‍Did you know that August 10 is National Patient Appreciation Day? Whether you choose this or another date, it’s important to mark a day in your calendar to show your patients how much you value them. 

Fortunately, it doesn’t take much to show patients how grateful you are for their loyalty. One way to do that is to have an annual patient appreciation day at your dental practice.

Here are our favorite easy-to-execute ideas for patient appreciation day:

1. Offer Free or Discounted Services

On your patient appreciation day, consider offering free or heavily discounted services like dental exams or teeth cleaning. Alternatively, you could give patients coupons for future treatments, such as $25 off their next teeth whitening. 

It’s also a good idea to award referrals on this day. Give discounts to anyone who brings a friend or relative for the first time. New patients should also get a free introductory service. That’s a fantastic way to not only show appreciation to current patients but also attract new ones — and make a stellar first impression.

2. Hand Out Freebies

People love free stuff. Consumer studies show that 83% of customers are more likely to generate return business if you give them a gift, and 90% will remember your practice name and logo if you print them on free merch.

With this in mind, consider having branded door prizes or swag giveaways, at least on your patient appreciation day, if not year-round. Opt for functional items that will remind patients of your practice each time they use them, such as:

• Pens or pencils
• Notepads
• Sticky notes
• Calendars
• Coasters
• Keyrings
• Flash drives
• Tote bags
• Water bottles
• Kids’ coloring books

By the same token, you want to stay away from non-functional items like stickers, silicone wristbands, or fridge magnets. Your patients probably won't hang on to these items for long. 

Another great marketing tip to consider for your patient appreciation day is offering free healthy snacks and drinks before or after appointments. Think fresh or dried fruit, trail mix, herbal teas, or bottles of water.

3. Organize Educational Sessions on Dental Health

People appreciate free information just as much, if not more, than free swag. Your patient appreciation day offers an excellent opportunity to educate your clientele on new treatments and technologies or dentistry in general. 

To that end, you can give demonstrations in your office, host in-person or online webinars, invite guest experts to give talks, or have a Get To Know the Staff Day, during which patients can ask questions and learn more about your practice and services. 

Bonus Tip: Develop a Patient Loyalty Program

You shouldn’t limit your patient appreciation efforts to just one day of the year. If you want to see real revenue growth, go the extra mile and integrate our ideas for patient appreciation day into a year-round program for loyal patients. 

Implementing a full-fledged loyalty program for patients may sound daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. 

At Dental Intelligence, we know that running your practice and caring for your patients takes up most of your time. You likely don’t have the bandwidth to brainstorm and develop a loyalty program on top of your other responsibilities. That’s why we developed a turnkey patient loyalty program that you can use off the shelf. 

Our proprietary solution enables you to reward patients automatically for things such as:

• Confirming appointments
• Showing up on timeFilling out their paperwork
• Referring family and friends
• Making payments on time

Patients can then exchange their points for rewards such as free or discounted dental services, dental products like electronic toothbrushes, gift cards for Amazon or local businesses, and more. You are free to customize the rewards and incentivize virtually every positive action to encourage engagement and efficiency, delight patients, and increase retention.

We Know You Appreciate Your Patients — Make Sure They Know It Too

Studies show that it costs five times more to attract a new patient than to keep an existing one. But that’s not all: Raising retention rates by just 5% can increase your profits by up to 95%.

At Dental Intelligence, we understand that patient appreciation efforts are vital to increasing retention and generating return business. Consider implementing our ideas for patient appreciation day. Then, contact us to schedule a free demo and learn how we can help boost your revenue through patient loyalty programs.