Do you find that your dental practice is bogged down by menial tasks?
While these tasks are vital to running a thriving business, they can wear the best of us down. They are the dotted i’s and crossed t’s that ensure everything is above-board and that you possess information like patient records or provide optimal customer service.
Fortunately, there’s a way for you and your team to streamline these many processes.
Below, we’ll show you a few of the ways that embracing simple dental technology and software will help you and your staff focus on what’s most important.
1. Appointment Scheduling And Reminders Software
All dental practices need to use appointment reminder software. It’s a non-negotiable in this day and age.
When you have an infallible source of technology that can ensure you don’t have any appointment-based confusion or snafus, why rely on manual methods?
Even better, the options on the market are plentiful. You can base your choice of appointment reminder software on budget and scale.
No matter your finances, you need software that sends appointment reminders through text or email. Your tech must also provide patients with confirmation options, so they don’t need to call the office.
Provided it’s in your budgetary cards, seek an appointment reminder software that can message patients with notifications about vacant appointments. Additionally, pursue technology that can make automated confirmation calls to patients who don’t have email addresses or phone numbers on file.
2. Digital Billing Payments and Statements For Patients And Insurance Purposes
If you haven’t already, it’s time to embrace payment and statement technology!
Most practice management software lets you send patients digital statements, including a link allowing them to pay bills digitally.
Such efficient tech eliminates the need to print and mail statements requiring manual processing when payments are received.
Furthermore, digital options for insurance payments have been available for a while.
Utilizing such tech to its fullest extent will cut down significantly on payment processing times. It’ll also substantially reduce how long you spend on data entry and bank deposits.
When you lack this software, your team can get caught in the weeds on paperwork, slowing progress and preventing your practice from flourishing as it should.
3. Live Chat On Your Website
More often than not, you’ll find that an influx of new and current patients will use the live chat feature if you add it to your website.
Of course, you’re not using this tool to answer hyper-complex questions about oral health. However, chatbots can handle straightforward questions so that you and your team can focus more on complex issues.
A live chat bot provides that initial layer of immediately accessible customer service. Your prospective and current clients might not want to call you or send an email to wait for an answer. Their inquiry could be straightforward and quickly answered by a bot.
Still not convinced? Here are three chatbot stats to consider:
- Almost 70% of customers prefer chatbots because they immediately answer basic questions.
- 95% of consumers think that chatbots will offer the most benefit to customer service.
- Nearly 60% of consumers prefer messaging a business for assistance than calling them on the phone.
Beyond the heightened customer satisfaction, this tech is a data collection tool, allowing your team to respond when there’s space in their schedule – not during a drawn-out phone call.
4. Electronic Health Records
Your patients won’t notice your adoption of electronic health records, yet they’ll benefit from them all the same. In fact, the resulting experience offered by your practice will wow those very same unaware patients.
For instance, a patient can arrive at your office with an emergency – let’s say a sports accident that breaks their tooth. With electronic health records, your team can instantly pull up the patient’s history. From there, your team can clarify any dental benefit-related issues based on the treatment and quickly collate any referral or insurance claim information.
In emergency situations, you need to act fast – and your patients will be eternally thankful for your immediate action. Electronic health records empower you to do just that.
How Making The Tech Transition Will Improve Your Practice
We delved into some stats earlier, but here are 3 more for you to mull over:
- 90% of surveyed employees feel burdened with tedious and repetitious tasks that can be automated easily.
- Almost 70% of employees suffer due to work overload.
- Over 80% of workers could reach a breaking point without automation to handle high workload volumes.
Employing technology to automate and streamline your practice’s operations will benefit your staff as much as your patients. What you spend upfront will be vastly eclipsed by productivity and patient satisfaction.
Now, it’s time to perform your market research and find the technology that best suits your practice’s needs and budget. It’ll be the best decision you make for your practice’s lasting success!