Best Dental Patient Communication Software: An Essential Guide

One of the most important aspects of dental practice is to make sure that you and your staff interact with the patients in an effective way. A dental patient communication tool can be a great help in this regard.

In this blog post, we will explore this topic in more detail and cover everything that you need to know. Plus, we share with you some of the best patient communication software in the market, and in the end, provide you with an alternative solution as well.

Why is Communication Important in the Dental Practice?

Before moving on to a discussion of patient communication software and its importance in dentistry, we need to touch upon an important matter – Why is communication important in the first place?

Dentists frequently encounter situations that require thoughtful communication, such as difficult conversations with employees or treatment discussions with noncompliant patients.

Studies that have been conducted in this area point to the fact that positive and clear communication is associated with better treatment outcomes, increased patient satisfaction, and reduced complaints.

Similarly, a lack of communication is regarded as a major cause of problems in the workplace. Ineffective communication can even lead to negative online reviews, lawsuits, or complaints to dental boards.

One major factor that is argued to cause communication breakdowns is emotion. When negativity clouds communication, it directly impacts the patient-provider relationship.

For example, dentists may interpret patient complaints as simply avoiding payment. This assumption can prevent them from exploring legitimate patient concerns, and thus lead to dissatisfaction and communication breakdown.

For these reasons, it is quite clear that taking advantage of a patient communication tool will be critically important to dental practice. We will discuss this more below.

What is Dental Patient Communication Software?

Dental patient communication software refers to an application that is designed to engage with patients using their preferred communication method. It integrates with existing practice management software and offers access to patient information and appointment details.

What’s more, this communication tool facilitates easy tracking of interactions between the dental practice and patients, which results in a seamless exchange of messages related to patient care.

In addition, most dental patient communication solutions automatically update appointment schedules within the practice management system.

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Features of Dental Patient Communication Software

Dental communication software offers a number of common features that enhance communication between practices and patients. Below we will take a look at some of the most frequent features.

1. Automated Appointment Reminders

Automated reminders allow patients to receive notifications in their preferred way – via text, phone call, or email. Administrative staff can also easily automate this process with just a few clicks.

Moreover, if patients are unavailable for their appointments, they can reach out. These reminders help patients stay informed about their appointments without feeling intrusive or burdensome.

2. Chat Functionality

Many software options provide some form of chat capability. This can range from basic appointment confirmation texts to more comprehensive features that allow staff to respond to patient inquiries via mobile device or computer.

3. Electronic Signatures

Another useful feature of dental communication software is that it can integrate with electronic signature features. This allows patients to patients to fill out essential documents online at their convenience before their appointment.

More importantly, electronic signatures reduce administrative challenges and automatically record data in your practice management system or electronic medical records.

4. Contactless Payment Option

Many software solutions offer contactless payment functionalities. Thanks to this feature, patients can use money-sending apps or secure payment links received via text message which simplifies the payment process for patients.

What’s more, some software allows for the creation of payment plans, which patients can manage and make partial payments towards with the help of text message reminders.

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Advantages of Dental Patient Communication Software

So far, it comes as no surprise that employing a dental patient communication tool will be very beneficial to the dental practice. Let’s explore 5 major advantages that this software can provide dentists with.

1. Communication Efficiency

Dental communication software provides secure and streamlined communication channels between patients and clinicians.

Practices can manage patient interactions conveniently and follow up on inquiries without sacrificing quality or information security.

All patient communication is consolidated within a single platform, and as a result, there will be no risk of missed information.

2. Enhanced Patient Education

Another important benefit of using patient communication software is that it can automate the delivery of educational content.

For example, a patient scheduled for a wisdom tooth extraction could receive pre-operative information about the procedure, post-surgical expectations, and medication instructions.

Moreover, a dental patient communication tool can facilitate two-way communication through chat functions, allowing patients to easily clarify any questions and potentially reducing dental anxiety.

While providing pre and post-operative instructions may seem routine for dental professionals, these automated features with educational resources improve patient understanding and peace of mind, especially for those with dental anxiety.

3. Higher Form Completion Rates

Dental communication software allows practices to send patient intake forms electronically prior to their appointments.

This enables patients to complete the paperwork at their own pace and in the comfort of their own homes. It will also significantly improve form completion rates and streamline the appointment process.

4. Patient Satisfaction

Dental communication platforms give patients the option to initiate communication at their convenience without having to call during specific office hours or wait on hold.

