Unique Patient Marketing... By: Jerry Jones

When you spend your hard-earned money to acquire a new patient, does it make sense to continue to spend a few dollars every month to keep them? Think of it like this – each time you have oil changed in your car (or any type of maintenance), you are insuring it’s value to you – the continued safe, smooth operation and support it provides to you and your family.

I personally know doctors right now that are spending upwards of $100 or more to get a single, new, maybe one-shot, patient in the door to their office (by one-shot I mean that all they’ll ever get from them is just one appointment for a cleaning).

Maybe 1 in 25 of those $100 patients that walks into your office will have a good amount of dentistry done, perhaps $2500 worth. Does that justify spending $100 each to get the other 24? NO! That’s just breaking even! At that rate, your new patient acquisition costs will drive you out of business in no time.

Knowing the real value of your existing patients is the first step in determining what exactly you should be spending to keep them in your practice, and help you calculate what you should be spending to get new ones in the door.

Obviously, maintaining your existing patients is very good for your practice. One of the best ways to communicate with them during this particular time of year is to send out a dental benefits letter. In the letter, you outline your concern for the oral health and that you will be happy to work with them in utilizing their insurance benefits still remaining before they lose them in January. They will appreciate your concern about their finances and oral health.

You can send a quick letter notifying them of their accumulated benefits or if your office is too busy, you can give this job to a third party. Patientmailings.com, has a complete line of patient marketing products, including the following benefits letter to notify patients of benefits remaining at the year’s end. It is recommended that these letters are mailed during Sept/Oct.

Here is a sample of the type of letter you can send:
Dear Patient: (insert personalized name) The end of the year, as you know, is fast approaching. And, with the end of the year, comes the end of your yearly insurance benefits.

Each year, your insurance company allots you a certain dollar amount of coverage for dental procedures that we offer here in the practice. . .from routine exams to more complex, long-term procedures.

We want to make sure that you take full advantage of any remaining benefits. Many times, you may be able to save money by completing your treatment before year’s end and avoid paying a new deductible next year, depending on your insurance.

If you have any questions about how much actual coverage remains on your insurance benefits, please call our staff so that we can check on that for you. At that time, we can schedule you in at the earliest available appointment to ensure you take full advantage of all the insurance benefits you pay for!

Call today to schedule: 555-1212. Lorie or Lily will be happy to help you.
Sincerely,
Dr. Jack Stepinout

Feel free to use this letter provided for your practice. If you would like more information on this and other patient marketing techniques, visit www.patientmailings.com or call Jerry Jones at 1-800-311-1390. Business hours are from 8am - 5pm PST. You can also fax your request for more information to 503-371-1299.

Patientmailings is located at 2713 22nd St. SE, Salem, OR 97302.