Every dentist has them: inactive patients who haven’t made an appointment in over 18 months. No matter how busy your dental practice is, patient retention is key to its continued success. With a strategy for dental patient reactivation, you can retarget those lost patients and bring them back into the fold. Below, we’ll discuss basic information about reactivation campaigns and give you our best tips and advice on managing this critical task.

Active Patients vs. Inactive Patients

Active patients are individuals who are marked as active in your practice management system and have received any dental treatment within the last 18 months. Inactive patients are those who are either marked as inactive in your practice management system and/or haven’t completed an appointment in the last 18 months.

Tips and Advice on Dental Reactivation Campaigns and Effective Retargeting

Dental patient reactivation occurs when an inactive patient returns to your practice for treatment. Every successful reactivation benefits your practice by boosting production and profits. You can also increase dental production with Dental Intelligence thanks to our advanced software systems, like Online Scheduling, digital treatment plans, Team Chat, and more. Our cutting-edge solutions help dental professionals build a strong foundation for the success of their practice.

What if you already have a thriving dental practice? Is it even worth your time to chase after old patients? The answer is a resounding yes. Consider this: It costs five times more to attract a new patient than to keep an existing one¹. We can’t demonstrate the importance of patient retention more clearly than that!

Next, we’ll talk about how to start your reactivation efforts and give you our best tips for communicating with inactive patients.

Create an Inactive Patient Database

The first step in a reactivation campaign is making a complete database of previous patients you haven’t treated in the last 18 to 24 months. Be sure to include the following information:

• Patient name
• Address
• Phone number
• Email
• Insurance coverage
• Preferred method of contact
• Date of their last appointment

This step can be time consuming and tedious if you still use a paper-based filing system, but with Patient Finder, our custom filters can make it easy to create this list for you.

It Starts with a Simple Phone Call

Now it’s time to reach out by phone. Don’t just call patients randomly, though. First, categorize your database. Put long-time patients or “regulars” at the top of the list. Another priority is patients who need expensive treatment or services.

Always maintain a professional manner on the phone and be personal, warm, and caring. People can tell when you’re being disingenuous. Let them know it’s important to schedule treatment at your practice because you want them to have good dental health and a beautiful smile.

You can also use Follow Ups to track your calls, leave notes and see your progress with getting patients scheduled.

Emails and Text Messages

You won’t be able to reach every patient on your list by phone; emails and texting (SMS) are excellent alternatives. A quick note: Only patients who previously opted in for texting should receive SMS messages.

Next, separate each patient into different categories, like:

• Length of inactivity (18 months, 24 months, 36 months+)
• Insurance coverage and financial challenges
• Level of care (restorative or preventative)

Personalization is key with marketing messages. For example, the subject line and initial greeting should have the recipient’s name, not just “to our valued patient.” The end of each message should feature a strong, compelling, clear call to action (CTA). Even better, boost your chances of engagement with interactive messaging:

Hyperlinks: Include links to your online scheduling portal, website, and social media pages to make it as easy as possible. Allow patients to fill out Digitial Forms through the Patient Portal.

Visuals: Grab their attention with visuals like animations and infographics. Our dental marketing tools provide you with a library of content you can use.

QR codes: Persuade patients to return with scannable QR codes that give them 10% off their next teeth whitening or free (branded) merch, like a reusable coffee cup or toothbrush holder.

With Mass Communication, you can send messages to patients in bulk, allowing you staff to save time. Then, you can continue to communicate with patients with 2-Way Communication.

Keep Your Dental Practice Growing and Thriving with Dental Intelligence

The team here at Dental Intelligence knows it’s easy to forget about old patients (out of sight, out of mind). We should remind you not to underestimate the importance of dental patient reactivation.

A high retention rate is crucial to running a successful practice, but it’s not the only one. Factors like dental patient convenience and effective marketing are also critical to your future success. Fortunately, we can help. Schedule a demo and learn more about our practice performance solution.

Resources

¹ Invesp