Top 3 Ways Patients Benefit from Paperless Technologies

Digitalization in the dental office can add to-not take away from-your focused attention on quality dental care and excellent “people care.”

The third installment to Dental Products Report's Paperless Video Series breaks down the top three ways a paperless system can enhance the dental patient's experience.

Appointment Automation

Electronic workflows provide appointment automation features so patients can simply go to the dental practice's website and request an appointment in seconds. This means that the communication between dentists and patients is a two-way street. Dentists can respond to patient e-mails with flexibility.

Daily communication with patients can take place digitally through: confirmations, reminders of past due hygiene appointments, acknowledgement of dentistry diagnosed but incomplete with encouragement to schedule the next appointment.

Text messages and emails are more readily accessed with today’s busy people than a phone call-unless  the phone call is to their smartphone and, even then, they’re most likely catching e-mail on the run!

Online Payments

When it comes to becoming an advocate for your patients, providing them with an easy and convenient program for online bill pay is key. Chances are most dental patients are paying their bills online, which makes providing the option to make payments online available extremely important. The feature of online payments also allows patients to review their accounts when they have time.

Patient Education

One of the very special ways a patient experiences paperless is the ability to learn about their treatment plans through detailed videos and images, rather than through a printed pamphlet. The web has changed the way patients learn and gather information. Patients now expect high quality information. Don't disappoint with a boring pamphlet.

Approximately 83% of learning takes place visually, so the more visual education tools you can use, the better the learning. Digital radiographs, digital photography, the stored before and after photographs of your own patients can show people the possibilities for themselves.