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May I Remind You One More Time?: Automated Reminders

Those of you who have read my past articles know I’m not one for repeating myself, but from time to time it makes sense. Some things just need repeating! This is especially true for technology. I’ve written about and recommended automated services that deliver appointment reminders. Companies such as Smile Reminder, Elexity and Demandforce have all been around for some time and all have established themselves with a group of loyal followers. For a monthly fee of $199 (and up), you can have one of these companies deliver appointment reminders by phone, text and email.

As consumers adapt to new technologies, so too must the dental office. We need to at least offer our patients new ways of communicating with them, ways they have grown to accept as “normal” and unobtrusive. What was once regarded as “not there yet” or “our patients would not like that” is now very much part of their everyday life. I am talking about emails and text messages. As we see consumers adapt to new ways of “talking” then we as dentists (business owners) need to revisit how we provide new culturally accepted ways of communicating.

With new technologies comes a new business model of offering those technologies (I’ll get to that in a minute). Let’s first look at why you may choose not to offer email and text message reminders.

The number one question I hear about the reluctance to adopting new technology is, “But will my patients want it?” The answer to that is YES. In almost every survey I’ve seen, more than 80% of patients prefer email for communication from their health-care providers. At least give your patients the option of receiving their reminders by email and text message. If a patient decides they don’t want to receive the emails or text messages you can select that patient not to receive them.

Number two is the cost. Yes, in a down economy, $199 or more a month (about $2,400 per year, minimum) is an added expense that many offices simply can’t justify. So even if the technology interests you, the cost for the service means that it’s another line item that you did not budget for.

Enter systems like Dental Senders. Dental Senders has a unique and novel approach to offering all dental offices this program email and text message reminders, along with a host of all other services, for free versus their competitors’ charge of $199 per month. There is a minor catch: in order for Dental Senders to offer this free service, they display a few sponsored ads on each email. All ads are dental related and are for companies that you work with or recommend to your patients every day. Is this sponsored model for every office? Maybe not, but it is definitely an opportunity for you to test a new technology without having to sign contracts or pay a monthly fee. The research I did on DentalTown suggests that their clients are very happy with the service.

Let’s now look at the services that the above companies provide to you. Outside of cost, they are all very similar in what they offer and, in my opinion, critical to the patient communication systems of your practice.

All of them integrate with your practice management software and all are automated, which means that once it is set up there is little or no work for you or your team to do. All provide daily reports that share with you what the software performed for you that day, such as a list of what patients received reminders, etc. Here’s a look at the type of services you can expect:

1. Automated appointment reminders
2. Re-care/recall
3. Overdue patients reminders
4. Birthday greetings
5. Surveys
6. Newsletters

The good news is that software evolves and these companies continue to release new services that will add new benefits to your practice.

Looking into the future, it is only a matter of time before we use social networking sites as a way of communicating with our patients. Consider Facebook and Myspace, the market leaders. I believe in time your dental software will “talk” to these portals and update patients’ respective calendars or email their Facebook or Myspace accounts. We know how often young people check their Facebook and Myspace, so it’s only a matter of time before this too is automated.

This is the fastest growing area in dental technology. Don’t blink—you might miss something!

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 1.866.204.339 or drlavine@thedentistsnetwork.net