Patient Relations Philosophy

The patient care clinics at Pacific provide quality dental care in a professional, caring, efficient, and safe environment.  Quality means providing excellent services as well as demonstrating excellence in the process of delivering those services.  We strive to have each of our patients become a lifelong patient of the dental school and to maximize each patient's likelihood of achieving a lifetime of dental health.

The school's programs blend the needs of a diverse group of patients, students, residents, administrators, faculty, and staff.  The following areas describe the process and environment that we all create in order to carry out our patient service philosophy:

BUILDING OUR FUTURE  - We embrace change as an investment in the future vitality of our clinics, education of our students, and care of our patients.  We realize that there is always room for improvement in everything that we do, and that each of us can make a differ­ence.  We feel that the process of constant constructive change and improvement is the noblest of goals and we dedicate ourselves wholeheartedly to it.  We realize that putting our patient relations philosophy into everyday practice results in significant benefits to all of us.  It allows us to create an institution that we are proud of, ensure our ability to remain competitive, and guarantee that we will maintain our teaching and service programs for the long term.   The experience of participating in our quality, patient service oriented, dental delivery system affords an excellent educa­tional oppor­tunity for students and residents.

PROFESSIONALISM - We realize that each of us represents the entire school every time we interact with a patient or potential patient.  Professionalism means interacting with every individual, patient, and co-worker, with complete respect at all times.  It means being prepared, knowledgeable, and friendly under every circumstance.  It means displaying compassion and patience even in the most difficult of situations.  It means dressing and acting in a manner that conveys knowledge, caring, and competence.  It means going out of our way to make every individual feel welcome to our school, wherever we encounter them.

COMMUNICATION - We continually strive to improve our communication.  We always introduce ourselves to any patient before interacting with them.  We use appropriate physical positioning, tone of voice, and other non-verbal communication to involve our patients in conversations concerning their health care.  We do not speak to others in front of our patients without including them in the conversation.  We listen to our patients and inform them about the benefit to them of all procedures we follow.  We strive to develop rapport and trust with our patients and inform them about every aspect of their care.  This includes the hours, policies, and procedures we follow as well as information about their dental problems, alternatives for treatment, possibilities of phased care, the advantages and disadvantages of each alternative, and their financial obligations.

PREPARATION, TIMELY CARE, AND FOLLOW UP - We are on time for all patient appointments, clinic sessions, meetings, and deadlines.  We answer all phone calls from patients and address their concerns promptly.  We do not change appointments for our patients except in extreme emergencies.  We are prepared for treatment sessions with complete treatment plans, materials and laboratory products.  We strive to complete treatment for every patient in a timely manner.  We never transfer a patient to another practitioner for care without discussing the benefits to the patient of this transfer and obtaining their permission.  We complete all chart, insurance, and other documentation thoroughly and punctually.  We call our patients after appointments to be sure they are well and to answer questions.

ENVIRONMENT - We maintain an environment that is friendly, efficient, and safe.  We are constantly mindful of how our work areas look, the level of sound and conversation, and the impression we provide by our actions and demeanor.  We follow strict infection control procedures in order to ensure a safe environment for our patients, our co-workers, our families, and our­selves.

TEAMWORK - The faculty, staff, students, and residents in our school are all part of our dental care delivery team.  We are enthusiastic, caring, knowledgeable, and willing to serve and learn.  We respect each other as people and professionals and are constantly looking for ways to improve the service we provide, the efficiency of our work, and the image of our school.  We express our concerns in a constructive manner and strive to keep the atmosphere in our clinic upbeat and harmonious.  We arrive at work each day with a positive mental attitude.  We go out of our way to help each other complete our individual work and accomplish our mutual goals.

BUSINESS - Our dental school is an educational institution and it is also a business.  We know we must follow sound business principles in order for the school to continually improve.  We recognize the importance of increasing revenue and controlling expenses.  We adhere to sound business principles and procedures that will maximize the efficiency of our business and recognize that each of us contributes to the health of the business by our actions every day.

PATIENTS  - Our patients are those members of the community who have entrusted us to provide their dental care.  We seek to serve patients who appreciate the quality care that we provide, are willing and able to keep their appoint­ments and financial obligations, can respect the needs of others, and can constructively express their concerns.  We strive to provide the same high level of care to all our patients in a manner that meets their individual needs.  We strive to have our existing patients be our best source of new patients by telling their family members, friends, and acquaintances about the excellent care they receive in our clinics.  We realize that each of us represents the entire school in every interaction we have with our patients and each of us can make a difference in how our patients view the University of the Pacific as a source of dental care.