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Issue #31-10.23.07
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Staying in Touch
In the modern era, it is critical for practices to build relationships with their patients. Retention, increased case acceptance, and new patient referrals are all results of establishing and maintaining strong patient relationships. Yet, today it is more difficult than ever to get and stay in touch with patients. Sending postcards and calling patients seems to be the norm for most dental practices, yet it is very time-consuming, expensive and becoming less and less effective.
There is no question that technology has changed the way that we live, especially in regards to the choices we make on how to use it. Hearing and using phrases such as “just send me an email” or “you can reach me on my cell” have become commonplace in our society. Keeping up with this technological paradigm shift is paramount in running a successful practice in terms of providing a higher level of patient convenience while at the same time increasing office efficiencies. Technology can provide a way to automate much of our communications to keep us squarely in the minds of our patients without sacrificing one ounce of the ‘personal touch’. Messaging (email, text messaging to cell phones, pagers) is the most popular and rapidly growing form of communication today.
It is clearly time to send patients email. According to Neilson/NetRatings, there are now over 204 million (75 percent) Americans with access to the internet from home with over 55 million having broadband access and “checking email” listed as the primary use for their online activity.
Further, 75 percent of the age group 30-49 accesses the internet as well as 22 percent of the group over the age of 65 which makes them the fastest-growing group to embrace the online world. Women are also increasing in email usage with over 34 million women between the ages of 35-54 accessing the Internet at home. (Nielson/NetRatings March 2007.)
Email messages can be extremely effective for confirming appointments, sending post-op care, new patient welcome and even birthday wish messages.
Cell Phones & Text Messaging
More patients depend on cell phones, pagers, and email for their communication needs than ever before. In fact, according to an article in 2003 by CNN, “43 percent of homes in the U.S. use cell phones as their primary phone”.
Text messaging, also called SMS (Short Message Service) is a service available on digital mobile phones that allows short text messages (up to 160 characters) to be received and displayed on the phone. There are currently 182,140,362 US wireless subscribers, 52 percent (ages 25-34) of which sent or received text messages in the previous month. Among younger subscribers “texting” is ubiquitous with 68 percent of those aged 18-24 sending and receiving text messages. Even older folks are getting into the act, with 14 percent of those over 65 using text messaging. (Mark Donovan, VP M:Metrics, March 2007)
The unique benefits of being able to send a text message to a cell phone are the ability to reach patients wherever they are, the speed of delivery of the message reaching the patient in nearly real-time, and reaching the patient directly rather than someone else “giving them the message”. Cutting down on forgotten appointments with same-day reminders as well as being able to quickly fill last-minute cancellations are two examples of how effective this type of communication can be.
There are some companies out there that focus on sending email and text messages. Smile Reminder (www.smilereminder.com) is one that specializes in dentistry and can completely automate the process as they are integrated into the scheduler of the practice’s management software. Another benefit of a service like Smile Reminder for emails is that they use a secure server to send emails out. There has been a lot of press recently about the new HIPAA regulations as it relates to transmitting sensitive patient information online, so dentists need to be aware of how their “regular” email (Outlook, Outlook Express) might be at risk.
Personalization
Practices can actually increase the “high-touch” factor by making a good impression in their email messaging. HTML email enables the ability to embed a digital image (office logo, team picture, before & after) as a jpeg, tiff or other file type within the message. Messages can also include hyperlinks to the practice’s web site.
Many practices have started to realize the benefits of these services and it is highly recommended for the modern digital practice.
Lorne Lavine, DMD is the Founder and President of Dental Technology Consultants. Dr. Lavine holds two prestigious certifications, the A+ Certified Technician designation and the Network+ Certified Professional. These designations demonstrate proficiency in computer repair, operating systems, network design and installation. Dental Technology Consultants provide dentists a full range of services relating to the implementation of technology.
Dr. Lavine can be reached directly at 1.866.204.3398.