Personal Touch vs. Automation: Winning Patient Retention

Dental Drills Bits

Are you struggling with patient no-shows that disrupt your dental practice’s schedule?

In this rerun episode of Dental Drill Bits, Sandy and Michael dive deep into practical strategies to minimize cancellations and improve patient attendance. The conversation kicks off with a focus on the art of clear communication, where they assert the power of personalized phone calls over cold automated messages. These personal touches not only confirm appointments but also strengthen the patient-practice bond, making each patient feel recognized and appreciated.

Moving beyond communication, Sandy and Michael explore the often-overlooked aspect of office efficiency, from managing personnel roles to implementing effective scheduling systems. They provide a candid critique of over-automation, pointing out how it can erode patient relations and lead to an uptick in unattended appointments. By sharing relatable anecdotes and actionable advice, Sandy illustrates the importance of addressing unconfirmed slots quickly and empathizing with patient concerns from the get-go. Wrapping up, the hosts offer a toolkit for handling broken appointments and stress the need for practices to take charge of their scheduling processes to foster efficiency and elevate patient care.

What You'll Learn in This Episode:

• The significance of personalized communication over automated messages.
• The role of clear communication in reducing no-shows and cancellations.
• How to balance automation with personal patient relations.
• Effective appointment confirmation techniques that engage patients.
• Strategies for efficient schedule management, including personnel roles.
• Tips for promptly addressing unconfirmed appointments.
• Handling patient objections to decrease cancellations.
• Insights into maintaining a patient-first approach throughout the scheduling process.

Tune in now to transform your practice's appointment strategies and strengthen patient connections!

(This episode originally aired on Sep 06, 2023)

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