| name | treatment-plan-presentation |
| description | Present a dental treatment plan the patient actually understands and accepts — sequenced by clinical priority, costed with their coverage applied, and explained in the order that answers what-is-wrong before what-it-costs. Use when asked to present a treatment plan, improve case acceptance, explain treatment to a patient, or handle a patient who says they want to think about it. Produces the phased plan, the plain-language explanation per phase, the cost and coverage breakdown, the consequences-of-delay framing, and responses to the four common objections. Clinical decisions remain the treating clinician's; this shapes the conversation, not the diagnosis. |
| homepage | https://mohitagw15856.github.io/pm-claude-skills/skill/treatment-plan-presentation.html |
| metadata | {"openclaw":{"emoji":"🧠"}} |
Dental Treatment Plan Presentation
Case acceptance is usually lost in the explanation, not the dentistry. The plan is clinically sound, the patient hears a number before they understand a problem, and they leave to think about it. This sequences the conversation the way people actually decide: what is happening in my mouth, what happens if I do nothing, what are my options, and only then what it costs — with the phasing that makes a large plan affordable rather than abandoned.
What This Skill Produces
- The phased plan — treatment grouped into urgent, functional, and elective phases with the clinical reason each phase exists
- A plain-language explanation per phase — what the problem is, in words a patient repeats correctly to their partner that evening
- The cost and coverage breakdown — fee per phase, what the plan covers, what the patient pays, and when
- Consequences of delay — what specifically gets worse, and roughly over what horizon, stated without scare tactics
- Options at each phase — including the do-the-minimum option, because a patient who feels railroaded declines everything
- Objection responses — for the four that account for most declines: cost, time, fear, and 'it does not hurt'
- The follow-up plan — what happens if they leave undecided, and who calls when
Required Inputs
Ask for these if not provided:
- The clinical findings — the diagnosis, charting, radiographic findings, and the treating clinician's recommended sequence
- The patient — what they came in for, what they said they want, their dental history and anxiety level
- The financials — practice fees, the patient's insurance or plan, annual maximum remaining, and any payment options offered
- The constraint — what is actually driving the decision: money, time off work, fear, or a past bad experience
Framework: Problem Before Price, Phase Before Total
- Lead with what they can see or feel. Start at the complaint that brought them in, or the finding you can show them on an image. A patient who has not yet agreed there is a problem will not agree to a solution.
- Name the consequence, not the catastrophe. What specifically progresses, and over what horizon. Accurate and calm beats dramatic — patients discount fear and remember specifics.
- Phase it. Urgent (pain, infection, active disease) · functional (restoring what is compromised) · elective (aesthetics, optimisation). Most abandoned plans are abandoned because the total was presented before the phases.
- Give the honest minimum. State what happens if they do only phase one. A patient who is told the floor trusts the ceiling.
- Then the money. Per phase, with coverage applied and the remaining balance stated as a number, not a range.
- Ask for the decision on phase one only. The commitment that fits in one appointment is the one that gets made.
Deeper Material
references/worked-example.md — a four-year-absent patient with a cracked cusp, active perio, and £950 of remaining coverage — phased, with the honest minimum endorsed. Read it when the shape of a good output is unclear, or to calibrate how specific the entries should be.
Output Format
Treatment plan: [patient] · [date] · presented by [clinician]
Chief concern in their words: [what they said, quoted]
What we found
| Finding | Where | What it means | If untreated |
|---|
| [finding] | [tooth/quadrant] | [plain language] | [specific progression, horizon] |
Phase 1 — Urgent · [clinical reason]
- Treatment: [procedures] · Visits: [n] · Fee: [amount] · Covered: [amount] · You pay: [amount]
Phase 2 — Functional · [clinical reason]
- Treatment: [procedures] · Visits: [n] · Fee: [amount] · Covered: [amount] · You pay: [amount]
Phase 3 — Elective · [clinical reason]
- Treatment: [procedures] · Fee: [amount] · You pay: [amount]
If you do only Phase 1: [honest description of the resulting state and what it defers]
Options discussed: [alternatives offered, including no treatment, and why each was or was not recommended]
Decision today: [Phase 1 accepted / declined / deferred] · Follow-up: [who calls, when]
Records the conversation, not the diagnosis. Clinical decisions, treatment sequencing, and any statement about a specific patient's condition remain the treating clinician's. Fees, coverage, and consequence horizons must be verified against the actual plan and chart before presenting.
Quality Checks
Anti-Patterns
- Leading with the total. The number arrives before the problem is understood and the plan is dead on the desk.
- Presenting the ideal plan only. No stated minimum reads as an upsell, and the patient declines all of it.
- Consequence inflation. 'You could lose all your teeth' for early caries destroys trust that a real warning will later need.
- Treating a deferral as a close attempt. 'I want to think about it' usually means an unasked question about money or fear; find it instead of re-pitching.
- Quoting coverage from memory. A wrong estimate becomes a billing dispute and costs more than the case.
- Talking in codes and tooth numbers. The patient cannot consent to what they cannot restate.
Example Trigger Phrases
- "Help me present this treatment plan so the patient actually accepts it"
- "Our case acceptance is low — how should I explain this plan?"
- "How do I phase a large treatment plan for someone who cannot afford it all?"
- "The patient said they want to think about it — what do I do?"
- "How do I explain why this crown cannot wait?"