Also, these platforms allow for automated handling of administrative requests, such as prescription refills. This convenience leads to faster access to care and improved patient satisfaction.

5. Saving Time

Within dental practices, administrative staff spend a great deal of time on handling phone calls, appointment scheduling, paperwork, and communication.

Unfortunately, these tasks sometimes overshadow genuine interactions with patients. The resulting workload can weigh heavily on staff members and leave them feeling perpetually behind.

Patient communication software offers a solution here. It streamlines these processes by automating tasks like appointment reminders and confirmations and simplifies communication channels.

Rather than spending hours trying to reach patients or dealing with voicemail, this software helps practices communicate with patients in ways that resonate with them.

In addition, providing essential software tools for administrative staff will lead to reduced turnover rates. Heavy workloads and monotony are common contributors to employee turnover, but by simplifying communication tasks, practices can create a more satisfying work environment.

Best Dental Patient Communication Software

In what follows, we explore 5 best patient communication tools that you can use to optimize and streamline the daily operation of your dental practice.

NexHealth

NexHealth is a user-friendly choice that offers a comprehensive patient communication platform. It integrates seamlessly with most practice management software and EHR systems.

Moreover, NexHealth is specifically designed for compatibility with various popular options like Dr.Chrono, Dentrix, and OrthoTrac.

Main Features

By choosing NexHealth, you will gain access to a robust suite of features, including:

• Customized scheduling tools
• App synchronization for up to 500 locations
• Tools to convert potential patients into confirmed appointments
• Two-way texting and email communication channels
• Automated appointment reminders to reduce no-shows
• Online reputation management to track and respond to patient reviews
• Reporting and analytics to gain insights into patient behavior
• Online form requests and submissions for a streamlined intake process
• Convenient online and text-based payment options
• Online waitlist management system

Pricing

NexHealth offers four different plans to enhance patient communication within your dental practice. Note that to get specific pricing you need to consult with a NexHealth representative. Here’s an overview of the functionalities offered within each plan:

• Forms: This plan eliminates paper forms by providing features like digital forms, a forms widget, and an iPad app for easy data capture.
• Scheduling: Boost appointment bookings and optimize your schedule with features like online booking, waitlist booking, and a scheduling widget for convenient appointment management.
• Communications: This plan allows you to automate routine communication and improve patient engagement with features such as text messaging, email campaigns, appointment reminders, and recall notifications.
• Payments: With this plan, you can simplify billing and collections with secure online payment options including text and email billing, and a billing widget for a seamless patient experience.

Rating

NexHealth has a rating of 4.8 (from 57 reviews at the time of writing this blog post) on the G2 platform.

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RevenueWell

RevenueWell is a dental practice management platform designed to help dentists attract new patients, build stronger relationships with existing ones, and streamline daily operations.

It offers a comprehensive suite of tools that includes marketing tools, electronic forms, and business profile management. Moreover, RevenueWell allows you to optimize your social media presence to improve both patient visibility and interaction with your practice.

Main Features

RevenueWell offers a comprehensive set of features to help your dental practice, such as:

• Social media and online reputation management
• Electronic forms
• Automated patient communication that streamlines communication with automated reminders, newsletters, and campaigns.
• Online practice portal that facilitates patient interaction through online scheduling, forms, and a virtual patient portal.
• Teledentistry consultations to offer convenient virtual consultations.
• Integrated phone system that allows you to manage patient, staff, and vendor communication with custom features.
• Patient Connect TV which Improves the waiting room experience with educational content, reviews, and practice information on TVs.
• Healthgrades integration that helps build a strong online presence with a premium Healthgrades account for review collection and branding.

Pricing

RevenueWell offers three pricing options:

• Starter: This plan is ideal for budget-minded practices and provides essential communication tools and appointment reminders.
• Professional: This comprehensive plan offers features for practice automation, patient communication, and engagement, and integrates with your existing practice management system.
• Premium: As the most feature-rich option, this plan includes a content-rich dental website, ADA-compliant waiting room TV content, and advanced dental features for established practices.

Rating

RevenueWell has a rating of 4.7 (from 129 reviews) on G2.

Weave

Weave is a user-friendly, all-in-one communication platform accessible from any device. It’s particularly well-suited for managing multi-location practices due to its robust design.

It integrates seamlessly with most dental practice management software, allowing instant access to patient information for your front desk team. Weave also automates tasks such as scheduling, reminders, insurance verification, and payment requests.

