Getting the Message Across - Nina Cartwright Carestream Dental Product Manager

We live in an age of mobile telecommunication. Since the first commercially available mobile phone arrived 25 years ago, we have watched it morph from a house-brick-sized novelty for the few, to a slender necessity for the masses.

More recently, laptops, tablet computers and PDAs have added to our expectation of being connected to the rest of the world at any and every time and place we wish. People of all ages from those in school to those in retirement reap the benefits of such technologies, whether they use them for communication, entertainment or information sources. And while the type and complexity of the device may vary depending on people’s social status, background and living situation, this seems to have had little influence over whether they actually own a device, particularly when looking at phones. In fact, modern statistics for mobile phone use are staggering; in the UK alone there are more than 80 million subscriptions, with the volume of calls now exceeding that of fixed phones[1].

One of the greatest innovations added to the mobile phone has been the text message. Whether you are a sophisticated 4G tech-savvy professional or a simple mobile user, texts, or SMS (short message service) have very much become part of our everyday life. For many people, this simple method of transmission is now the first choice for communication with friends, family and colleagues across a whole range of mobile devices. With more than 150 billion messages sent every year[2], it has become the fastest growing use for the mobile phone[3].

In recent years, text messaging has become a much more widespread tool for businesses to reach their customers. It is not unusual to receive a text informing you that an item of interest to you is currently in store, provide you with the delivery details of a recent purchase, or remind you to pick up a reserved product.

And research has shown it to be an effective form of correspondence between business and customer. A survey by SinglePoint revealed that text message open rates exceed 99%, with 90% of all text messages opened within the first three minutes of being received on the phone[4], while email open rates are generally believed to be around 33%. The convenience of the text is of course paramount to these figures, as recipients can access the information quickly and repeatedly, wherever and whenever they need to. Unlike email, there are no spam filters to divert a text message, so it can’t get lost in amongst the excessive amount of junk mail received daily. In direct contrast to phone calls, text messages are far less intrusive and enable the user to keep their conversation private, making it an effective form of communication for healthcare providers and their patients.

While some business may take advantage of the text message to market themselves, many dental practices are now utilising the service as an effective reminder tool for upcoming appointments. For patients it is far more convenient than a phone call or a letter in the mail, and the information is immediately saved in a place they can access it when they have time.

From the dental practice’s point of view, text message reminders have been proven to reduce the amount of time and revenue lost through missed appointments.[5] For dental practices, this could mean a decrease in ‘no shows’ of up to 50 per cent. According to the British Dental Association, approximately 3.5 million appointments are missed each year, equating to nearly two full weeks of work for one dentist. Clearly paper mail and email reminders are not as efficient as they were once believed to be, and this is where the text message has flourished. Not only can a practice save money by reducing ‘no shows’ with mobile reminders, but text messaging is also nearly 80% cheaper than traditional mail, ensuring optimum cost efficiency.

There are a variety of service providers now in the dental market, offering the text message reminder as either an additional or incorporated programme. Providers such as market leaders Carestream Dental offer the service as part of their innovative and fully integrated CS R4 Clinical+ Practice Management Software. Using the data saved securely in the patient records, the software sends patients text message reminders for upcoming appointment automatically, saving staff both time and effort in addition to directly saving the practice money. Any replied requests for cancellations are also then updated in the appointment diary, freeing up space in the appointment schedule for other patients or emergency cases.

So regardless of where your practice is situated, what type of treatments you offer and how many patients you have, text message reminders might be just the solution you need. You can now reduce your ‘no-shows’ and encourage higher and more consistent revenue while saving your staff time and money.

For more information, please contact Carestream Dental on 0800 169 9692

or visit www.carestreamdental.co.uk