Solutions  

Dental

Modernize scheduling and patient support

Beauty & Wellness

Never miss a call, text, chat, or lead submission

Fitness

Automate sales, scheduling and member communications

Features  

USE CASES

AI-led Scheduling

Intelligent technology with human-led conversations

Reports & Insights

The communication metrics you need to grow your business.

Marketing Automation

Reduce redundant tasks that take you away from what matters most.

Omnichannel Customer Service

Manage communications across multiple channels

Multi-Location Support

Grow your customer base with automated marketing tools

Resources  

Blog

Latest updates, guides and news

Partners

Find out more about our partner program

Books & Webinars

Get insight from our free ebooks and webinars

Comparison Library

See how TrueLark stacks up against competitors

ROI Calculator

Calculate your potential revenue booked per year

Customer Stories

How TrueLark brings peace of mind to local business owners

Our Story

How to Outshine Your Competitors With Dental Patient Communication Software

March 14, 2023

SHARE:

One of the most important components of providing an exceptional patient experience at your dental practice is how you interact with your patients. Your front desk plays an important role in setting the tone and providing efficient and friendly service when patients and prospective patients contact you.

Your Staff May Miss Patient Calls

However, your front desk team can’t always take calls. They are often busy helping patients and are not available when your office is closed.

Responding to inquiries immediately is critical – especially for new patients. If they are looking for a dentist and do not receive an instant answer, they may go elsewhere. Studies show that eight out of ten patients who contact you and do not get an immediate response never call back. So, if your front desk staff is busy or a call or text comes in after hours, you may be missing a lot of potential business.

Dental Patient Communications Software Solutions

Dental patient communication software can be an invaluable tool for dental clinics that are looking to streamline processes, improve patient engagement, and establish best practices.

Popular conversational AI for dental practices include two-way texting options that allow for secure messaging between the practice and patients, dental appointment reminders which help to eliminate missed appointment times, and automated patient recalls that help to keep clients up-to-date with their treatment plans. With communication software you have the possibility of streamlining your entire workflow from patient arrival through treatments. AI software helps dental offices provide the best patient experience because it can interact in complex conversations in natural language.

Improve Your Patient Communication

Effective communication is a critical factor in patient satisfaction. More than 93% of patients who gave the highest satisfaction ratings cited communication with the dental office as an essential part of the rating.

Patient Texting and Reminders

The ability to text back and forth allows for quick and easy communication, allowing both parties to stay up-to-date on appointments, tests, and medical decisions. In addition, the use of appointment reminders can help better keep track of scheduled appointments with no need for multiple phone calls or mailers. Automated birthday wishes are a nice touch which show the provider cares about their patient’s special day. 

Appointment confirmations sent through text messaging helps ensure that the patient acknowledges their upcoming appointment so that the office staff can plan accordingly.

Automated Patient Recalls

Patient recalls enable healthcare providers to effectively recall patients for important treatments or follow-up visits. By combining the convenience of text messaging with an efficient reminder system tailored for individual patients, these solutions provide a powerful tool for reducing missed appointments and improving outcomes.

In addition to providing automated reminders and confirmations, many tools also include features such as recall notifications directly from the provider’s office. This type of personalized outreach improves relationships between care providers and their patients while also promoting better health outcomes. They do this by ensuring that vital treatments are not missed or forgotten due to scheduling conflicts or other reasons. With tools like these in healthcare settings, communication between care providers and their patients is more streamlined. This puts everyone on the same page when it comes to monitoring individual health progress and ensuring successful treatments.

Dental Practice Management Software Integrations

By integrating AI software with a comprehensive dental practice management system, dental offices can easily manage appointments, patient records, financials and more. This streamlines all aspects of the business while reducing costs associated with manual operations.

TrueLark Dental Communications

TrueLark communication software platform responds automatically to every text. Conversational AI engages with patients, answers their questions, and books appointments without human intervention.

If someone calls your office and nobody is available to answer, TrueLark records the phone number and immediately responds via text. Your virtual assistant works 24/7 to book and reschedule appointments and handle patient inquiries. You can also add web chat to include your website in your dental communication system.

Schedule Appointments Automatically

TrueLark enables real-time, 24/7 online scheduling via your website or text. This allows patients to make, reschedule and cancel appointments without interacting with your front desk staff or waiting for a return phone call.

TrueLark integrates with your practice management software or booking application to keep everything in sync. This allows patients to find an appointment day and time that works for them without overbooking on your end. You can also restrict appointments during certain hours or on specific days and optimize bookings by suggesting times adjacent to existing appointments.

This eliminates the back-and-forth phone calls and messages that tie up your front desk and does not require patients to fill out a form on your website and wait for a return call.

People are used to scheduling all types of services online. However, barely one out of every four dentists offer online scheduling. This means offering it can give you a competitive advantage.

Reactivate Inactive Patients

Patient retention is an ongoing concern for dental practices. While you should always book the next appointment whenever a patient visits, sometimes patients are no-shows or drift away over time.

While some patients move out of the area, many may have simply forgotten to schedule an appointment or put off seeing the dentist. When you consider that the average lifetime value of a patient is around $12,000 to $15,000, retaining even one more patient can add a considerable amount to your bottom line.

To reduce patient attrition, you should have a plan for reactivating patients. TrueLark allows you to isolate inactive patients and contact them by text. You can suggest cleaning or checkups and automatically schedule them when they respond.

Collect Additional Patient Information

TrueLark’s dental communication software also allows you to collect patient information such as payment and insurance details to save time during check-in or check-out.

You can also interact with patients to learn what they need so you can be prepared when they arrive. Based on their inquiries, you can ask specific questions that help you determine whether they need a cleaning, have a pressing problem, or are interested in other services you offer such as Invisalign or teeth whitening.

Proactive Marketing

You can also use TrueLark for proactive marketing. Send promotional content and other one-way messages to patients that have opted-in. For example, if you have cancellations and open spots, you can let your patients know so they can fill slots. This helps you stay top of mind with your patients and keeps them up-to-date with what is happening at your practice.

Our Software Compatibility

TrueLark is compatible with all major practice management software, including Dentrix, Eaglesoft, Open Dental, and SoftDent. We are constantly adding new features and integrations to ensure that our software meets the needs of our customers.

An excellent communication system is vital for attracting new patients, securing appointments, and retaining current patients. Book a demo to learn how it can improve your individual practice or DSO network.

Originally published July 25, 2022, updated March 14, 2023

Related resources