Provider reviews and surveys

[Deleted]

Today I went to the dentist that I have probably used for the last 20 years.  I know I used him for several years before my divorce, and that was 18 years ago.  He bought the practice from my previous dentist so a lot of history.

Anyway, he had a new dental hygienist who worked on me, and she practically drowned me.  There is a new procedure (for more than a few years) that uses water and maybe ultra sound or something to clean your teeth.  There was water rolling down my chin.  There was water rolling down my eyelids.  There was water on my forehead.   It was a minute or so of cleaning and then sip, sip, sip.  Over and over.  When I finally said I had never seen so much water, she said maybe she should turn it off high.  Lol.

But I didn't drown, I didn't die of gagging from the x-rays (I tried), etc.  Everything was eventually ok.

I got home to a request for me to answer a survey about today's visit.  I can't imagine they would really want my negative input.  They were slow getting me back because they gave her the wrong chart multiple times (common last name), she obviously didn't know what she was doing, and my dentist was in a bad mood.  When he is in a good mood, he sings country music songs.  He was so quiet that I thought he wasn't there today.

I didn't do the survey because I really had nothing good to say, but I actually like my dentist.  Do you guys do this, too?  Avoid giving bad reviews because you like the people but not the service?

[milee]

Who receives the survey? Assuming it's the dentist, I'd think he'd want to know about the issues with the hygienist. If he doesn't see it happening and nobody tells him, he has no way of knowing something is wrong.  I'd probably give feedback on the hygienist but not necessarily the chart mixup or moody dentist unless those were really serious issues.

[Deleted]

milee I wonder if they really do want any feedback. Several dentists here seem to contract the hygenists & not have the regular "staff" that I used to see. If you have a 'new' hygenist every time I come in, it makes me feel like they don't know what they are doing . . . especially when they can't find any of the 'stuff' they need (don't know which drawers things are in or where the sterilized tool they want is. Kind of a give-away that they haven't worked in this office before). 

For me, that's 3 dentists down that I won't return to. Now on to find the next one. 

Last one I even told them I am looking for new dentist/practice home, so this cleaning/exam visit is a test to see if I will like it here. Oh, they so blew it. Even when I told them they were blowing it they couldn't move off script and stay focused on the treatment I wanted to discuss for 1 tooth (not everything you can dream up in my mouth). 

[bean29]

I had that done once, I bought a groupon for a cleaning x-rays and some sort of assessment. No other dentist I have seen performed that type of cleaning.  I didn't think my teeth were really clean after the process.  The dentist told me about 1/2 the teeth in my mouth needed crowns.

Several months later I had the opportunity to get in a Dental DMO, they said all my teeth were fine, despite the fact that my normal dentist had indicated that I did have a tooth that needed a crown.

I am now back to the old dentist - the clean the teeth the old fashioned way, and I still need the crown and have another small cavity. 

As far as surveys go, everyone and their brother seems to want us to complete surveys now days.  I am more likely to do it if I get something in return, or if I feel I got poor service.  I am willing to allow that someone is having a bad day, or someone may be learning their job, but if I feel mistreated, I will let them know.  I only do a small fraction of the surveys I am requested to do.

In this case, I do think you have valid input to give them and you probably should give them feedback.

[CCL]

I'd complete the survey, including the good with the bad. By the way, did they give you a sales pitch? They try to sell you everything around here.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

That kind of cleaning has been around since at least the early 1990s, I'm pretty surprised that a new hygienist out of school hasn't mastered it yet.  While is is not uncommon to get a few splatters, getting drowned is!

Optimally, they use this method if you haven't been in in awhile and have a lot of calculus built up.  Then they go in with the instruments and do the fine cleaning and polishing.  I needed to have it done when I hadn't been to the dentist/gotten my teeth cleaned for nearly 2 years while I was sick.  

In just about every practice I have been to, I could request a specific hygienist.  If you like the dentist, try another hygienist instead.  The record issue  is more bothersome to me.  Normally, they verify first and last name and birthdate.

[justme]

Damn, I thought this was going to be where to see reviews on dentists. I have no idea how to pick a new one.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Jul 1, 2015 11:06:13 GMT -5 justme said:

Damn, I thought this was going to be where to see reviews on dentists. I have no idea how to pick a new one.

Ask around.

[justme]

Jul 1, 2015 12:28:13 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

Jul 1, 2015 11:06:13 GMT -5 justme said:

Damn, I thought this was going to be where to see reviews on dentists. I have no idea how to pick a new one.

Ask around.

I've tried. Only thing I've gotten is one a friend who works in marketing know through them being his client.

A fb friend owns a place so I can't just blast it there cuz I don't want to go there.

I found my last one by Google. Most of my friends don't regularly see a dentist.

[Deleted]

Jul 1, 2015 10:57:59 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

That kind of cleaning has been around since at least the early 1990s, I'm pretty surprised that a new hygienist out of school hasn't mastered it yet.  While is is not uncommon to get a few splatters, getting drowned is!

