UAppoint today announced commercial availability of its namesake service. Unveiled earlier this year, the state-of-the-art service emails appointment cards and reminders to patients, allowing them to confirm by clicking on a link within an email. The service was designed to improve the operational efficiency of dental practices while increasing patient convenience. Several multi-provider dental practices tested the service prior to its commercial release.
Dentists now have a new weapon in their arsenal to fight tooth decay – UAppoint. Developed by a dentist for dentists, Dov Glazer, D.D.S. of New Orleans, Louisiana knows that getting the patient to the office is half the battle. “Caring for my patients’ teeth is my number one priority. I had to find a way to make it easier for patients to schedule their appointments and keep them, making the whole process simple and convenient,” says Dr. Glazer. About five years ago, Dr. Glazer created UAppoint for his own practice; it is now available to dentists across the country.
Studies indicate that missed appointments average 20 percent across the nation. No-shows represent a significant loss of revenue in a dental practice and exert additional stress on the office staff in addition to disrupting patient treatment. By using email communication and text messaging to patients’ cell phones, UAppoint can make the scheduling process simpler, helping patients keep their appointments—and their teeth healthy.
Patrick McEvoy, D.D.S. of Mountain View, California is an early user of UAppoint. “Patients prefer to receive emails, and UAppoint saves us valuable time. Within a month of using the service, we had already noticed a reduction in our patient no-show rate. UAppoint's pricing is very reasonable and pays for itself if it prevents even a single no-show,” says Dr. McEvoy.
In 2004, when Dr. Glazer decided to offer his scheduling system as a service to other dentists, he created the company UAppoint and recruited a top-notch business and technology team to commercialize the technology. The UAppoint team has expanded the original system to offer exceptional reliability and ease of use. Signing up for the service is as simple as buying a book on the Internet. UAppoint integrates seamlessly with the leading dental practice management software packages, such as Dentrix and SoftDent, allowing non-technical staff to be up and running with the service in less than an hour.
“UAppoint is a great addition to our networked office environment. Activating the service went smoothly. UAppoint started working right away, sending reminder emails to patients with appointments scheduled in our dental software,” says Dr. McEvoy. He added, “The staff and I have been delighted to hear patients comment on how high-tech the service makes our practice look.”
UAppoint currently provides the following appointment scheduling features:
- Appointment E-Card. Whenever an appointment is scheduled in the practice management software, UAppoint emails the appointment details to the patient.
- Automatic Reminders. UAppoint automatically emails two reminders for each appointment, sent two weeks and then three days prior to the appointment.
- One-Click Confirmation. Patients confirm their appointment by clicking on a link included in the three-day reminder email. A web page shows the front desk staff which patients confirmed their appointments online.
- More advanced features and capabilities are planned for the UAppoint service in the near future to further increase operational effectiveness, productivity and profitability.
Arnold Keiles, D.D.S. of Palo Alto, California, another UAppoint user, recognized the advantages of automated electronic patient communication. “We had already collected emails from many of our patients when we began using UAppoint. This accelerated the positive results that UAppoint provided to our practice. We noticed a difference right away.”
Today, dentists invest heavily in technologies that provide the best care for their patients. UAppoint allows dentists to harness the communication power of the internet, email and mobile devices and offer a new tool to improved dental health. Dr. Keiles agrees, citing his own experience: “UAppoint is a true time-saver and frees my staff to handle other office tasks. The service benefits are especially apparent with hygiene and orthodontics appointments, which require a large number of patient reminders. I’m excited to notice my staff's satisfaction with UAppoint, and to work with a communication system that my patients find convenient to use.”
Purchasing Information
UAppoint is licensed on a per office location basis. The current version of the service is available at a subscription cost of $199 per month (for offices with up to two doctors) and a one-time activation fee of $299. The subscription cost for offices with more than two doctors is $299 per month.
About UAppoint, Inc.
UAppoint was founded in 2004 with the mission to streamline doctor-patient communications. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, the company provides online scheduling solutions to dental practices. For more information about UAppoint, visit www.uappoint.com .