For dental practice owners, providing superior care and creating a positive office environment for patients have always been paramount. However, those aren’t the only important factors. Now, patient convenience and ease of access to services are critical to the continued success of your practice.
Below, we discuss why value-based care is crucial for dentists, including ways to enhance patient experiences, ease of access, and convenience.
The Importance of Patient Convenience and Easy Access to Services
Patients have always valued a high level of convenience and easy access to services for their dentists and other healthcare providers, but the pandemic spurred this expectation to greater heights. Now that telehealth appointments and virtual services have become commonplace, patients place more importance on qualities like convenience than ever before.
Consider NRC Health’s 2019 Market Insights report1, which surveyed over 220,000 healthcare consumers. Over half (51%) of the respondents agreed that access to care and convenience are the two most important factors they care about when searching for healthcare providers. That study was pre-pandemic, and the importance of accessibility and convenience for patients has only increased over time.
How Your Dental Practice Can Enhance Patient Convenience
So, what are some ways your dental practice can improve the accessibility and level of convenience for patients? Read on for expert advice and tips you can use to create a patient-centric environment that focuses on superior service.
Start a Patient Loyalty Program
With our Patient Loyalty Program, you can build genuine relationships and a more personal connection with your patients.
Here’s how it works: your patients earn loyalty points for completing certain actions and tasks, like making on-time payments or referring family and friends. Then, they can redeem their loyalty points on rewards. Even better, you get to choose which rewards they can earn that will incentivize efficiency and still offer a good ROI, like offering a discount on teeth whitening services.
It’s a great way to generate patient enthusiasm while fostering strong relationships!
Offer Teledentistry Services
Nowadays, patients expect their dentists and other healthcare providers to offer virtual services. Of course, virtual appointments won’t work for dental procedures like teeth cleaning or root canals. However, you can offer virtual consultations, opening your practice up to a wider patient base and making your services more accessible and convenient.
Use Online Scheduling
One effective way to increase patient convenience at your dental practice is by offering online scheduling. Our Online Scheduling allows your patients to book their own appointments directly into your calendar, 24/7. By eliminating the hassle of patients dealing with voicemail, call center services, waiting on hold, you’re making it faster and easier for them to schedule appointments during a time that works best for them.
Simplify Payments and Billing
Instead of making awkward and uncomfortable collection calls or spending time emailing patients with past-due balances, invest in payment management software. For example, Dental Intelligence Payments allows your patients to pay their bills anytime, from anywhere, with paperless statements. By simplifying the payment process and making it more convenient for patients, you improve their experience and receive payment faster too.
Offer Same-Day Appointments and Extended Office Hours
Another way you can improve patient convenience at your dental practice is by leaving some time slots open for same-day or next-day appointments. That way, you can accommodate patients with a dental emergency and increase the ease of access to your services.
In addition, consider extending your office hours one or two days per week or offering weekend hours. The extra availability will show your patients how much you care and want to ensure they can receive dental care when it’s most convenient for them.
Build a Strong, Successful Future for Your Dental Practice
As a dental practice owner, offering value-based care and maximizing patient convenience are integral to your continued success. Patients want scheduling, appointments, and payments to be easy, fast, and convenient.
At Dental Intelligence, we provide advanced software solutions that help dental professionals make their practice more efficient, productive, and successful. Schedule a demo of our solution and see how it can help your dental practice boost its quality of care.
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