The Mystery Patient's Guide to Gaining & Retaining Patients [Hardcover]

Suzanne Boswell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1997

Patients entering a dental practice, either for the first time or as life-long customers, carry with them memories of past experience - good and bad - as well as cultural biases based on consumerism and the media. The dental team can ensure every experience will be a good one, for both the patient and the practice by understanding these attitudes and biases and taking measured steps to deal with them.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 521 pages
• Publisher: Pennwell Books (January 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0878146547
• ISBN-13: 978-0878146543
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,354,306 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #16 in Books > Medical Books > Dentistry > Dental Office Practice

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best information source on dental practice promotion, March 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Mystery Patient's Guide to Gaining & Retaining Patients (Hardcover)

I have attended numerous dental practice promotion seminars over the past 25 years Nothing has grabbed my attention like this book. After 28 years in dental practice you make a lot of mistakes and rediscover a lot of truths that others have no doubt learnt the hard way.

Boy do I wish I had had this book in hand when I first started out. So much of what I see are the truths I rediscovered and so many of them are thing I was just beginning to discover after such a long time This book will short-circuit a very long learning process. Ever page contains a gem every chapter is a storehouse of invaluable money making tips and hints

Dr Jeremy H ROURKE

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Suzanne Knows Her Stuff, February 8, 2003

By 

David A. Hall "David Hall" (Infinity Dental Web, Mesa, Arizona) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Mystery Patient's Guide to Gaining & Retaining Patients (Hardcover)

There are a lot of books on dental practice management. Many of them are based on ideas that feel good or that worked in one dentist's office. "Mystery Patients" is different. What makes it such a valuable practice management resource is that Suzanne Boswell has taken the trouble to actually research what works and what doesn't. She does this in two different ways.
The first way relates to her use of the title, "Mystery Patient." When she is hired as a consultant, she first makes an appointment with the practice under a pseudonym. She then visits the practice before the doctor or staff have met her so she can see it through the eyes of the patient. You may wonder why the cover shows her wearing a mask. This is so that, if you hire her as a consultant, you won't be able to recognize her when she shows up in your chair--hence, she is the "mystery patient." From these visits, she has an objective view of how real dental practices really treat their patients.

Additionally, she conducts numerous surveys and focus groups to discuss with real people what dental office policies and behaviors turn them off and turn them on. The information she presents in her book is therefore of great worth, being based on actual findings. I have tried her ideas in my practice, and, without fail, they all work. Because of careful, objective research, she understands patients and the dental business. She gets five stars from me for that.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The health of a practice is gauged on the loyalty of its patients, February 4, 2009

By 

Robert F. Spiel "Cosby fan" (Idaho) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Mystery Patient's Guide to Gaining & Retaining Patients (Hardcover)

Although this book was written awhile ago, the patient perspectives it highlights are of even greater value in today's market place! Suzanne does a magnificent job detailing what exactly must take place in order to create an extremely loyal patient base that will go and tell their friends, keep coming back -- and accept treatment recommendations! Ignore these common sense, relationship based truths and a practice will never reach its potential -- and in today's economy, it may even fail. Dentists, who most frequently are magnificent clinicians and technicians, may squirm at her findings because they require a tremendous amount of emotional intelligence and communication skill building, but they are right on.