Are you using all the technology you can to make your dental practice more successful? If yours is like most dental practices, the answer is no. In fact, our recent survey found that 68 percent of dental practices are missing at least one of 7 critical types of automation.
Check to see if you’re missing crucial automation features with the tips below.
- Does your recall reminder system sync with your PMS to send reminders automatically? Using a system like Lighthouse 360 lets you automatically reach out to patients by email, text, phone, and postcards without having to manually schedule the outreach.
- Do you use automated treatment plan reminders? When patients leave your office with unscheduled treatment recommendations, treatment plan reminders encourage them to actually make an appointment and return. Since only one-third of dental offices use automated treatment plan reminders, doing so can really put you ahead of the pack. (Pro tip: Look for a system like Lighthouse 360 that knows the difference between hygiene appointments and doctor visits so you always send the appropriate reminders.)
- How do you fill canceled appointments? Last-minute cancellations are a huge headache for any practice. Lighthouse 360’s new Fill-In feature simplifies the task so your front desk doesn't have to scramble. Fill-In detects cancellations, finds patients with an interest in taking the spot, then contacts them automatically.
- Do you automate appointment confirmations? Very few patients respond to the first confirmation contact, but reaching out to them over and over takes time away from more important front desk tasks. Look for software that automatically updates confirmed appointments in your PMS without manual effort from your staff, and syncs with your PMS at least every 10 minutes so information is always accurate.
- Do you manage online reviews automatically? If you're like many dental offices, soliciting and managing reviews tends to fall through the cracks in a busy day. Lighthouse 360 automatically requests patient reviews to help boost your reputation and attract more patients.
- How do you reactivate dormant patients? Getting dormant patients back into the office is a simple way to boost your practice’s revenues. But sorting through charts to see who hasn't visited recently, then reaching out to them manually, is time-consuming and inefficient. Lighthouse 360 automatically contacts dormant patients and helps to reactivate them. This is one of the top three areas that most dental practices want to automate. If you haven't done so yet, what are you waiting for?
- Does your patient communication system allow for personalization? Your patient contact may be automated, but you don't want patients to feel like they’re communicating with a machine. Look for patient communication tools like Lighthouse 360 that let you personalize outreach with birthday greetings, customized messages based on patient notes, the ability to directly text patients from your dashboard, and more.
Check to see if you’re missing crucial automation features with our Dental Practice Self-Assessment survey.
