How to Improve Patient Satisfaction in your Dental Office

Has your dental practice been exploring ways to take patient experience to the next level? Patient satisfaction is directly correlated with revenue, retention rate, and practice growth. So, if you haven’t already taken steps to provide the ultimate patient experience, now is the time to implement effective approaches.

Initial Impression

Nailing that first impression is priceless when it comes to patient satisfaction. From communication to dental software, patients want a professional experience that will make them feel valued and involved. Their experience begins the moment they schedule an appointment.

Was it simple, or did they face the hurdle of back and forth communication, trying to find a workable time? From there, patients are evaluating your intake process for convenience and simplicity. Did your office value their time enough to give them remote self-service options?

Was the check-in process smooth, and free of insurance ambiguity – or were they left unclear on how much they’ll be responsible for out-of-pocket? The list can go on endlessly, but the idea remains consistent – prioritize patient satisfaction from start to finish to establish a solid experience.

Automated Administrative Hand

What tasks would you say slow down your front desk the most? Patients can probably answer this without hesitation since they sit in the waiting room watching front office staff frantically search for missing charts, manually transfer patient information into the system, scan IDs, insurance cards, and documents, then call the insurance to verify eligibility.

The average patient wait time for this cumbersome process is 30 minutes or more. Automation via dental software does away with wasting patients’ time.

Check out what an automated front office looks like:

• No printing. No scanning. No manual entries. No errors
• Improved efficiency and profits
• Cuts 35% of documentation time and saves 20 minutes per patient
• Online patient forms completed and e-signed remotely, then integrated into your PMS
• Alternatively, in-office digital forms can be filled in on your iPad and integrated
• Patients capture IDs, insurance cards, photos, and medication lists digitally
• Treatment plans e-signed online or digitally on iPad
• Insurance eligibility verified digitally and reports provided in 10 seconds

Having an automated front office hand means no more stress from administrative paperwork. Your staff will be able to focus on what they love – patient care.

Top Automated Features

Digital Intake Forms

Digitization has become the answer to patients’ paperwork anxiety. How so? Dental software has advanced to the point of patients completing and e-signing intake forms in front of the TV, on their sofa.

And, on top of that, capturing their ID, insurance card, and photo, all to be submitted and integrated directly into your practice management software (Open Dental, Eaglesoft, Dentrix, and Dolphin). Talk about placing patient convenience first! No more pen and paper, clipboards, or waiting room time.

Digital intake forms (offered remotely online, and in-office on an iPad app) improve accuracy, patient satisfaction, and speed of information transfer. Automating the intake process is a significant step in the right direction to connecting patient satisfaction with your dental practice’s success. 

Online Scheduling

Who enjoys being placed on hold just to get an appointment made? Offering a wholesome online alternative to phone call scheduling gives patients the freedom to book appointments at their leisure, 24/7, from any device. Online patient scheduling protects your practice from any missed opportunities, and keeps your slots full.

Automated Appointment Reminders with 2-Way Texting

Living in the digital age, phone calls have been overpowered by texting as the preferred route of communication. The average American is glued to their smartphone, constantly texting friends, family, etc. Why not meet patients where they’re at by offering automated appointment reminders via SMS with 2-way texting capabilities.

Not only will it prevent no-shows from happening again, but it also improves patient engagement. Patients love having the freedom to reschedule via SMS, text requested documents, and receive office notifications.

With automated appointment reminders, your patients will love you, and your front desk will finally be liberated from wasting time on phone calls that go unanswered. 

Automated Insurance Verification

Insurance nightmares can finally be put to rest with auto eligibility verification. All dental practices know firsthand the frustrations of surprise patient billing. When insurance coverage is ambiguous from the start, problems unfold and create tension between patients and providers.

With automated insurance verification software, uncertainty is proactively prevented by ensuring accurate and reliable insurance verifications from the get-go. Quick eligibility reports are at your fingertips within seconds, with over 180 integrated payers. No more wasted time on long phone calls with payers.

The process is easier, faster, and more reliable with automated insurance verification.

Conclusion

Dental software has reached a peak of accelerating practice performance and success by targeting the areas needing the most attention. Patient care has suffered for way too long due to traditional practices eating away valuable time that’s needed with patients.

With new advancements in office automation, you can now improve patient satisfaction, boost profits, and give staff autonomy - all simultaneously with mConsent’s innovative software. Over 5000 practices have already revolutionized their operations with mConsent, and you can too.