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Patients decide whether they want our office to take care of them and we, my staff and I, decide if someone should be our patient. In most dental practices, it is the patient that decides when to join a practice and when they are better off somewhere else. In our practice, there must be the right 'fit' and when we do not see that, we decide not to schedule a patient or that person cannot remain in our practice.
On Saturday, I opened the door to 18 Division Street to let someone into the building who was going to take Pilates in the Studio next to our office. I quickly saw that the person was someone who I had asked to leave our practice. We of course exchanged common courtesies as would be expected.
This patient wanted to name their own fee for their treatment which was $200-$300 less than I had told her on the consultation. When this patient confronted Donna, I told Donna to accept the patient determined fee and when she left, send her a termination letter.
I do not fight over or negotiate fees with anyone. Each of us decides how much a product or a service is worth to them and if it has value, they make the purchase. What no one can do is to go to the Lexus dealer and tell them that they want a Lexus at a Ford price.
Sadly, there are times when I have to inform a person that I cannot or will not be their dentist and more often than not....IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH MONEY.
I LOVE taking care of the overwhelming majority of my patients.
