Sales Pitch

Connecting your practice with a

new generation of patientsArndt Mielisch, Welltime I Professional Dentistry North I November 2016

The evolving dental economy

Dental health generally stable, or on the rise

Implant market expected to grow

(use of implants in the UK way behind most European countries and the US)

Increase in patients with co-morbidities

Undersupply of dentists

Patients’ disposable income declining

Need for higher productivity and shorter chair times

Dental practices must look beyond excellence in clinical care and run their

business more efficiently.

The evolving patient

Today’s patients are more digitally savvy, better informed and

more discerning than ever.

They are always on, connected with their family and friends, comparing

products and service offerings before they book.

As consumers, they expect the services delivered to them to be convenient,

relevant and speedy.

As patients, they demand for more and better information on dental health &

treatment options.

Dentists must meet the information and technology needs of the new

generation of patients. These needs create a new type of competition in its

very own rights.

A word about the millennial generation

Millennials - born between 1980 and 2000 - are the first generation to have

grown up with the Internet.

Two main Millennial traits are their

- detachment from institutions

- networking with friends

(Pew Research Center, 2014)

I.e., they represent an ‘innate’ refusal to follow traditional ways of doing

things, and an ‘innate’ preference for information sourcing through their

peers rather than mass media.

By 2020, the Millennial and younger generations will represent 50% of the

British population.

Travel bookings

Source: Travelweekly

e-Banking

Source: British Banking Association

Our industry is (slowly) picking up

To make a long story short…

Online channels, and especially mobile devices, have become the preferred

method of communication of your target audience

It is a matter of time that patients book their dental treatments just like

travel or hospitality services

Patient administration will partially shift from the practice back-end (the

PMS) to the front-end (the web interface)

Think

Patient-facing processes

Back-end integration (PMS)

“Patient Relationship Management”

Online functionality

Usability

Dental practices can leverage online media to

attract patients and actively build patient

relationships while managing their practice

more efficiently.

How?

An online booking facility serves patients in that it allows them to

schedule an appointment when and how they want to:

They want to book when they have an issue – which is not necessarily

during your office hours!

They want to book through their preferred channels – not yours.

Online booking directly translates into more medical appointments

and cuts the cost of appointments / cancellations.

1 – Enable online bookings & cancellations

Things to keep an eye on

Stay in control:

Set the appointment parameters (just like you do with your receptionist)

Types of treatment available

Patient schemes available

Appointment slots available for booking

Ask for pre-payment, as you see fit

Keep the option to confirm / decline the appointment

Usability is key:

Booking process shouldn’t take > 60 seconds

(compare with 4 minutes for an average phone appointment)

Ensure an optimal patient experience on all devices – laptop, smartphone,

tablet: “responsive design”

Online appointments should allow the automated processing of patient data.

Why not employ your staff in more meaningful ways?

Electronic communication will reduce

paperwork

errors

physical storage requirements

Administration tasks.

2 – Enable automated data processing.

Things to keep an eye on

Watch the integration capability of your appointment booking software

with your PMS:

Best practice is to provide an Application Programming Interface (API)

Be aware of proprietary backend systems as the patient front-end is

gaining in importance

Leverage your newly acquired patient data for CRM purposes:

Location and transportation information

‘Welcome pack’

Provide patient reassurance, especially when the patient has made an

online deposit.

Staying in touch with your patients through their preferred media and

channels allows you to build a personal relationship with them.

Your patient communications can take many ways:

patient education, FFT, patient surveys, practice promotions,

appointment reminders, dental hygiene tips, newsletters…

Remember: It generally costs more to acquire a new customer than it

does to keep an existing one.

3 – Engage with your patients throughout

their patient journey

Appointment booking Exam Treatment Next appointment?

For example: Patient education

How many of your patients have dental phobias?

How many would like to know more about how they can better maintain their dental health?

By educating your patients you will give them greater comfort, and they feel “empowered”

It also saves you valuable practice time when they come and see you

Increasing health consciousness of patients opens a window for premium product sales – a domain to be explored.

Feedback & CQC compliance

Automated delivery and evaluation of the Friends and Family Test (FFT)

The most efficient way to meet the direct compliance requirements of the Care

Quality Commission

However, there are also indirect compliance requirements

Capture feedback systematically through your electronic patient communication

channels to improve the quality of your services.

“CQC has placed feedback from people who use services

at the heart of our work, because every concern is an

opportunity for services to improve the quality of care.”

Practice promotions; product

recommendations; check-up reminders

Their effectiveness flows directly from the trust you have built through other

forms of patient communication:

This trust allows you to upsell and make product recommendations e.g., for

tooth whitening, dental hygiene or sonic tooth brushes.

Automated upselling options à la Amazon:

“Patients who had this treatment purchased Y”

Most patients see their dentist less frequently than they should.

Why not send all patients that haven’t seen you in 12 months a friendly

reminder – automatically triggered by your front-end communication system?

Communicating along the patient

journey

Soft

reminder

FFT

FeedbackWelcome

pack

Patient

education

Practice

promotions

Product

recommendations

Patient

education

Potential for

personalisation

Appointment booking Exam Treatment Next appointment?

Let your patients do the marketing for you. Get their reviews

published on Google, facebook and other sites to stand out!

Satisfied patients are often more than happy to provide a positive

testimonial for your practice on relevant social media.

Such ‘peer to peer’ testimonials represent the best marketing

imaginable – more effective than the most sophisticated paid advertising

campaign!

4 – Create visibility for yourself and your

dental practice.

Website marketing

Regular content updates to your website dramatically improve your

visibility on the Internet.

Excerpt taken from Smilepod Bank branch website

Patients’ feedback should be treated as web

feeds and automatically published on your

website.

This is perfect marketing for your practice!

Fresh, genuine content keeps your website

attractive.

In addition, these feeds, typically rich in

relevant search terms, point the search

engines to your website.

The patient acquisition & CRM cycle

Online patient

reviews

Online patient

communication

Automated patient

data processing

Online bookings

Patient education

& CRM

New patient

acquisition

Our Mission

Welltime helps dental practices improve

their competitiveness by connecting them

with a new generation of digitally enabled

patients.

To do so, Welltime provides a suite of

software tools designed to facilitate the

acquisition, administration and customer

relationship management of patients.

Welltime product portfolio

AppointMentor Patient Connections True North Business Intelligence

Acquire new

patients

Engage with your

patients

Manageyour Practice

Consulting services

PMS integration services

Thank you for your attention…

Any questions?