Approximately 55% of patients across all age groups prefer text messaging as a communication channel over phone calls. Dental practice text messaging services, such as Dental Intelligence 2-Way Communication, offer a convenient way to boost your revenue while staying in touch with your valuable customers.

Reduce No-shows

Your dental practice regularly calls patients to remind them of upcoming appointments. But if your calls keep going to voicemail, patients may forget about their appointment completely, which means lost revenue for you.

If your practice struggles with no-shows, try switching to text messaging as your primary form of communication. Patients are more likely to notice and respond to text-based appointment reminders — all it takes is a few seconds for them to text back "YES" to let your practice know they’re coming. This will automatically update to confirm their appointment in your practice management system.

Book More Appointments

Your patients lead busy lives, so it’s not surprising when they forget to book an appointment for their next teeth cleaning, annual exam, or other dental services. Don’t wait around hoping patients remember to make an appointment — use text messaging to remind them instead. Allow them to easily book an appointment through a link using Online Scheduling. You can even send Digital Forms through text messages to save time when patients arrive at your practice.

Unlike phone and email-based reminders, patients are more likely to see and respond to text message communications. In fact, 85% of people read text messages within the first five minutes of receiving them, whereas phone calls often go unanswered. Additionally, patients only open one out of every four emails they receive.

Improve Your Availability

Text messaging allows patients to connect with your office more easily when they have questions or concerns. Your practice is likely busy all day long, making it difficult for patients to reach a team member over the phone — and that’s if they can find time in their schedule to call you during regular business hours.

Thanks to text messaging services, patients can send and receive messages when it’s convenient for them. Plus, text messages don’t disappear, which makes it easy for patients to refer to your advice whenever they need to.

Increase Revenue Through Text Advertisements

Phone calls aren’t the only thing your patients ignore. Many people receive piles of mail to sift through every day, so it’s not surprising if your postal advertisements get lost in the shuffle. Mail-based advertisements are expensive to produce and send too.

Text message ads are cheaper and far more effective than traditional advertising. Try sending promotions featuring a discount on teeth whitening and other cosmetic dental services before summer vacations, during the holidays, or throughout the wedding season to boost your practice’s revenue all year.

Educate Your Patients

Your patients interact with your practice just a few times a year, so they’ll likely forget about you between visits. To keep your practice in their thoughts, try sending helpful advice and educational information through regular patient text messaging. For instance, you can remind patients of the importance of flossing or give tips on recognizing cavities or gum disease.

A Word About Patient Privacy

While texting your patients is convenient, keeping HIPAA laws in mind is vital, especially if your texts contain Protected Health Information (PHI). For secure text messaging, HIPAA requires your practice to send texts through an encrypted communication channel. Patients must also give consent to receive text messages from you.

Patients are allowed to send your practice unencrypted texts if they wish. But remember that you always need to gain their consent before responding to ensure you don’t violate HIPAA.

How To Get Started with Dental Patient Text Messaging

If you have goals to book more appointments and reduce no-shows, then switch to 2-Way Communication. Our innovative system offers automated patient reminders, a real-time patient chat feature, and seamless syncing with your practice’s patient management system. Schedule a demo today!