Someone has been attending my practice recently, in fact for a number of years, who is unhappy with the level of value they receive for the money that they pay.
So much so that this individual (neither male nor female and living somewhere within the UK or not) returned after an initial course of treatment with dental implants, for which they were very pleased, seeking an additional implant to be placed. We worked the case through the consent process as we always do and presented them with a full, detailed written treatment plan with the opportunity for discussion at which point they were horrified by the cost. The reaction though was not one of disappointment or confusion it was aggressive, outspoken, confrontational and very difficult to manage. The individual in question sought dental implant treatment somewhere else at a practice nearby which is cheaper than our practice (so they tell us) but returned to our practice for maintenance because “this is the only place around where I can get this type of quality”.
This individual is not compelled to return to my practice as they are outside of their guarantee but they continue to want to and to book appointments until recently when they complained in the waiting room about the cost again and how ridiculous it was. They then proceeded to pick out individual people within the waiting room and asked them what treatment they were having and asked them if they wanted to be told where to go to get it cheaper. I find this difficult and even oxymoronic because on leaving the appointment for maintenance the individual booked a further appointment for three months time.
What appears to be happening here is that the individual does not believe that they are getting value and this is an extremely difficult bridge to cross.
On the course I provided last week on sinus grafting we entered a fascinating discussion with the group about success and survival. This is a results based discussion and a results based phenomenon in implant dentistry.
So for the uninitiated here’s the quick description:
Survival is to place a dental implant into someone’s head (usually mouth) which remains in place the next time you see the patient despite whether they like it or not.
An implant which the individual receiving the treatment does not like or the clinician providing the treatment does not like is not successful but this is extremely subjective and what one person likes and finds successful another person will not. This is a subjective and ethereal description which is extremely difficult to get to the bottom of.
Suggestions have been made over definitions for success but a definition for success is like a definition for happiness – one persons view of happiness is different to another persons view and also happiness is rarely found when you look for it. A person who is unsatisfied on beginning treatment may well be unsatisfied on completion of treatment which brings me back to the individual at the start of the blog.
It’s very hard for me to manufacture a situation where I can control one individuals perception of value. I can discuss the result that I think I will achieve and I can demonstrate that photographically in advance to some degree. I can describe it, I can explain it and I can write it down but the subjective interpretation of a result and ultimately a value for a service or commodity purchased it out with my control.
It’s clearly stated in previous blogs and in communications by people within our professional regulator that they would like patients to have more of the rights of the consumer but this surely means that if you feel a product does not offer you value then you would shop somewhere else and this is how the market works. But to be in a position where you are allowed to complain repeatedly about this and return and then intimidate other people within a waiting room who have not asked your opinion seems to me to be unfair and disproportionate.
The difficulty we have in our practice is that we continue to treat patients as though they were patients but many of them continue to act as though they were consumers and while this continues the dichotomy between results and the interpretation of value will remain and cause everybody grief.
Blog Post Number - 1262
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