Personalize Your Practice

Patient interaction is one of the most vital responsibilities for office managers. A recent report from the American Association of Dental Office Managers indicated that “Patient Interaction” ranked as the most important business activity among the 789 office managers polled. At the same time, the report also noted that a variety of other business activities are demanding more and more of office managers’ time.

In this article we’ll show you how to enhance your patient interaction without sacrificing other important business functions.

Engage Your Customers through Social Media

Social media is here to stay, and you are missing out on positive interactions with your customers if you don’t have an online presence. Consider the following statistics:

• Facebook has more than 158 million active users in the U.S.
• Twitter has more than 241 million monthly active users.

When you have a Facebook page for your practice, you can begin to communicate effectively and efficiently with your customers. Providing tips and advice, offering a sweepstakes or other incentive, or asking questions are all great ways to engage your customers.

You also have the ability to influence your customers’ friends and followers. For example, it’s not uncommon for a friend to post the following question on Facebook: “Does anyone have a recommendation for a great dentist in the area?” If you have engaged your customers on Facebook, they can easily provide information on your practice, including a link to your Facebook page and contact information. A recommendation from a friend is much more influential than from advertising; 84 percent of respondents to a recent Nielsen online survey said word-of-mouth recommendations from friends and family are trusted the most.

Put Technology to Work

In 2012, Accenture interviewed 1,100 U.S. patients and discovered that 90 percent “want to self-manage their healthcare by leveraging technology, such as accessing medical information, refilling prescriptions and booking appointments online.” As Kaveh Safavi noted in commenting on this study, “There is a misconception that personalized care must be delivered in person… whether they obtain their care in person or remotely, patients receive ‘personalized care’ as long as their personal health information and services can be self-managed, individually tailored for them and transparent.”

TechCentral Offers Tools to Make Every Customer Interaction a Success

You have a variety of technology options that will help your office manager personalize your practice’s interaction with patients. Just one example from TechCentral is a phone solution that gives front desk staff members “all the answers” about the patient before they pick up the phone. OfficeSuite Dental from Broadview Networks, which is available from TechCentral, provides instant, easy access to Dentrix patient data using a personalized patient dashboard. Your staff can see appointments, treatments, prescriptions and balances for the whole family right on the phone while they’re conversing with the patient.

The benefits of these types of tools are enormous. Your team can work more efficiently, be more profitable and provide a more positive customer experience. For more information, visit www.HenryScheinTechCentral.com/HaveAllTheAnswers