Main Features

Weave provides numerous features for the dental practice, including:

• Mobile and desktop apps
• VoIP phone service that replaces traditional phone lines with an internet-based system.
• Missed call text messages that automatically send follow-up texts to patients who miss a call.
• 2-Way text messaging which allows sending and receiving texts for appointment reminders, bill follow-ups, and patient communication.
• Online scheduling that helps patients easily book appointments through a user-friendly online portal.
• Insurance verification which automatically verifies patient insurance information with providers.

Pricing

Weave offers 3 pricing plans. However, specific costs are not available on their website, and you need to contact them directly for a quote.

• Essentials: This plan provides basic functionalities for patient engagement and retention.
• Pro: An upgraded option with a wider range of features to enhance patient communication and engagement.
• Elite: The most comprehensive plan that offers a full suite of features designed to deliver the best possible patient experience.

Rating

Weave is currently rated 4.5 (from 293 reviews) by the users on the G2 website.

Doctible

Doctible is a cloud-based patient engagement platform designed specifically for dentists, optometrists, chiropractors, and other healthcare professionals.

Used by thousands of practices, Doctible’s core functionalities focus on communication and marketing tools that help healthcare providers and staff better serve their patients.

Main Features

Below we share with you some of the main features of Doctible that include:

• Smart scheduling
• Digital forms
• Reputation management that helps you gain insights into patient satisfaction with secure feedback collection tools.
• Patient reminders which keep patients informed with automated reminders via text, email, or phone call.
• Patient communicator that streamlines communication with a central dashboard for sending messages.
• Practice marketing which allows you to attract and retain patients with tools like website messenger and email campaigns.

Pricing

Doctible offers tiered pricing plans:

• Gold Plan ($199/month): This essential plan includes core features like texting, patient reminders, appointment recalls, email communication, and reputation management tools.
• Gold Plus Plan ($299/month): This more comprehensive plan builds on the Gold tier by adding online appointment booking, digital forms, voice reminders, and an automated waitlist.
• Platinum Plan (Custom Pricing): Contact Doctible for a personalized quote based on your specific needs. This top-tier plan maximizes patient acquisition with features such as a custom, optimized website and website chat functionality.

Rating

Users on the G2 platform have given Doctible an overall rating of 4.5 (from 16 reviews).

SolutionReach

SolutionReach is a leading provider of automated patient communication solutions. It primarily serves dentists but is also popular with other healthcare professionals.

Solutionreach offers a comprehensive suite of tools to help medical practices obtain new patients as well as engage the existing ones.

By focusing on patient engagement and simplifying communication, SolutionReach will help medical practices improve efficiency and drive revenue growth.

Main Features

Let’s take a look at some of the key features offered by SolutionReach:

• Automated messaging
• Appointment reminders
• Payment reminders
• Patient recall which helps you win back lost patients with automated messages to those who missed appointments or are overdue for checkups.
• Online appointment scheduling that offers patients the convenience of booking appointments directly through a branded online portal on your website or social media.
• Call pop tool which is a feature that integrates with your phone system and practice management software. It automatically displays relevant patient information during phone calls for your front desk staff.

Pricing

SolutionReach offers a variety of features and pricing options. Note that to get a custom quote, you need to contact their website.

• Base Platform: This includes core functionalities like SR Conversations and SR Pay.
• Add-on Features: You can enhance your platform with additional features like Telehealth consultations, online appointment scheduling, digital intake forms, call pop information, and automated review collection.
• Setup Fee: There is a setup fee associated with implementing the platform.

Rating

Users of the G2 website have rated SolutionReach 4.3 (from 165 reviews).

Customized Patient Communication Software with BSUPERIOR

While all the above software solutions provide you with many benefits, they might not be specifically designed to take care of your unique needs. That’s why, partnering with a team that offers you a custom-made solution will go a long way.

With that being said, if you are considering a custom-built patient communication platform to enhance your practice, you can trust BSUPERIOR, a leading provider of tailor-made software solutions for various industries, dentistry included.

BSUPERIOR provides you with more than generic one-size-fits-all solutions. We specialize in developing customized communication platforms designed to specifically address the needs and goals of your practice.

Our solutions are not just effective, they are easy to implement. We ensure a smooth installation and effortless setup process that allows you to reap the benefits of your new platform quickly.

Ready to explore how a customized communication platform from BSUPERIOR can benefit your dental practice? Contact us today to discuss your needs and learn more about our capabilities and pricing options.