he lays out four core principles for creating predictable outcomes and accelerating case acceptance. The first is the pre-frame: sell only the next step, and position the first visit as a get-to-know-you experience built around a discovery visit and a decision visit. The second is slowing down to speed up, through clear instructions, completed forms, and preparation done before the patient arrives. The third is redirecting with good news, which means steering conversations away from price, insurance, and delay and back toward health, and addressing cost before it becomes a surprise. The fourth is describing who you are rather than who you aren’t.

Your team's assignment is to map these four principles across the entire patient journey: the first phone call, the visit itself, and the treatment presentation. Every team member should be able to apply them, from the front desk to the treatment coordinator to the doctor. Scott also asks each team to write a clear “who we are” statement for the beginning, middle, and end of the experience, one that explains why it matters to the patient. The guiding idea throughout is to facilitate rather than force, and to guide rather than give up. He closes with a question to carry into the work: “How can people change their minds about us if they don’t know who we are?”