Increase efficiency and reduce cost with better patient retention.

Every business wants a client base that returns to them whenever they need the product or service that the business offers. Dental practices are no different in this regard, but there are unique reasons why it can be beneficial to your practice to focus on patient retention.

Retention is not only important for the convenience of repeat patients at your practice. It is also about the reputation it affords you, the word-of-mouth recommendations it creates, the useful information it provides, and the efficiency with which it allows you to work.

The Benefits of Patient Retention

The advantages of patient retention are numerous, and there are several simple, effective strategies for increasing your patient retention, including learning how to expand your services through orthodontic courses for dentists.

There are many advantages to creating a strong base of long-term patients. Some of the most significant include:

1. It helps strengthen your reputation and bring in new patients.

If a current patient were to tell a potential patient, “I’ve been going to this dentist for 20 years for my dental work,” there could really be no greater endorsement for your practice. 

A long-term client implies a satisfied patient, and a satisfied patient is always going to speak highly of their dentist, which will ultimately benefit your reputation.

2. It makes your practice run more efficiently.

You can drastically reduce chair time and the overall time and energy spent on a particular case when you have an established rapport with the patient. Onboarding is time-consuming, as is getting to know patients well enough to provide them with the care they need. Long-term clients require none of these hurdles.

3. You can learn from them.

Having a patient come to you long enough for you to see the long-term results of the work you perform can be an edifying and highly useful experience for you. 

You will be able to determine what was and was not successful and adjust accordingly, which may even include looking into CE courses for general dentists in order to improve your services.

How To Improve Patient Retention

To improve patient retention, there are key strategies you can integrate into your practice:

1. Focus on enhancing the patient experience.

Enhancing the patient experience is a universal rule that supersedes all others. 

If you want your patients to keep returning to you, you need to look at your practice through their eyes. How accommodating are you? How much effort do you put into developing trust with your patients? Do you remember personal details about them? Is your team putting forth a similar effort in this regard?

Being personable and communicative with your patients is essential to improving their experiences. Focus on this principle and you will retain more than you lose.

2. Consider your onboarding process.

Technology has made it much easier for you to onboard your patients, but it has also made potential patients become impatient more easily. 

If you do not have a method of getting them connected with you and scheduled for an appointment in as easy and friendly a way as possible, then you may lose them to someone who does.

3. Use technology.

Your patients already deal with various services that ask them to fill out forms, provide records, relay communication, and use payment portals on a regular basis. They are unlikely to want to contend with another one that is inefficient, ineffective, or just simply frustrating. Make sure yours is not.  

4. Consider two-way text.

It is incredibly useful to receive those appointment reminders via text message, especially if you scheduled the appointment months beforehand. 

However, things come up, and rescheduling is sometimes necessary. If you do not provide a way for your patient to reschedule the appointment via text message, then they are forced to take the time to make a phone call, which is an inconvenience that other practices are able to avoid.

5. Consider CE courses for general dentists.

If you can provide a wide variety of services, your patients are likely to choose you for all of them. This is why orthodontic courses for dentists may be something you would like to consider. 

Orthodontic courses for dentists can allow GDPs to provide certain forms of orthodontic care, which means your patients will not need to seek out other providers when they are in need of those types of services.

Synergy Orthodontic Seminars can help you retain your patients.

If you would like to better retain patients by offering a brand-new range of services at your dental practice, contact Synergy Orthodontic Seminars today to get started.