Dental Office Management Tips for Patient Retention

Dental practice management is not just about running an efficient office. There is also a huge customer service component to dental office management. A good manager knows how to keep patients coming back for years. In fact, successful patient retention can be much more beneficial to your practice than regularly bringing in new clientele.

But patient retention can be pretty tricky. That’s why Dental Practice Enhancement is here to help. If you are struggling to keep patients returning, we can take a look at your dental practice management to see where the problem may lie. Then we can provide training, building on your existing strengths to help you achieve practice success. Alternatively, you could utilize our virtual administrative services, including hygiene recall.

Confused about why you keep losing patients? Contact Dental Practice Enhancement today!

Schedule Appointments While Patients Are Still in the Office

37.6% of patients who miss primary care appointments do so because they forget or did not know about their appointments in the first place. Scheduling follow-up appointments while patients are still in the office is one easy way to ensure that patients know about upcoming visits.

Use a Script When Calling Patients

When you need to call patients, having a recall script can be very helpful. Scripts help you sound professional and efficient, but they needn’t deprive you of the personal touch that makes patients feel at home.

The team at Dental Practice Enhancement can provide you with warm, yet professional, recall scripts. If needed, we can also train your team to use better communication protocol in person and on the phone.

Stay on Schedule

Doctors with the highest online ratings keep their patients waiting an average of 13 minutes. Longer wait times correlate to plummeting reviews. There are many ways you can improve practice efficiency, from using block scheduling to improving communication about no-shows and cancellations. We can help if you are not sure how to get your practice back on track.

Truly Make Your Patients Feel Like Family

Practices often use marketing lines like, “We treat our patients like family!” But this means nothing if you don’t go the extra mile to truly make your patients feel comfortable. Greet each person by name when they enter the office. Schedule family appointments together. Show concern for patient comfort during every stage of their visit. This level of personal care is what keeps patients coming back.

Offer Multiple Payment Options

40% of potential dental patients don’t receive care because they believe they can’t afford it. That’s why a key to improving your dental office management may be to offer flexible financing options. These could include in-house financing, collaborating with third-party lenders, or offering dental membership programs.

Outsource Your Hygiene Recall

Finally, consider outsourcing your hygiene recall. Our administrators can call or email your patients to remind them of upcoming visits. This saves your team time and effort, allowing them to focus on providing great care to the patients currently in the office.

Contact Us for More Dental Office Management Tips

Make dental office management simpler and more effective with services from Dental Practice Enhancement.