Optimally, they use this method if you haven't been in in awhile and have a lot of calculus built up.  Then they go in with the instruments and do the fine cleaning and polishing.  I needed to have it done when I hadn't been to the dentist/gotten my teeth cleaned for nearly 2 years while I was sick.  

I always get my teeth cleaned this way, and I'm pretty faithful about the twice-a-year thing. It is much quicker than the old type of cleaning, which I really like. Going to the dentist is an incredibly boring thing. They still do the floss and polishing, etc. the old-fashion way.

Other than the x-rays I seem to have to get every time I go (the insurance will only pay for half at a time, which is why they are spread out), he didn't try to sell me anything. He has been my dentist for a long time, remember. He's already put in several crowns.

My hygienist retired.  How come I don't have any of these "work until I die" people you read about in the retirement articles?

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

I suppose it depends on who gets the review if it is worth it or not.

DH kept getting badgered to do a survey for CHI health.  The survey company isn't in it to actually make a difference they want shiny glowing reviews so they can recruit new patients.

They got really pissed off at him when he wouldn't give a glowing detailed review on how awesome CHI is.  He told them he saw the actual PA for five seconds what is there to say?  He said he could give them a review of the décor in the office if they wanted since they kept him waiting for 35 minutes.

They did the same thing to me, any answer other than 'excellent' is unacceptable, they will keep badgering you till you tell them what they want to hear.  I hung up.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

They got really pissed off at him when he wouldn't give a glowing detailed review on how awesome CHI is. He told them he saw the actual PA for five seconds what is there to say? He said he could give them a review of the décor in the office if they wanted since they kept him waiting for 35 minutes.

They did the same thing to me, any answer other than 'excellent' is unacceptable, they will keep badgering you till you tell them what they want to hear. I hung up.


LOL!  I got this when I took my car to the dealer's for an oil change.  I gave them an ok and the woman handed me the survey back and asked me to change it.  I asked why?  They did my oil change, nothing else.  They didn't check my fluids, they didn't vacuum my car, they didn't check the air in my tires.

IOW, I get an acceptable at work if I do my job.  The only way I get an excellent is when I go BEYOND my job.  It's expected that I do ok.  She was pissed that I wouldn't change it.  Whatever.

[lexxy703]

The last time I went to the dentist my hygienist was on vacation & they had a temp filling in.  He drowned me the same.  I had the little bib thing squeezed up around my neck because the water was running down & getting my shirt collar wet.  Plus it just plain tickled.  It was a form of torture.  He would turn it off & wipe me down & then do it again.

[plugginaway22]

Healthcare is ALL about patient satisfaction and ways to improve it!  We give surveys to all new patients and about 22% get returned to the office.  We definitely want your honest opinions.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Jul 1, 2015 17:58:56 GMT -5 plugginaway22 said:

Healthcare is ALL about patient satisfaction and ways to improve it!  We give surveys to all new patients and about 22% get returned to the office.  We definitely want your honest opinions.

Yeah.....I got that song and dance when I was an employee.  Then I had the opportunity to be a patient.

Not only did I return the survey, but sent a memo delineating the crap I went through for the 9 days I was in the hospital, from them claiming I was an addict, to lying about my infection, to delaying my IV antibiotic treatment and delivering pain meds up to 2 hours after requested, oh.....and telling me I was going to be sent to collections as there was no way my insurance would pay my bill.

Sadly, mine isn't the only story.  I have a coworker, my boss's wife and my gyn's wife had equally abysmal treatment.

But it is all about the customer service.

[zibazinski]

The way I found my dentist was my old school system had an Internet that employees could get on. I asked for a name of a dentist and 33 out of 35 responders told me one name. I've been happy ever since. I trust him implicitly. I haven't trusted another dentist since. I went to one up here. Total scammer. Tons of cavities. Yeah right. I will be going to DH's dentist for a cleaning only. Soon. But I'm not sure I can trust her either. She always tells DH he has cavities and stuff. I don't believe it. I think she sees dollar signs.

[Deleted]

I never answer surveys. Just don't like them.

[Deleted]

Jul 1, 2015 18:12:30 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

The way I found my dentist was my old school system had an Internet that employees could get on. I asked for a name of a dentist and 33 out of 35 responders told me one name. I've been happy ever since. I trust him implicitly. I haven't trusted another dentist since. I went to one up here. Total scammer. Tons of cavities. Yeah right. I will be going to DH's dentist for a cleaning only. Soon. But I'm not sure I can trust her either. She always tells DH he has cavities and stuff. I don't believe it. I think she sees dollar signs.

This is how we find most service providers.  We post on the school internet, "Does anyone know a ---?"  People share names, etc.  It is how we found DH's first heart doctor (she retired and sent him to someone else), his dermatologist, our plumber, etc.

Angie's List does help, too, although I am not absolutely sure they are worth the yearly fee.  This is probably my last year.  I let them sneak the renewal past me last year.  I signed up on an incredible deal when they first entered our area.