At BoomCloud, we regularly speak with dentists to learn more about how they grow their practices from the ground up. We have found that strategically investing in the right types of software can help set up your practice for continued growth and success.
If you’re a new dentist thinking about starting your own practice, you already know that it’s important to select a practice management software system that will help streamline and grow with your practice for years to come. However, you may not know that there are other types of dental software systems that you’ll want to use in your practice as well.
Different types of software can help dentists manage their new practices and set them up for long-term success. Some budget-friendly options are even excellent choices for cost-conscious practices just starting out. Plus, some types of software can be useful down the line once your practice has become more established and you’re looking to take things to the next level.
Email Marketing Software
When opening a new practice, attracting new patients is more crucial than ever. As your practice grows, retaining the patients that you’ve worked so hard to attract will become just as important. One very low-effort way to stay engaged with your patients is by regularly communicating with them through email newsletters.
Creating newsletters is easier and more affordable than ever before. Services like MailChimp offer simple-to-use email newsletter templates and a free tier for small business owners. With Revenue Well, you can access templates to create newsletters to keep constant communication and contact with your patients.
Even if you only have time to create a newsletter every so often, it’s a good strategy that will keep your practice at the top of your patients’ minds when they remember it’s time to schedule their next hygiene appointment or if they have a problem that requires immediate attention.
Online Appointment Scheduling Systems
Today, many patients expect to be able to book appointments immediately online, 24/7. About 45% of appointments scheduled through online systems are booked outside of business hours. By forcing patients to call your office to make an appointment, you may be missing out on many opportunities. In addition, by having your staff spend less time on the phone, they can focus on other tasks, including providing the best patient experience possible.
Depending on the system you choose, you also may be able to solicit more patient reviews to build your online reputation and gain additional exposure to new patients. Therefore, the benefits and payoff of this type of software extend beyond the immediate ability to offer your patients a convenient way to schedule appointments and check availability.
Practice Management
Curve Dental can help with practice management to keep scheduling simple with drag and drop functionality and useful patient reports.
Open Dental can help with practice management as well as with custom reports and online patient web forms.
Podium is amazing for patient communication and email, turning online prospects into potential leads in addition to answering questions and scheduling appointments.
Dental Analytics Software
Dental Intelligence runs in the background, tracking everything, analyzing, automating, finding opportunities, communicating with you, and providing automated patient follow-ups.
Divergent Dental is a reporting tool with no fancy dashboard or widgets you won’t know what to do with. You can view the metrics you want to see and have them delivered to your inbox with no crazy passwords to remember.
Practice By Numbers translates data and metrics into easy to understand numbers that you and your office manager can use to drastically increase productivity and revenue generation.
Insurance Verification
JetPack is an upcoming software package currently in beta. It connects to more than 250 insurance companies and shows which companies you use the most and how much time and money you are saving. It also easily verifies patient information with access to dashboard reporting.
Patient Communication Software
Automated patient communication software is useful for reducing no-shows and cancellations, improving patient recall, and soliciting patient reviews. Typically, it works by integrating with your practice management software so it can automatically message patients who are overdue for appointments or who require appointment confirmations.
Once you have a sufficient number of patients visiting your practice where it doesn’t make sense to perform these tasks manually, then it can pay to invest in one of these systems.
Membership Programs
There are many benefits to creating a membership program for your company. An in-house membership plan will give your practice recurring revenue every month while helping patients gain access to the dental care they deserve and become more likely to say yes to easy and affordable dental care. However, these plans involve some setup and ongoing maintenance.
Membership software options are available to help you with this process. Your practice can now build recurring revenue that increases its value and allows you to truly care for your patients. Practices with BoomCloud, for example, can grow their membership programs by 1000%. For help with growing your membership program, patient communication, and scheduling, check us out.
Mr. Comstock is the founder of BoomCloud Apps, a successful software company that allows dental offices to quickly create, organize, track, and automate their in-house membership program. Contact Jordon and his team at (800) 260-9285 or info@boomcloudapps.com.
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