Optimizing Your Practice With Patient Communication Software

Are you a general or pediatric dentist who also specializes in orthodontics? If so, then there are several tools that can help you manage and optimize that area of your practice.

These include patient communication software platforms, which make it easier than ever for people to book appointments for treatment, ask questions about their dental care, and communicate with your team.

Investing in this type of technology can help you grow your practice, improve the level of care you provide, and encourage patients to engage with you on a more consistent basis. Today, we’re sharing everything you need to know about the top 5 solutions in this space.

What are patient communication software platforms?

In the dental realm, patient miscommunication is responsible for a bevy of issues, including appointment no-shows, cancellations, and time-consuming callbacks.

With the right patient communication software, you can avoid many of these problems altogether. These platforms simplify patient engagement and allow you to maintain regular communication with your new and current patients.

This is an especially effective way to engage with patients to whom you’ve recommended orthodontic care. By streamlining these communications, you can more easily follow up on proposed treatment in a gentle, informative way and explain why they’re so important.

Through text and email campaigns, you can facilitate two-way communication that makes it easy for patients to ask questions, receive information, and schedule treatment.

Meanwhile, you can also save time and money at the office. Patient communication software allows you to send appointment reminders, manage recalls, and even automate manual back-office tasks (such as new patient paperwork).

The result? Patients who are happier and more satisfied with their orthodontics experience and more willing to reach out when they need support or follow-up treatment.

As these systems help your team members sharpen their communication skills, they’re also working in the background to build your bottom line. Dentists who pursue advanced technology now are poised to be more competitive, cost-effective, and profitable in years to come.

The Top 5 Platforms to Consider

As you begin to research the best dental patient communication platform, you’ll soon find that there are more options than you realized! To save you time and energy, we’ve compiled the best of the best for you. Here are our top 5 recommendations:

Solutionreach

Solutionreach is designed to help dental professionals manage their growing practices. Features of this digital platform include:

• Appointment reminders
• Contactless payment
• Two-way texting

Dentists can also leverage the tool’s add-on features, which include:

• Online appointment-scheduling
• Online reviews
• Digital intake forms
• Video chat

Its daily Action List list helps you stay organized and updated on all of your tasks and reminders, while automated features like an ASAP waitlist keep your schedule full amid last-minute cancellations. You can also design email newsletters, create drip marketing campaigns to potential ortho patients, and send links for patient referrals, among other functions.

In a recent interview, Solutionreach’s president and CEO explained that the platform allows busy orthodontic practices to confirm patient appointments in real time, which can save your practice time and money. Solutionreach follows a three-three-three pattern, reminding patients of upcoming visits three weeks, three days, and three hours before their appointments.

This way, if an orthodontic patient cancels, you have enough time to fill that appointment with another patient. You can also reschedule the first patient more easily. With communication tools like these, Solutionreach cites that the average dental practice—orthodontics included—achieves a no-show rate of less than 5%.

Weave

The Weave platform spans several different products, with solutions for your dental office that include:

• Digital forms
• Web assistant
• Phone systems
• Two-way text messaging
• Customer-insight management
• Payment processing
• Team communication

You can also access advanced practice analytics through Weave. This tool can give you better insight into your high-priority orthodontic patients, including those who have outstanding, unscheduled, or canceled appointments.

In addition, you can follow up on recommended orthodontic services through text-message and email-marketing campaigns. With these resources, you will have everything you need to jump-start your engagement efforts and delight both your current and future patients.

Demandforce

If patient engagement is a top focus at your practice (and it should be), then consider the all-in-one Demandforce platform. Different products available include:

• Two-way texts
• Appointment reminders
• Mobile check-ins
• Last-minute appointment hotlists
• Email templates
• Direct mail postcards
• Phone communication system
• Reputation management

One of the greatest features of Demandforce is its ability to get live desktop alerts any time a patient engages with the system. This way, you can stay up-to-date on all activities, even when you’re busy.

There’s also a mobile app, so you can connect and communicate from anywhere at any time. To see all of your upcoming orthodontic appointments in one place, check out the platform’s Demandforce Live tool. Not only can you view confirmed appointments, but you can also access new appointment requests and engage patients with two-way texting.

RevenueWell

RevenueWell is one of the most established platforms on this list, and for good reason. This comprehensive solution features many different products designed to automate manual tasks, simplify patient engagement, and boost productivity at your dental office.

A few of the available resources include:

• Electronic dental forms
• Phone systems
• Text messaging
• Marketing software
• Social media engagement

From treatment plan follow-ups to customized post-op instructions, dentists can use RevenueWell to facilitate a range of patient communications. One of our favorite functions is its Screen Pop, which displays a current profile of each patient any time they engage with your practice through the portal.

As you browse the various features, take special note of RevenueWell’s social media software. This platform can help dentists optimize their internet presence and become active on sites such as Facebook and Instagram.

Not only can this drive more traffic to your website, but it also gives you an excellent platform on which you can share more about your orthodontic services. From images of straight, healthy smiles to testimonials from happy patients, you’ll see your business grow when you click “share.”

Lighthouse360

As a busy dentist, you naturally want to make sure you’re using your (and your team’s) time wisely. Lighthouse 360 can help you automate administrative tasks so you can focus on what’s most important.

Using their tools, you can attract new patients, reactivate former ones, and make sure your current ones stay happy and engaged. Key solutions include:

• Patient recall reminders
• Customizable reminders for inactive patients
• Reminder messages for follow-up treatments
• Appointment scheduling
• Appointment confirmations
• Last-minute cancellation fill-ins
• Online bill pay

Features like these can help you reduce your number of no-shows, increase practice efficiency, boost team morale, and improve your online reputation. In addition, Lighthouse 360 integrates seamlessly with orthodontic-specific practice management systems, including Ortho 2 and Orthotrac.

There’s even a Patient FastTrack function that allows new patients to register and sign electronic documents from their smartphones. With data updates every 10 minutes, you can be confident that you’re always working with the latest information.

Explore these communication software platforms.

These top 5 communication software platforms make it easy for dentists to cater to their orthodontic patients in an innovative way. Gone are the days of jumping through hoops to follow up, confirm, or reschedule appointments.

With these tools, you can establish your reputation as a tech-savvy, patient-focused practice dedicated to patient engagement. Vendor demos can help you further understand how each platform works and explore additional features, so schedule one if a particular solution piques your interest!

For more information on how you can grow your dental practice through orthodontics, reach out to our team.