Running a successful dental practice requires building relationships with your patients. You need to gain patient loyalty and retain it. When you successfully gain the trust of patients, you will notice a boost to your bottom line.
Nearly 20% of patients switch dentists every single year, but on the other end of the spectrum, almost 50% have been seeing the same dentist for more than six years. Your practice needs to take advantage of these trends and create profitable long-term relationships.
Dental Practices Need Digital Tools to Succeed
For that success and boost to patient loyalty, you need to take advantage of the available tech and tools.
Practice Management Software
You need to have accurate procedure quotes, streamlined scheduling processes, and patient records that you can easily access and read. Without those, the customer experience drops. Most dentists turn to practice management software like Dentrix to get these things.
The efficient workflows in good software improve your practice’s administrative efficiency while reducing stress and headaches. They also give your patients a positive experience.
Software to Communicate with Patients and Manage Reviews
The other major category of tools for dental practices harnesses the fact that the world is increasingly digital. Your patients want to:
- Book appointments online
- Receive immediate replies when they have an urgent request
- Read five-star reviews before considering your practice
The right software can make all of the above possible and eliminate the need to handle each task separately or even manually.
Combining Tools
You don’t have to sacrifice your practice management system for the other system or vice versa. Podium lets you keep the workflows from your Dentrix practice management system. Podium and Dentrix integrate with each other seamlessly.
The combination of these two software solutions can:
- Enhance customer communications
- Boost online reviews
- Make billing a breeze
- Send automated appointment scheduling and reminders
Once you have the integration running, expect a boost in customer loyalty and your bottom line.
What Is Dentrix?
Dentrix is a practice management system (PMS) that more than 35,000 dental teams use. The platform is designed to automate many administrative functions that dental practices rely on. It lets you manage every clinical aspect of your dental practice in a single piece of software.
→Improved Billing Procedures
Dentrix features a suite of tools for billing insurance and collecting payments. The suite streamlines the electronic claims process. It also helps you quickly collect payments.
→Streamlined Scheduling Process
The online scheduling tools in Dentrix let patients schedule their appointments themselves whenever they have a chance to do so.
→Improved Patient Communication
Automated text messages in the program boost engagement year-round. They also remind your patients to book their annual cleaning.
→Streamlined Imaging
Most dental practices deal with excessive amounts of paperwork. Dentrix correlates diagnostic imaging with billing codes. Then, it puts the relevant information into your digital patient record. Your receptionist or office manager spends nearly all day, every day in the PMS. They use it to review patient history, check the calendar for the day, and schedule future appointments. They don’t have the time or energy to switch between platforms; they want everything integrated and centralized.
Podium + Dentrix
Podium + Dentrix is a convenient combination. Dentrix handles the clinical aspects of running the practice. Meanwhile, Podium works with Dentrix and supports your customer experience, communications, and marketing. The integration process is a breeze, and there is no need to revamp your PMS.
4 Keys to Winning Patients
To create patient loyalty, you need to deliver a great experience. But this doesn’t just apply to the time your patients are in your dental office. An all-star customer experience has to cover every single touchpoint. Podium + Dentrix can fill any gaps you currently have, improving patient loyalty across the following crucial factors.
Reputation
Around 15 to 20% of patients in search of a new dental clinic will look at online reviews. Even more importantly, 80% of people look at customer testimonials when choosing their new dental or medical practitioner. If you aren’t managing your reputation, you are missing out on opportunities to build loyalty and attract new patients.
Podium gives you the flexibility to manage your reputation and to do it on your terms. For example, use automated review invites to increase the number and quality of Google reviews. You will soon have more than the competition if you don’t already.
But Podium doesn’t just help you build up your reviews to boost bookings. Podium Reviews also gives you insights into other local dentists’ online reputations. The dashboard tool lets you compare your star ratings to theirs. Track your progress or confirm you are on top.
Convenience
Patients want convenience in their interactions with you. They don’t want to have to call and sit on hold just to ask a question or book an appointment. In fact, less than half of people in one survey used their phone to make a call in the last week—patients don’t want to. Instead, they want to use their phones for browsing online and on social media. When communicating, they prefer to text.
This means that if you only let patients schedule appointments by calling, you are likely missing out on potential customers. Podium Inbox steps in and modernizes your system. Your team can seamlessly talk to patients via your website, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, and more. Combining Podium + Dentrix puts all your conversations across platforms in a single inbox you can access in your PMS. This makes it easy to connect all conversations with patient accounts. This way, your team can easily see all communications regarding a patient.
Loyalty
If you don’t regularly communicate with your patients outside of procedures or scheduling, you aren’t engaging enough. You need to engage regularly to make your customers feel valued.
Podium Feedback is designed to help with its creative automated messaging that ensures you keep communicating with patients throughout the year. Some examples include:
- Sending automated birthday messages inviting patients to stop by and get a free checkup or toothbrush
- Sending targeted cleaning reminders
- Sending monthly dental tips
Payments
Collecting payments is a challenging part of any business, but Podium + Dentrix makes it easier. You can use the text-based tools of the programs to request payment via text. Yes, most medical bills get paid within 60-120 days. However, text requests can speed that process up by offering electronic payment.
The payment communication in Podium + Dentrix will instantly connect with the patient’s account. You can see their billing status instantly and offer more convenient payment methods. Making it easier for patients to pay is just one way that you can further boost patient loyalty.
The Bottom Line
Savvy dental practices understand the importance of implementing technology and modernizing their processes. With Podium + Dentrix, you can boost patient loyalty and increase your bookings. The range of modern tools from the software combination is painless to implement and will work wonders in terms of customer retention over time.
