The Case for Reducing OBS Cases

In previous posts I have noted that, from a case-acceptance-rate perspective, cases going into observation fall into the ‘non-qualified’ category, meaning that these are visitors that could not start treatment if they wanted to. Of course, most practices welcome observation cases for the opportunity to establish a relationship early on with a future patient, and I completely understand the benefit of doing this.

However, from a purely business standpoint, meeting with a family to discuss treatment when treatment is not yet a relevant issue to the patient is a cost to your practice. It is a drain on resources; an investment of the doctor and staff’s valuable time with neither a guaranteed start nor a short-term return.

I would also add that as a parent, I personally would not find these periodic check-up visits a very good use of time, at least after the initial one. If a patient’s parents don’t leave your practice feeling that these meetings are useful, that outcome can’t help your case acceptance rate.

That doesn’t mean, however, that having children go into observation is something to avoid – quite the contrary. In my opinion, the goal with OBS cases is quality vs. quantity – to see more children who are close to being ready, while reducing, for the reasons noted above, the percentage of OBS cases that are not.

To that point, if you have a significant amount of your and your staff’s time involved with non-ready observation patients, the root cause is likely to be your referring dentist partners.

Your referring dentists probably do not give a lot of thought to the issue of when a child should be evaluated by you – after all, the appointment is an investment of your time and resources, not theirs – and in many cases, the dentist and his or her staff may not be educated on when a child is ready for a serious assessment. The result of this situation is predictable; you and your staff likely spend quite a bit of time with practice visitors that aren’t close to being ready for treatment.

My suggestion is to be proactive with your dentists, and provide them and their staffs with an education on when to send patients to you. This is best accomplished in a lunch-and-learn environment; the topic is “When Is A Child Ready For Treatment?” and the objective is to have the dentist and staff there to know what to look for going forward when referring patients to you.

If done properly, this will strengthen your relationship with your referral partner, provide a useful and interesting learning experience for the dentists and staff, and benefit you and your practice with a higher quality of initial consultation.