To send a text message or not? This is one of the most common dilemmas faced by dental professionals. I suggest you put yourself in your target audience’s shoes to get the answer. Try to think like a patient so you can have your own patient experience that you can use to develop your marketing strategies.
Let me explain this simple scenario.
Picture this: You have called your dentist in the morning, scheduled an appointment, and returned to work. And then you completely forgot about it. While driving home, you realize you didn’t put a reminder in your calendar, and now you have thousands of thoughts running through your mind.
Was I scheduled for an appointment on Friday or Thursday? I think it's on Friday. But didn't they say they usually close early on Friday? I think I have it scheduled for Thursday. Is it at 5:00 p.m. or 5:30 p.m.? Is the appointment at the east clinic or the downtown clinic? I think it must be the east one as it is much closer.
With these thoughts swirling around, you’re likely getting frustrated. You’re wondering, why didn’t the clinic send me an appointment confirmation message? If they had sent you a confirmation message, you could have put that in your calendar so you wouldn’t have to deal with this unnecessary confusion.
This is a situation many patients face, and even dental clinics have to deal with issues such as loss of money, patient loyalty, and potential referrals, as well as increased no-show rates: No-show rate = Total no-shows / Total scheduled appointments
According to one study, no-shows can adversely affect resource utilization and the quality of health-care services.1 They can lead to a waste of time and resources, revenue loss, and decreased productivity.
All these can be solved if the dental clinics send appointment confirmations and reminder text messages.
By sending text messages, practices can reach more people, improve patient experience, and reduce no-shows. How you choose to implement a text message marketing strategy is totally up to you. You can manually send text messages to patients or choose an automated SMS marketing platform that can entirely automate this process with HIPAA-compliant texting.
Using HIPAA-compliant texting, dentists can:
- Reduce no-shows
- Reach more patients
- Send the right message at the right time to the right patients as per their preferences
- Use an auto-confirm option through text response/button press
- Collect patient information and send them a reminder
- Contact the waiting list through automated messages if there is a cancellation
How to improve efficiency through text messages
Dental offices can send simple appointment confirmation messages using these two templates:
Appointment confirmation message template: Hello, [patient name]! Your appointment is confirmed on [date] at [time] at [clinic name/address]. See you then! — [dental clinic name]
Dental clinics can even send reminder text messages 24 hours prior to scheduled appointments.
Appointment reminder message template: Dear [patient name], here’s a gentle reminder from [dental clinic]. You have a scheduled appointment on [date] at [time]. Our clinic address is [address]. — [dental clinic name]
Offices can use text messaging to get feedback, inform patients about upcoming dental events, send follow-up and postoperative instructions via SMS, welcome new patients, send educational information, and more.
Such text messages will provide the following benefits:
- Decrease the risk of miscommunication
- Eliminate the communication gap
- Save staff time
- Increase patient engagement and retention rate through two-way texting
- Improve patient-provider relationships
- Offer the opportunity for improvement
- Offer quicker appointment booking
- Reduce no-show rates
According to one study, text message reminders are highly effective in reducing no-shows at dental clinics from 31% to 14%.2 Simple text messages are nonintrusive and cost-effective, and using an automated SMS platform can help improve patient attendance.
You can improve outpatient attendance by sending customized bulk messages through text messaging. As the costs are comparatively low, dental clinics prefer to use text messaging to reduce patient no-shows.
Why dental clinics should use HIPAA-compliant texting
Dental clinics can undoubtedly use text message confirmation and reminders to reduce no-shows, but standard text messages are not secure. Therefore, transmitting protected health information (PHI) via text is a major HIPAA violation.
Dental practices should use HIPAA-compliant texting platforms. These platforms are convenient and protected ways to communicate with patients, as only authorized persons can access them, leading to improved security.
Patient privacy should be the priority in your dental practice. A HIPAA-compliant texting platform can help you keep health-care provider/patient/staff communication safe.
Strategies practices should follow before implementing HIPAA-compliant texting:
- Get explicit consent from patients before sending them text messages. Sending messages without consent can violate TCPA and lead to serious fines.
- Tell your patients what information they can expect through text messages.
- Inform patients that they can opt-out at any time and give them clear instructions on how to do so.
- Choose a HIPAA-compliant texting platform that offers features such as two-factor authentication and complete audit logs to improve the text messaging platform’s security.
- Integrate automated text messaging platforms into the existing CRM system to streamline communication workflows and reduce risk of error.
- Ensure that your staff has comprehensive HIPAA training so that everyone is well-versed in HIPAA-compliant text messaging protocols. Make sure they know what information they can share through text messages and the procedures for using the secure text messaging platform.
Final thoughts
In summary, HIPAA-compliant text messaging platforms are vital in improving dental patient experience and overall health results.3 By employing an effective text messaging strategy, dentists and patients can enjoy benefits such as reduced no-shows and streamlined communication workflow, without sacrificing the privacy and security that the dentist-patient relationship demands. Through cutting-edge messaging technology, you can keep your dental practice organized. Use a HIPAA-compliant text messaging platform to build lasting relationships, build your online reputation, and grow your practice today.
References
- Marbouh D, Khaleel I, Al Shanqiti K, et al. Evaluating the impact of patient no-shows on service quality. Risk Manag Healthc Policy. 2020;13:509-517. doi:10.2147/RMHP.S232114
- Perry JGW. A preliminary investigation into the effect of the use of the short message service (SMS) on patient attendance at an NHS dental access centre in Scotland. Prim Dent J. 2011;18(4). doi:10.1308/135576111797512810
- Gaushas TJ. SMS messaging for doctor’s ofices: how to remain HIPAA compliant and best practices. Textdrip. September 11, 2022. https://textdrip.com/blog/sms-messaging-for-doctor
