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2 Surprisingly Simple Things You Can Do For Patient Engagement & Impact

We’ve heard from clients and colleagues that one of the biggest challenges dentists are facing right now is having the team available to contact patients and reschedule them. So what can you do to ensure that 100% of your patients get contacted and scheduled to return?

You want patients to know you’re there, know you want to reschedule them, you want them to know that their oral health is a priority, and that it’s safe to return. This blog covers two simple things you can do, plus you can order a free patient newsletter sample for your practice and you can schedule a free demo of Practice ZEBRA to help you benchmark.

Two simple things and two free things! If you want, just jump to the free things!

  1. Patient Communication – the right way. Get a free sample.
  2. Benchmarking. Get a free demo.

Let me ask … are you confident that all patients would…

  • Know it’s safe to come back?
  • Understand the importance of having a healthy mouth – especially during COVID?
  • Clearly understand all your COVID-19 patient precautions?

What else should patients know that they don’t? Have you recently onboarded any new providers? Have you won any awards that would resonate with your audience? Do you have any special programs available? Are you doing anything unique for your community? Since they missed their last appointment and aren’t rescheduled … is there a group just waiting for you to “remind” them? What else should you know? What top-value patients aren’t scheduled to come back? Which patients have talked about treatment and not accepted? Which patients haven’t had an appointment for 9 months or more?

According to the ADA, 85% of patients are ready to return with reassurance from their dentist. To reassure patients dental teams must put an extra effort towards re-engaging them. When you create highly engaged patients, they will be more trusting and more loyal. They’ll return, post positive reviews about their experience, and refer more.

Providing a high-quality patient experience is a key component to engagement – and right now, that means extending that quality experience into patient homes.

So what two simple things can you do to improve patient engagement and impact your schedule and production?

  1. Don’t ignore your numbers.
  2. Find a way to reach 100% of your patients consistently.   

ONE: Know Your Numbers

Right now can you pull up the following metrics with ease?

  1. Total number of current active patients
  2. Number of patients scheduled
  3. Number of patients not scheduled
  4. Number of patients due now or past due
  5. Number of guarantors with no email or cell
  6. Value of active patients versus new patients
  7. Number of patients lost during COVID versus added
  8. Treatments presented and outstanding
  9. Production 2020 YTD versus 2019 YTD
  10. Total new patients 2020 YTD versus 2019 YTD.

As your practice recovers from COVID-19 closures and helps patients navigate back to routine, you cannot not monitor these key performance indicators regularly. Practice ZEBRA allows you to do that so easily … as 2-year client, Christina C. recently wrote on Google … “Practice ZEBRA is so much easier to navigate than the Dentrix reports (and it ties in seamlessly).

You must schedule your most productive patients as soon as possible. If you haven’t been into your ZEBRA recently, or if you’d like a refreshed tour or FREE Demo, schedule one here:

TWO: Reaching 100% Of Your Patients Consistently

You may be thinking of ways to do this right now and are coming up short. Sure, hiring a team to get on the phone and call patients is great … but in our experience, hitting 50 calls each day is HARD. And if 67% of your patients aren’t scheduled – that’s going to take a bucketload of time.

Automated communications are also important. They give you that cadence of communication that we can’t achieve manually … but in our experience, after thousands of integrations with Practice ZEBRA, we have yet to see any single dental practice with 100% of its patient email and cell phone numbers … so that means automated solutions can’t reach everyone. And when you calculate open rates … only a fraction of patients can be reached.

BUT 100% of dental offices have 100% of their patient’s mailing addresses.

The only way to reach ALL of your patients is with a multi-channel communications strategy, with mail at its core. Not only that, but mailing something of value is the true way to the heart of your patients and will make your practice stand out – especially right now when patients have their eye on the special packages coming to their mailbox.

Get A Free Patient Newsletter Sample

Engaged patients are your biggest asset right now. The patients who are coming back want more dentistry in one visit. They feel great after their visit and they’re posting positive reviews about their experience. They’re sharing how safe it is at the dentist.

Call us today to get your holiday patient newsletter ready for mailing. It can include all your safety protocols, tell patients why oral health is essential especially because of COVID-19, and it will remind patients that you’re their dentist and they should call you first.

Worried about budget and trying to cut costs? A patient newsletter is an investment in your patients and your practice future security. The investment is truly pennies when you consider that the average active dental patient contributes $1,000 per year to revenue (top practice patient value is $3,000 – these are numbers you need to know when making decisions about where to cut and where to invest).

Dental offices that prioritize patient communications – including mailing a high-quality professional patient newsletter – will recover faster and stronger than those that do not.Dental offices that prioritize patient communications – including mailing a high-quality professional patient newsletter – will recover faster and stronger than those that do not.

Call now and have a holiday newsletter in patient homes for December. It’s urgent. Call now!

Get A Free Patient Newsletter Sample

Your patients mean everything to your recovery. They are the ones who have already chosen you, like and respect you, trust you. They just need to hear from you, regularly.

Across the country consumers, in general, need reassurance that it’s safe for them to book a dental appointment. So you also need lots of current positive patient reviews to capture new patients who are out there looking for a provider (especially if their last provider hasn’t made an extra effort to contact them). Don’t let that be your patients!

Newsletters have a distinct advantage over every other communication medium. They reach 100% of patient homes. If you want to educate patients and increase treatment acceptance, a well-conceived and well-designed patient newsletter will produce the results you want.

Your newsletter is your representative outside of your dental office. It can enhance your patient experience in a surprising and delightful way. A simple newsletter shows patients you care. A newsletter can help you set patients’ expectations the way you want. It will help you inspire your patients, with confidence, that your practice is going above and beyond to keep them, and your team, completely safe.

Let our team of experts assist you in preparing a patient newsletter that will present the image you want. We’ll help you tell your patients all the great things you’re doing, and we’ll help you reassure patients and prioritize their oral health. With extensive customizing options, flexibility, and all the hassle of printing, assembly, and mailing removed from your plate – it’s a no-brainer to call the number-one company in dental patient newsletters to your aide right now.

Get A Free Patient Newsletter Sample

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