23 Jan DIGITISING DENTISTRY: THE DENTAL INDUSTRY AND TECHNOLOGY
There has been a lot of commentary in industry publications and mainstream media about the way that medical and healthcare technologies are rapidly advancing. The way that treatments and procedures were delivered as recently as five and ten years ago are dramatically different to the current best practice.
With things like CAD/CAM technologies revolutionising dental restorations, the ‘no drill clinic’ opening at the Westmead Centre for Oral Health in 2013, there’s no denying that dentistry has gone digital in recent years.
It’s not just chairside aspects of dentistry that are undergoing constant evolution. Technology changes the way that practices are run and interact with patients as well.
Below we explore three ways that technology has changed dental practice management forever.
1. Patients Prefer to Communicate Online in Real-time
While there’s no need to disconnect your phone lines just yet, it is important that your website and online presence lets your current and potential patients interact with you on their terms.
Many dentists have a basic website with a contact form that is based around the practice calling the patient back, however, to stand out you need to be doing more.
Even if you don’t want to fully integrate automatic online booking onto your website, you need to make it super easy for people to communicate with you digitally and with the least friction possible.
Digital experts tracking website conversion rates over a number of years, have found that asking for unnecessary information in your enquiry form, such as a phone number, was one of the top three factors that may make a landing page fail. Keeping your forms light and limited to just Name, Email and Message will significantly increase conversions.
Further more, integrating live chat-bot applications such as Intercom.io or LiveChat will go a long way to better engaging customers and attracting online enquiries.
It’s also important to think about your website visitor and the content they might need to know before making an enquiry. Unless it is someone with a dental emergency looking for immediate treatment, it’s likely that your new visitors are potential patients doing research about your practice.
Therefore, your website should help visitors connect with your practice on an emotional level and provide real, transparent information that will help them make an informed decision before they call or enquire.
Beaming staff photos are more relatable than models from stock photos, and photos with people in them are more inviting than an empty chair. Being considerate to details such as these will go a long way to leading more prospective patients to your practice instead of your competition.
It’s also important to note that in 2017, most people use a variety of devices to access the web. This includes tablets and smart phones, as well as laptops and desktops. It is crucial that your website has responsive design that will automatically display – and function – to suit the device your visitors are accessing the site from whether it’s their smart phone or their computer.
2. Apps Are Changing The Way Practices Hire
Just as mobile technology is changing the way that people engage with your website, it’s also had a big impact on how people – particularly those looking for short term placements – find work. It’s not just about them being contactable on a mobile number instead of a landline.
Over half of adult jobseekers have used a smart phone to search for jobs, with many from this group also using their phone to apply for roles.
Apps like ANCI make it easy for you to have a mobile presence – and can also help to alleviate some of the issues that can arise when it comes to using recruitment agencies to place ancillary staff.
Smart phone apps can now handle short term job placements, appointments and pay roll in a secure, cost effective and easy to use platform.
This isn’t just beneficial for the jobseeker. Apps are undoubtedly a large part of your team’s connectivity too. By moving to a digital, app based recruitment methodology there are potential efficiencies to be gained as your staff adopt a platform that they’re comfortable and confident using.
3. Practices Are Moving Advertising Dollars Online to Accelerate Growth
Australians searched for “teeth whitening” over 100,000 times in 2016 alone. There is significant search traffic for dental treatments and procedures and many of the people looking for this information are motivated potential patients looking for services near them.
Organic search rankings aren’t always going to generate enough new business for your practice, which is where a well-executed paid online advertising campaign can be really effective.
Social media advertising can also really help to get patients in your chair. Simply posting on Facebook or Instagram alone is unlikely to bring you a high volume of leads, but can be a great tool to engage your existing patient database. Where the platforms become really valuable to you is as an advertising medium.
A common and effective strategy is to assign a portion of your advertising budget to retargeting. This means that when somebody visits your website – via paid or organic traffic – and leaves without making a purchase (or making an enquiry), ads are shown to them as they browse the internet. Nearly all of your potential patients would be active social media users, so a retargeting campaign would show them ads for your business in their news feed after they’ve clicked away from your website.
Before embarking on a paid campaign, you may be better off investing on updating and optimising your website first. It’s important to note that the quality of the landing page – that is the page that people first visit when they click on your ad – and overall website effectiveness has a significant impact on your ROI. So best to get this in shape first before engaging such campaigns.
4. More Practices Are Embracing Cloud Technologies
Cloud computing has grown exponentially in recent years and for good reason. Local server based systems have simply become too cumbersome and expensive to maintain. Cloud computing – where data is stored online – also negates a lot of the cost associated with hardware and updating of applications is easily done with an internet connection.
Online based systems are now more secure, flexible and more cost effective. There are cloud based systems to help you with every facet of running your practice, from accounting and payroll to patient database management and more.
You can also access Practice Management software applications that manage the whole customer relationship from enquiry to post appointment administration.
One of the biggest benefits to working in the cloud – other than the ease of integration and streamlining efficiencies to be had – is the fact that you’re no longer responsible for your own back up procedures.
In conclusion
As dental – and consumer – technologies advance and change the way that we work and communicate, dental practices will see even more evolution in the way that they use digital applications and methodologies to interact with patients and grow the business.
How are you using modern technology in your practice? Please share your comments and ideas below.
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