Texting triumph
Featured Products Promotional FeaturesPosted by: Dental Design 1st July 2024
Time, resources, money – monitoring patient recalls can be a taxing process for every practice. As paper records shift to digital and communication ventures online, reliably engaging with your patients is essential to keep your practice flourishing and your patients smiling.
In 2023, the average UK resident spent 2 hours and 52 minutes per day on their phone.[i] Despite seeing a reduction since the pandemic years, the figures for daily screentime depict a country that is constantly looking down. The phone is therefore the optimum gateway for practices to better communicate with their patients through. It is hardly surprising that half of dentists have already incorporated teledentistry into their practices, sending texts to patients with a recall interval but no booked appointment.[ii]
Breaking barriers
The directness of SMS makes it a vital tool. An SMS gives the receiver clear information which can be instantly copied and saved or referred back to. SMS also limits misunderstandings so that the trust between patient and practice is strong.[iii]
SMS can be of great help to patients who have to overcome a communication barrier: blind, deaf, anxious and international patients can all benefit from a text service.[iv] Most phones, even less advanced ones, make reading, speaking and translating texts easy. This makes them a preferred communication method for many individuals. Other communication options, such as phone calls and paper letters can be misheard, misremembered or lost, leading to misunderstandings and a risk of complaint.[v]
Keeping patients in the loop
Effective communication has been found to help manage patient anxiety, with dental attendance often increasing with the quality of patient communication.[vi] Enhanced communication, such as SMS, can ease patient anxiety by sending early reminders for appointments and enabling patients to quickly reschedule if they do not feel ready, all without the confrontation of a phone call or a face-to-face meet.
Keeping patients notified on exclusive deals, discounted treatment plans and bundled services can increase the likelihood of patients booking their next appointment with your practice, whilst the speedy sharing of any updates around their appointments, or from within the practice itself, can reassure patients that they are in competent, supportive hands.
Speed and staffing
One of the biggest strengths of incorporating SMS, along with its cost-effectiveness, is its speed – electronic communication saves time.[vii] It is easy to prepare and send automated messages that are guaranteed to quickly reach patients, and it can be easy for patients to respond.[viii] Younger patients in particular prefer SMS, as 26% of adults aged 18-24 actively avoid phone calls and 47% prefer a text prior to receiving a call.[ix]
It feels like administrative staff spend a lot of time ringing up patients – a job that can be accomplished faster with automated texts. Giving patients the autonomy to book appointments through texts and extending digital tools to allow patients to pay online will further streamline your practice by reducing your administrative staff’s workload and minimising the risk of human error.[x] Automated systems will ultimately better equip the practice to meet patient preferences and expectations by freeing up staff bandwidth.[xi]
No no-shows
No-shows are costly and detrimental to business.[xii] Using SMS can prevent this damage by getting patients to book new appointments with ease, minimising the risk of oral health problems or dental emergencies that can emerge from no-shows.[xiii]
Patients can cancel and reschedule appointments quicker via SMS than through a phone call too, allowing your practice to fill in short-notice cancellations that otherwise may have been no-shows. Filling in these empty appointments can increase satisfaction among the patients who can be treated faster.[xiv]
Cloudy with a chance of success
SMS as a recall tool for practices is a proven success, with a 98% open rate and a 45% response rate.[xv] This is significantly higher than using email which has a 20% open and a 6% response rate, showing that SMS has a far greater reach that does not depend on Wi-Fi.[xvi]
Texting patients is becoming the new normal. For a superb recall system, consider AeronaDental. Practices worldwide are already using the innovative cloud-based system to streamline their patient journey and grow their business. With AeronaDental, your practice can organise automated appointment reminders and confirmations, as well as promotional messages to engage your patients, who can easily reply using a variety of texting options. The software’s Patient Portal will also improve attendance rates and increase revenue through encouraging enhanced engagement.
Reduce workloads and keep communication clear and quick with AeronaDental.
With the world constantly looking at their phones to read books, write blogs, binge boxsets and buy their bread, booking a dental appointment can be done in a heartbeat. Use SMS and let your practice thrive.
For more information, please visit aerona.com or call 028 7000 2040
Follow us on LinkedIn: @AeronaDental Software and Instagram @aeronasoftware for the latest updates
[i] Binns, R. (2023). Screen time statistics 2023 | The Independent. [online] Independent Advisor. Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/advisor/vpn/screen-time-statistics.
