5 Ways Appointment Reminder Software Can Help During the Busy Season

How Appointment Reminder Software Helps the Busy Season

As the end of the year approaches, things are going to get busy for your dentistry practice. The end-of-year rush by your patients to use up their benefits will result in a heavy workload for your staff. As appointment scheduling, appointment reminders, and follow-ups about paperwork and pre-/post-appointment instructions eat up your staff’s time, any inefficiencies in your office workflow can become apparent.

It’s not an easy moment for a dentistry practice’s staff! But, there is good news. Heading into the December rush, find ways to streamline your workflow before it gets underway!

It’s particularly important to look at your workflow around appointments and appointment reminders. Ask yourself these key questions:

• When your patients book their appointments, how is that appointment getting confirmed? Are you sending an automated message? An email?
• How are you sending any pre- or post-appointment instructions? Are you giving them a piece of paper that you hope they’ll take home and stick on their fridge?
• Are you doing all your appointment reminders manually? Could you automate them? What tools are at your disposal to do that?
• The most important question: when are you sending any of this messaging? Is it at the most meaningful time?

Daunted by changing some of these workflows? This is where appointment reminder software can help!

Create Efficiencies with Appointment Reminder Software

Here are our five tips for making your practice more efficient with appointment reminders!

Tip #1: Automate Your Appointment Reminders
This is a key part of time savings at your practice. Switching from manual reminders to automated reminders is a true game-changer.

Tip #2: Digital Over Hardcopy
It is much easier to lose a piece of paper than it is to lose your home computer or your smartphone. Giving your patients hard-copy pre- and post-appointment instructions increases the chance that they will mislay and then disregard the instructions. By sending these instructions digitally, your patients have a copy on hand to consult.

This is also a good tip for forms! Sending forms digitally increases the rate at which patients fill them out. It also often ensures that they’ve filled out the forms before they come into your practice!

Tip #3: Send Multiple Reminders
Having a multi-message workflow not only keeps your patients engaged, but also lessens the chance of them missing an appointment. Sending multiple reminders, complete with any necessary instructions, reduces the chance of no-shows.

Tip #4: Time Those Reminders!
Sending multiple reminders is great – but optimizing the time that you send them is also key. By reminding patients two days before their appointment as well as the night before, for example, you send that reminder with enough time for them to reschedule, if needed. But, you are also prepping them to be ready for the appointment itself.

Tip #5: Invest in Appointment Reminder Software
Investing in appointment reminder software can make the tips listed above that much easier! This can keep your patients not only informed, but completely on top of their appointment commitments.

Intiveo: Appointment Reminder Software That Delivers

This last tip in regards to appointment reminder software can seem a little daunting. After all, choosing a new software to complement your PMS is a big step! However, it is truly an integral part of the modern dentistry practice.  To get a better sense of what you can expect from appointment reminder software, let’s look at Intiveo since it’s the software we know best.  Our appointment reminder software, includes features such as:

• Ability to send messages by text, email, or phone
• Integration with your current scheduler
• 2-way chat between staff and patients 
• A messaging cadence that is specific to an appointment type, providing reminders and informative messaging at key moments leading up to the appointment
• An automatic confirmation message for your patients to respond to, letting you know if you can expect a no-show or a cancellation
• Plus, an HIPAA compliant program that protects their information!

Curious about Intiveo? Get in touch for a meeting! 

Give Your Staff the Gift of Time

As you head into the end-of-year holiday crunch, make sure your staff has some breathing room. As you know, this can be an incredibly profitable time for your practice. It’s important to maximize this time.

To support your staff adequately, consider automating workflows at your practice. One of the most efficient ways to automate that workflow is by choosing an appointment reminder software. This creates incredible time savings for your staff!

Check out Intiveo’s appointment reminder software by booking a meeting today!