Why should I always schedule a next-step appointment even if the patient hasn’t decided?
Because the worst thing you can say is let me know when you’re ready. That hands the entire decision to the patient and they’ll sit on it forever. I always set a next step, usually a question and answer appointment within two weeks. I’ll say, Mrs. Smith, I’m sending you home with everything we discussed, questions are going to pop up, and because our schedule fills fast I want to reserve time for you now. No matter what they say, I book something. Plenty of times that appointment becomes the case start, because they call the next day having decided or with questions I can move it up for. The patient should never leave without the next step locked. An open ended maybe quietly becomes a no.
If the answers you are finding here resonate with you, my team and I work with a small group of clients each year. The next step is a complimentary Discovery Consultation and Practice Review with Dr. McAnally.