What’s on your mind as a dental clinic Office Manager? Keeping the patients coming in, most likely. Ensuring the dentist’s chair is always full. Running the office with the efficiency that makes all that possible.
And of course, you want to be confident that the practice is delivering amazing dental patient care. That’s what gets people back, and it’s what gets people recommending you. In a perfect world: a patient walks in, is immediately greeted and assisted by the receptionist, and is with the dentist or hygienist within minutes. The appointment proceeds smoothly, the patient wraps up any loose ends with the receptionist, and they’re off to resume their day.
Of course, it doesn’t always go so seamlessly.
Despite everyone’s best intentions, things have a habit of getting in the way of this ideal flow.
At some point, you have to accept that there’s nothing you can do to eliminate some of these problems. An appointment simply may take the dentist longer than they expected.
However, let’s talk about that moment the patient walks through the door. Is there a way you can increase the chance that they’re ready to greet them immediately, and whatever else may be going on, at least let them feel as though they’re a priority?
The good news is that there’s a lot you can do to free up your receptionist to allow them to focus more on serving those currently in the clinic.
The most important tool you may not be using is automated reminders. Rather than having to manually confirm patient attendance, one-by-one—sometimes over days when the patient isn’t picking up—you can simply set such a system up to send out messages requesting confirmation automatically.
If the patient doesn’t respond, you can have that message automatically resend—perhaps through a different medium as well.
With the right tool, you can also send additional information specific to your clinic—such as directions, or parking tips. You can even send instructions for specific procedures so that patients show up ready and reduce confusion on the day.
All without your receptionists actually having to pick up the phone. And less time on the phone means that they have more time to dedicate to making the patient experience outstanding for those arriving for their appointments.
A system like this is a phenomenal way for dental offices to reduce their no-shows while improving their dental patient care. And when they leave? Rather than dwelling on the irritation of having to wait to be seen to before their uncomfortable appointment, they’ll be happy to have been treated from a person from the second they walked through the door.
EasyMarkit is an automated patient reminder system built to allow receptions to provide a better standard of patient experience. It includes all these features and more—such as smooth integration with your existing Patient Management System. To find out more and book a demo, click here.