The aftermath of COVID-19 has most likely been very difficult for you and your team. At this time, you may be stressed and anxious with the overflow of patients needing to be seen. You are probably also worried about some patients not reacting well to your new office protocols. Will you be able to provide a calm and welcoming experience for your patients? Are you worried some patients will complain about wearing masks while others may feel less connected to your team with all the PPE you are now bundled up in? These could be just a couple of the questions that are frantically running through your mind.
Rest assured, there are ways to stay organized and keep patients happy during the pandemic and moving forward. Satisfied patients will become loyal to the practice: they will leave great online reviews and recommend your practice to their friends and family. According to Dr. Gina Dorfman, practice owner of Dentistry for Kids and Adults and COO of YAPI, patients prefer modern dental offices. In a study published from Dental Economics, less than 20% of patients refer one new patient per year in a typical practice. Modern dental offices can increase the number of new patient referrals by utilizing smart technology, making a more convenient and trustworthy experience. Here are the ways that you can attract and keep patients coming back to your practice – for good!
Smart Technology & Seamless Systems
The combination of using technology and systems that seamlessly integrate with your practice management software is the key to patient satisfaction. Human beings are wired for connection. By providing your patients with convenient technology such as text appointment reminders, you are providing them a gateway for better communication with your practice.
Systems like YAPI provide you with a wide range of technological solutions, like paperless consent forms and treatment plans, and intra-office messaging that allows you to discreetly communicate with your team. New patients can complete their paperwork electronically from home and any patient can check-in curbside from the comfort of their cars. With a simple text message from the patient to the practice, your team will be alerted on any desktop that the patient has arrived and is ready for check-in. Intra-office messaging allows for smooth and discreet communication between you and your team. It also keeps you focused on the patient and minimizes distractions. When they feel that you are fully present with them in the room, they feel trusting of you and your advice. Digital marketing is also a great tool to aid in patient communication and YAPI POP offers a convenient way to quickly send personalized email campaigns to your patients, remotely and from the practice.
Adjust Your Environment According To The Current Climate
Unfortunately, today our practices are forced to be, and rightly so, sterile, which completely changes the feel of our environment for our patients. Patients want to feel safe more than anything, which is why we want to adjust our practices to fit the current climate and this need. As Dr. Gina often quotes from one of her favorite books, “Selling The Invisible” by Harry Beckwith, patients need to “see it to believe it.”
What can we do to show our patients that we are ensuring them with the safest experience possible in our practices? We can put COVID-19 Safety Precautions and Policy flyers on our walls, which communicate to patients that our offices are operating by these precautions. We can utilize our marketing efforts to communicate with patients that our number one concern is their health and safety. Click here to see posts created by our marketing team here at YAPI for your practice’s social media pages.
Transform Your Practice with YAPI
We must stress, It is not enough for your practice to provide good service in order to satisfy your patients. You also need to utilize smart technology to ensure your patients are happy, as most patients are satisfied with offices that embrace “modernity” and safety. It’s time to adapt our environments to visually and verbally communicate with patients that we are keeping them safe. Satisfied patients will become loyal to the practice: they will leave great online reviews as well as recommend your practice to their friends and family.
You can embrace smart technology in your practice with YAPI, which provides seamless solutions for all of your practice pain points and needs. Click here to take a demo of YAPI and see how it can change your practice for the better.
