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TeleVox Survey Reveals Challenges in Balancing Management and Marketing of Dental Practices

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Posted: October 12, 2010
TeleVox Survey Reveals Challenges in Balancing Management and Marketing of Dental Practices

In a survey of 9,000 dentists and orthodontists throughout the United States, nearly 50 percent of respondents said they are taking on the responsibility of marketing their practices.

(Mobile, AL – October 12, 2010) -- TeleVox, a leading provider of Engagement Communications technology solutions, today released survey findings that highlight common issues and challenges being faced by dental and orthodontist practices of all sizes.

One main concern is that most practices now have two shop fronts, one on ‘main-street’ and one on the web. The means to connect with current and potential patients through the web and social media represents an important and powerful marketing and business tool. However, the survey showed that almost three quarters of the dental office staff who are responsible for marketing the practice had no qualifications or experience in the field.

As a result, many dentists are turning to web-based technology that is integrated with advanced communications and mobile devices to help market their practices and manage the patient lifecycle.

Web-based software and services, such as TeleVox’s recently launched T.LINK EC (Engagement Communications) portal, provide practice management tools that help practices find, market, engage and activate their patients. The outcome of the system implementation is improved business performance from increased on-time payments, reduced appointment “no-shows,” improved patient care, higher revenue per patient, reduced cost of marketing and new patient acquisition, and increased patient referrals.

According to Scott Zimmerman, president of TeleVox, T.LINK EC provides the equivalent of a marketing team to help practices create and capture attention. T.LINK EC allows practices to choose from a set of pre-installed creative email and e-newsletter templates, which promote a range of initiatives including new products and services, patient-get-patient promotions, oral health reminders and inter-practice promotions. Outbound email messages can link back to the practices’ websites and integrate with social media like Facebook and Twitter.

An additional benefit of these web-based tools is that they are simple to use. In fact, perceived complexity of marketing and web-based marketing is holding many practices back with survey data showing that more than 60 percent of practices not proactively promoting and marketing their products would do so if it was made simple.

When asked where the biggest future revenue growth opportunity lies for practices, 92 percent of respondents stated it will come from patient referrals. But the survey also showed that of that 92 percent, nearly a third presently do not have referral tracking systems in place – although they would if it were simple to execute.

“Practices not investigating or deploying tools such as web and email marketing, Twitter and Facebook engagement, and SMS texting to engage patients in their own care or provide appointment reminders – will quite literally be left behind,” Zimmerman said. Of the survey respondents, nearly all practices currently, or in the future, plan to deploy these new forms of patient engagement communications in the next year.

While practice marketing and patient engagement tools present management and business advantages, they can only be as successful as the data supporting it. The survey found that a major barrier and stumbling block to maintaining accurate and quality data lies in the costly administrative burden of constantly capturing and updating data. Seventy-five percent of dentists and orthodontists agree that providing regular personalized care information during treatment is important, but the ability to reach patients at the right address, telephone number, email or SMS number is fundamental to being successful in this regard.

The survey provided the following data regarding challenges in collecting patient data and utilizing social media:

Nearly 50 percent of practices only capture and update patient data once a year;
Less than 50 percent of practices currently collect information to send SMS/text messages even though they agree it is the most successful means of reminding patients of appointment times; and
95 percent of practices surveyed have websites, but only half presently have Facebook fan pages.
“The survey demonstrated that advances in communications technology can solve many of the communications and marketing challenges dental practices are experiencing today and have the potential to offer transformational patient engagement and business growth opportunities,“ Zimmerman said.

To review or download the complete survey report, click on http://www.televox.com/downloads/online-engagement-wp.pdf


About TeleVox
TeleVox Software, Inc., a subsidiary of West Corporation, is the leading provider of customer and patient engagement communications (EC) services to healthcare and commercial markets. The TeleVox product and service portfolio includes personalized automated messaging and notifications, interactive website design and hosting, secure online communications portals, and customer engagement consultancy. TeleVox products and services help B2B and B2C companies create optimal communications and engagement paths with their customers to increase customer satisfaction and retention, resulting in marked improvements in revenue as well as substantially decreased operating costs. TeleVox product and service brands include HouseCalls, LabCalls, T.LINK EC, Vox On-Hold and WebPlus. Supported by 24x7 customer care, TeleVox products and services are used by nearly 17,000 healthcare and commercial enterprises throughout North America. The company is headquartered in Mobile, Alabama.

About West Corporation
West Corporation is a leading provider of technology-driven, voice-oriented solutions. West offers its clients a broad range of communications and infrastructure management solutions that help them manage or support critical communications. West’s customer contact solutions and conferencing services are designed to improve its clients’ cost structure and provide reliable, high-quality services. West also provides mission-critical services, such as public safety and emergency communications.

Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, West serves Fortune 1000 companies and other clients in a variety of industries, including telecommunications, banking, retail, financial, technology and healthcare. West has sales and operations in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Latin America. For more information on West Corporation, please call 1-800-841-9000 or visit www.west.com.

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