“I am on time, why are you late, Doc?”
“My appointment was for 3pm; why am I still sitting in the ‘waiting room’ at 3:45pm?”
We have all been there. We hustle to get across town, stressing to beat the traffic, grabbing a quick bite on the run, so that we could be on time for our doctor’s or dental appointment only to sit and wait and wait and wait…
If I died tomorrow, I would leave this world a frustrated dentist. I would want to be allowed one more chance to apologize to every patient who had to wait to be seen past their appointed time in my office.
Year in and year out I struggle to better our on time record at Artistic Dentistry of Atlanta. My patients, you, deserve that. You are busy; you have carved a special block of time out of your demanding daily schedule to allow us the opportunity to care for your dental needs. We should be on time.
I actually insist that we call our “waiting room” a “reception room.” It was not created for you to wait long periods of time to be seated for your appointment. It was created to welcome you, allow you to comfortably check in, let us know that you have arrived, be warmly greeted, catch your breath, relax and then be escorted back for your gentle dental care.
At Artistic Dentistry, we meet every morning to review our daily schedule before we begin seeing patients. We plan together how best to serve all of your dental needs and concerns in a very punctual manner. We strive to be on time. Every year, every month and every day we get better and better.
We want to be on time for one simple reason: you deserve to be treated with the respect, care and warmth that create as comfortable a dental experience as possible. That all starts with us being on time. I often say that we treat our patients as we would want to be treated. And, that means we strive to be on time.
If we are not on time for your dental or hygiene appointment, please ask for me. I want you to call me and my staff out for wasting your valuable time. And, I want to personally find out why we are not on time and correct the situation.
At Artistic Dentistry of Atlanta we can talk about quality and comfortable dental care. It all begins with punctuality, being on time. I promise that in 2014 and each year to come, we will be even more laser focused than ever before, respecting your time by being on time.
Peter V. Vanstrom, DDS, PC
