When you think about it, it’s easy to see why automated appointment software is critical for any dental practice. Saving time and money is all the rage in today’s fast-paced world and just like many dental practices, the goal is to increase patient retention and decrease no-show rates. However, manual processes are very time-consuming and with each year that passes by, these inefficiencies will cost your dental practice more and more.

Automated appointment software can help by eliminating manual, repetitive appointment processes and freeing time for your staff to focus on providing better patient experiences. With that said, here are three tips that can save time and money for your dental practice:

Optimize Chair Time Using Automated Reminders

Studies show that around 10% of dental appointments are canceled each year. Cancellations and no-shows are inevitable but with the help of some tools, we can take the proper steps to recover lost revenue by encouraging patient engagement and optimizing chair time. 

Automated appointment software is great because of its ability to help with:

Appointment reminders 

As mentioned in our most recent guide, 4 Highly Effective Strategies to Reduce No-Shows, the number one reason for missing an appointment is that patients simply forget. Most people have a busy life and their schedules can change quickly. If you don’t give them a reminder, they may not remember to come in at all. Appointment reminders are a great way to ensure that your patients are not only reminded of their appointments but also come prepared. 

But what does coming prepared have to do with patients showing up for their appointments?

Along with lack of awareness or forgetting, Dental Anxiety was actually listed among the top 3 reasons why patients aren’t showing up for their appointments. Appointment-specific reminders can help patients better prepare for their upcoming trips to the dentist by including information such as pre-appointment instructions like fasting, dental provider, date, and time. 

Recall reminders and automated appointment requests

Dental checkups are one of the most important components of preventative dental care. These appointments help detect dental problems early enough that they can be treated before they become more serious.

With automated recall reminders in place, you can alert your patients when it’s time to come back for that check-up. Additionally, patients can book their recall appointments with ease using the appointment request links attached to their e-mail or text reminders. 

Waitlist management

Remember when we talked about recovering lost revenue and optimizing chair time? Well, waitlist management is your golden ticket. When last-minute cancellations arise, having a waitlist of patients available to fill those appointment slots on short notice can help recover lost revenue for your practice. 

Two-Way Chat Is Your Best Friend 

In the past, patients would try and get in touch with the dental practice via phone call. And if they weren’t able to get through on the phone, then they would have to send an email and hope to get a response in under 48 hours. Luckily, there is an automated appointment software solution that can make the dental journey more efficient for the patient and your dental staff. 

Two-way chat helps your staff spend less time on the phone and more time with patients. If a patient has questions about their treatment or payment options, they can send them directly via text message and get an instant response during work hours. This saves time for both parties because neither has to spend time on hold waiting for their call to be answered by someone else.

Accelerate The Intake Process With Digital Forms

When thinking about the traditional intake process, what is the one thing that takes up the most time? 

One word: Forms. 

One of the biggest problems with traditional paper intake forms is that they require patients to fill them out prior to their appointments. Every time a patient has to manually fill out a form, each appointment that day gets pushed back by the amount of time it took to fill the forms out. This extra waiting time can be extremely frustrating and inconvenient — not just for the patients but for your staff as well. 

With digital forms, however, there’s no need for patients to fill forms out at the clinic before seeing the dental provider because they can complete their forms on their own time. This can reduce manual data entry and eliminate errors, save operational costs by saving staff and patient time, and free up some physical space in the office that was getting taken up by paper forms. 

Not Sure Where To Start?

It’s important to note not every automated appointment software in the market is made equal or puts focus on the same objective. As you browse the market, ensure that you are prioritizing software that would help your dental providers produce optimal treatment outcomes and create efficiencies for staff at your practice, while also increasing practice revenue year by year. If you were curious to know more about how to choose the right appointment software and see some recommendations, our blog “Your Buyer’s Guide for Appointment Reminder Software” is a good place to start. 

What Intiveo’s Automated Appointment Software Can Do For You 

At Intiveo, we put together our dedication to enhancing the patient experience with our love for automation – and with that, we’ve come out with a super-software designed to optimize communication at each touchpoint your patient has with your practice. Simple appointment reminders are awesome, but we believe that the success of a dental practice depends on so much more than just getting your patients to show up for their appointments. 

Some of our goals for your practice are to:

• Increase appointment confirmation rates using our “Reminders” feature.
• Decrease appointment no-shows and last-minute cancellations.
• Save your staff at least 3 hours of time a day with automation. 
• Increase your form completion rates using our robust “Forms” feature. 
• Supercharge your patient reviews with our “Social Reviews”. 

Above all, we want to get you connected with your patients beyond routine conversations. Book a 30-minute meeting today to see how Intiveo can help create a better practice for you and a better experience for your patients.