[ii] Oral Health Group. (2021). Pros and Cons of Communication Platforms. [online] Available at: https://www.oralhealthgroup.com/features/pros-and-cons-of-communication-platforms/.
[iii] Love, A. (2019). Overcoming barriers to communication. [online] ddujournal.theddu.com. Available at: https://ddujournal.theddu.com/issue-archive/spring-2019/overcoming-barriers-to-communication.
[iv] Easson, E. (2020). Communicating effectively with patients. BDJ Team, 7(10), pp.21–21. doi:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41407-020-0467-x.
[v] Love, A. (2019). Overcoming barriers to communication. [online] ddujournal.theddu.com. Available at: https://ddujournal.theddu.com/issue-archive/spring-2019/overcoming-barriers-to-communication.
Easson, E. (2020). Communicating effectively with patients. BDJ Team, 7(10), pp.21–21. doi:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41407-020-0467-x.
[vi] Yuan, S., Freeman, R., Hill, K., Newton, T. and Humphris, G. (2020). Communication, Trust and Dental Anxiety: A Person-Centred Approach for Dental Attendance Behaviours. Dentistry Journal, 8(4), p.118. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/dj8040118.
[vii] www.profsolutions.com. (n.d.). Using Electronic Communication with Dental Patients – Professional Solutions. [online] Available at: https://www.profsolutions.com/industries/dentists/insurance/risk-management/using-electronic-communication-with-dental-patients/.
[viii] Oral Health Group. (2021). Pros and Cons of Communication Platforms. [online] Available at: https://www.oralhealthgroup.com/features/pros-and-cons-of-communication-platforms/.
[ix] www.skygroup.sky. (n.d.). CALL DECLINED! A quarter of 18-24s refuse to pick up the phone says new research. [online] Available at: https://www.skygroup.sky/article/call-declined-# [Accessed 17 May 2024].
[x] Samani, A. (2022). Confronting the Great Resignation: How technology can help retain and attract practice staff. [online] Dentistry IQ. Available at: https://www.dentistryiq.com/practice-management/article/14233710/confronting-the-great-resignation-how-technology-can-help-retain-and-attract-dental-practice-staff [Accessed 17 May 2024].
adanews.ada.org. (n.d.). Automation a tool to rejuvenate practices. [online] Available at: https://adanews.ada.org/ada-news/2022/june/automation-a-tool-to-rejuvenate-practices/.
[xi] Samani, A. (2022). Confronting the Great Resignation: How technology can help retain and attract practice staff. [online] Dentistry IQ. Available at: https://www.dentistryiq.com/practice-management/article/14233710/confronting-the-great-resignation-how-technology-can-help-retain-and-attract-dental-practice-staff [Accessed 17 May 2024].
[xii] Bhatia, R., C Vora, E. and Panda, A. (2018). Pediatric Dental Appointments No-show: Rates and Reasons. International Journal of Clinical Pediatric Dentistry, [online] 11(3), pp.171–176. doi:https://doi.org/10.5005/jp-journals-10005-1506.
[xiii] Garner, M. (2024). Missed appointments are missed opportunities. [online] The Dentist. Available at: https://www.the-dentist.co.uk/content/news/missed-appointments-are-missed-opportunities/ [Accessed 17 May 2024].
[xiv] blog.dentally.com. (n.d.). Effective recalls that benefit your practice. [online] Available at: https://blog.dentally.com/en-gb/effective-recalls-that-benefit-your-practice [Accessed 17 May 2024].
[xv] www.smslocal.com. (2022). SMS Marketing Stats: The Secret to SMS Marketing Success 23. [online] Available at: https://www.smslocal.com/blog/5-stats-that-prove-2017-is-the-year-for-sms-marketing/?trk=article-ssr-frontend-pulse_little-text-block [Accessed 21 May 2024].
[xvi] www.smslocal.com. (2022). SMS Marketing Stats: The Secret to SMS Marketing Success 23. [online] Available at: https://www.smslocal.com/blog/5-stats-that-prove-2017-is-the-year-for-sms-marketing/?trk=article-ssr-frontend-pulse_little-text-block [Accessed 21 May 2024].
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