Patient engagement – why does it matter?

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Posted by: Dental Design 12th December 2022

Regardless of the size of your practice, your patients are the lifeblood of your business. Now, with the cost-of-living crisis affecting people across the country and many individuals cutting back expenses, good communication is more vital than ever before to ensure that your patients remain engaged, motivated and on top of their oral health.

So, just how important is patient engagement and communication and what can you do to ensure that every person on your patient list feels valued?

Modern dentistry requires more

In days gone by, being a great dentist was enough to ensure that patients remained loyal to your practice. Now, with the need to juggle exceptional treatment with top-quality practice management, marketing and more, it takes a lot of time to ensure that you’re standing out from the crowd.

As any professional will already know, time means money. As such, it’s definitely worth exploring how you can streamline communications with your patients while also making sure that they receive a standard of care that makes them feel valued.

Take a more bespoke approach

Patient lists are often comprised of diverse individuals, including those of different age groups and personalities, with other variables at play. If every patient has a unique lifestyle and personality, why would you contact them all the same via the same modes of communication??

The way that you communicate information such as appointment times, marketing offers, practice updates and more can make a significant difference to the patient experience, especially if there are certain modes of communication that patients prefer.

Generally speaking, in this day and age the main modes of communication you can have with patients include SMS messaging, email, phone calls and, on some occasions, letters. Ultimately, their lifestyle, generational preferences and other factors will influence the method of contact they choose. For instance, an elderly patient may want to receive letters through the post, as this is the mode of communication they are most used to. A busy professional may prefer to receive a text message or email so that they can schedule appointment times into their calendars on their device.

By simply asking patients about their preferred method of communication, this already shows that you are giving them individualised care, which is likely to make them feel more appreciated. Plus, it’s important to remember that in this day and age any assumptions are a dangerous path to tread – make sure your patients have indicated their preferred communication method/s rather than guessing, as you don’t want to make the wrong choice.

Patient satisfaction is your strongest marketing tool

One of the biggest benefits of nurturing patient satisfaction is the effect this can have on your practice. Happy patients talk, and this means that high patient satisfaction can bring you new business through word of mouth. We also need to think about another hurdle that modern dentists need to contend with – online reviews. Happy patients that leave a good review for your practice are immeasurably valuable. Not only will people looking for a practice likely head straight for online reviews to see that you offer excellent care, but good reviews can be used in marketing materials such as e-shots, adverts and more. This can draw in even more potential patients who want to find out what your practice can do for them.

Automated communications with ease

One way to streamline how you communicate with your patients and to reliably boost satisfaction is to explore some of the latest practice management solutions. For instance, Carestream Dental has recently developed Patient Bridge – an add on for R4 practice management users that has been specifically designed to make patient communication easier than ever before. Utilising cloud-based features, Patient Bridge allows users to automate patient communications, tailor marketing materials and encourage positive feedback, satisfying patients’ needs to be valued while also streamlining the process and freeing up time.

Engagement starts with you

A modern dental practice needs to be engaging, on the ball and attractive to patients to thrive. Communication is the foundation of the patient-practice relationship, and can have a huge impact on how your patients engage with you and your patient lists of the future.

By taking an individualised approach and automating the process with the latest technologies, you can ensure that you are going above and beyond to nurture your relationship with existing patients and draw in new business.