Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of patients in many dental clinics has significantly decreased. Dental practices may continue to suffer from this situation unless approaches that include innovative and smart technology are adopted to increase patient numbers. While it may not be possible for patient visits to reach pre-COVID-19 levels in the near future, you can take the first step to boost your clinic's patient traffic by following our recommendations.
Most clinics have had a similar practice for many years. Analyzing appointments, tracking patient visits, creating an appointment tracking system, and determining how to create a new program to maximize patient numbers can be a crucial first step in increasing your patient count.
Inform the front desk to encourage patients to schedule their next appointment before leaving the clinic. A study by the Elvin Group Data Center revealed that 80% of clinics ask patients with completed treatments when they want to come back, while 20% do not offer the next appointment unless there is a specific treatment. This suggests that patients are not appropriately addressed when they come to the counter after appointments. While encouraging patients to schedule their next appointment, emphasize the importance of appointment tracking and suggest they schedule appointments for convenient dates.
Additionally, your patients can schedule appointments online through Medicasimple, allowing them to choose the most suitable time without going through the front desk. Facilitating online appointment scheduling can be beneficial for both your patients and your clinic.
Many clinics lose 3% to 10% of their patients because they do not show up for appointments or cancel them at the last minute. While each clinic has a different workflow, having a robust patient record system can help reduce these losses. You can send messages to your patients either two days or two hours before the appointment for confirmation, avoiding the need to individually call each patient.
With Medicasimple's automatic reminders and notifications feature, you can send automated messages to your patients before and after their appointments, saving time for both your patients and clinic staff.
Expanding your list of treatments involves more than just adding new procedures or services. Adding various treatments such as transparent aligner therapy and bruxism treatment to your services can help increase your clinic's visitation rates.
Before expanding your treatment list, focus on delivering existing services effectively, including relatively simple procedures like fluoride treatment and teeth whitening. Concentrating on these can help increase the frequency of your patients' visits.
Dental clinics can succeed through an effective revenue and expense system. To ensure smooth payment processes at each stage, you should use a cloud-based clinic management system in your dental practice.
Through automatic invoicing and online payment systems, you can increase your cash flow and improve the patient experience by offering multiple payment options. Additionally, this can reduce the stress on your front desk team, preventing a decrease in their efficiency.
Wouldn't you want the time spent in your dental clinic's waiting room to positively impact patient experiences? Prioritizing the reduction of waiting times will increase patient satisfaction. Direct your patients to the waiting room and, if it's their first visit, introduce them to the facilities (such as the TV, air conditioning, or water dispenser). Inform them about the expected wait time to avoid any surprises. Patients will appreciate being informed in advance instead of wondering why the wait is taking so long.
Technical knowledge in areas such as "customer service" and "marketing" can be applied in the dental field. The feedback loop is highly beneficial for improving your experiences with patients. The feedback loop includes both positive and negative feedback. To prevent patient losses and enhance your clinic's success, pay attention to the feedback your patients share about their experiences.
Patients today use online platforms (Google, Doctor Calendar, Doctor Site, etc.) to share their opinions. Responding to feedback is essential to patient satisfaction. Provide good support to your patients and give them the opportunity to express positive or negative feedback. Besides online reviews, remember that your patients will share their experiences at your clinic through word of mouth. If your patient is satisfied with your treatments, they will speak highly of your clinic to others. Conversely, patients who have had a bad experience will not hesitate to share it. Therefore, pay attention to how your clinic is being promoted through word of mouth, making sure your patients do not have negative experiences.
Embracing innovations in your clinic is one of the biggest factors that connect patients to your clinic. When your patients notice that you keep up with the latest innovations, you will be successful in attracting potential patients and ensuring the continuity of existing patients in your clinic.
Considering today's technology, think about what innovations you can make for your patients and your clinic. Bring your dental clinic into the digital age by adopting a cloud-based system to increase the comfort and safety of your patients. Contact Medicasimple now for an excellent patient experience.
