Essentially, those stats just wrote this article for me. If you’re not communicating with your patients via text, email, or both you are missing out on essential communication touch points.
Think about it like this: You have a patient call in to make an appointment. You tell them the date and time, they agree, and everyone hangs up happy. But what about what happens after the end of the call?
Your patient wrote the time and date of their appointment on a piece of scrap paper that ends up in the trash. Or you said Thursday the 8th when really it’s Thursday the 9th and your patient ends up confused about the correct day. Perhaps your patient doesn’t record the appointment at all, simply assuming they’ll remember.
What do you do now to ensure that patient still shows up for their appointment?
I hope after reading the above statistics you don’t immediately just think “call.”
A call is fine. But you can do better.
Implement automatic text and/or email reminders for your patients. After all, many people won’t pick up a call from a number they don’t recognize or may not be able to call back after a voicemail during your office hours because they are working at the same time.
So, by communicating with patients via text and email you are making it much more likely your patient will receive your message, confirm their appointment, and be delighted with your office.
Source:
http://www.dentistryiq.com/articles/2014/02/your-dental-practice-to-text-or-not-to-text.html
