Howard Speaks: Did They Get the Message? by Dr. Howard Farran

Howard Speaks: Did They Get the Message 

by Howard Farran, DDS, MBA, publisher, Dentaltown magazine


In this column, I’ll be explaining how effective communication with your patients is essential for success.

[Brief delay as column recognizes you’ve begun reading.] Dr. Howard Farran here. Did you know effective communication with your patients is essential for success? Press “1” to agree.

Hello, «Valued Townie». In this column, I’ll talk about the importance of effective communication with your patients.

How fast did that repetition become annoying? Did you think it was overkill? A mistake? Did you start to tune out?

Your practice might doing the same thing to your patients right now.


Too much is as bad as not enough
With so many avenues of communication available—especially automated ones that promise to save your team time—you’ve got to be thoughtful about how yours are deployed.

One of our editors (who insists on being treated by the dentist he had before he started working at Farran Media) receives a text message reminder about a week before his semiyearly cleaning, asking him to confirm he’ll be at the appointment. He also gets an email reminder. And an automated phone call. And another text closer to his appointment date.

Having seen enough message board threads about the no-shows that plague some dental practices, he understands the goal of these messages, but he hates the replication—especially the ones that arrive after he’s already confirmed the appointment in the first text message. “Their emails are flagged as junk now,” he said. “And calls automatically go straight to voicemail.”

Which means if the practice sends an email promoting a special or discount, it goes unseen. If the scheduling team needs to call and reschedule his appointment, they’ll have to leave a message and wait for him to call back. And this is a patient who actually likes the practice! All because of the communication overkill about even the simplest of appointments—a cleaning.


Adjust and personalize
Back in April, practice management expert Casey Bull wrote that “people are already prone to ignoring digital messages, so patients will begin to ignore your messages if they continuously receive redundant, unnecessary or irrelevant messages from your practice.”

What are your practice appointment reminder settings like right now? Do you ask patients how they prefer to be contacted? Or have your helpful reminders morphed into bothersome annoyances, redirected straight to the trash?

When a patient has a history of no-shows, sure, ramp up the communication. But for patients haven’t previously missed appointments, dial back the messaging. Respect their loyalty and trustworthiness!

As Bull wrote: “When a practice implements technology and lets it run automatically, this can have a detrimental impact to patient experience and practice reputation. The practice team can’t rely on the technology to communicate for them; they must leverage the technology and communicate as humans.” Make sure you’re treating your patients like people, not problems.

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Phone: +1-480-445-9710
Email: sally@farranmedia.com
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