In running a successful practice, communication should be easy. Not just for your patients, but for your staff too. With all the offerings out there, how do you pick the one that is right for your practice?

A search is not complete until you’ve checked out Podium. It is an all encompassing software that is sure to meet all your needs! I recently had a chance to talk to Joshua Combe, Regional Sales Director of Podium and I walked away impressed by what this software can do! Podium was founded on helping businesses achieve stellar reviews, but today the platform is known for its all-inclusive patient engagement software that continually over-delivers. 

According to Joshua Combe, Podium has already worked with over 50,000 different businesses. Through their work in a variety of industries, Podium has gathered a plethora of meaningful data and experience, bringing back the cream of the crop to serve their dental clients. In his presentation on the “Three Tips for Increasing Patient Engagement,” Joshua Combe walks us through the vital elements of patient engagement for our current Covid-19 effected circumstances and beyond. 

1. Create a centralized, text-able landline service.

Joshua Combe reported that according to their pre-Covid study, a whopping 90% of customers already preferred to engage with businesses via text message. 

Fewer than half of the businesses surveyed reported to offer this option, and many of those that did believe that their communication still lacked some effectiveness. 

This may occur when a practice attempts to integrate a new phone number for texting separately from their regular office phone. This results in confusion on the customer’s end and disorder on the practice’s end. If you are thinking about using an additional cell phone to answer your office’s incoming text messages, there is a better way. 

A patient engagement software like Podium would allow customers to text your landline phone number directly. Then, Podium would streamline your text messaging process by consolidating all inbound messages into one simple inbox, allowing easy conversation transitions between employees. These messages would be trackable and easy to integrate with systems you’re already using. 

This way, from setting up appointments to instructing patients on “curbside waiting room” procedures, your patient engagement would be clear and optimized to meet patient exceptions. 

2. Address every point of interacting with patients. 

Patient engagement often begins with a simple Google search. How is your SEO? It’s important to acknowledge how patients initially discover your practice and ensure that your Google Listing is updated with a textable phone number. 

 Next, take a look at your website. Is your website actively driving conversions? A key piece of this involves how visible your contact information is. Once a patient is ready to inquire, can you quickly respond through a patient engagement software element such as webchat? 

Once a patient arrives for their first visit, you can offer contactless payment or curbside waiting room updates to maintain mindful and clear communication. 

After the appointment, having a plan to follow up with patients and request reviews and feedback is also important. A software like Podium would guide you through this process and prepare the patients for their next visit by staying connected in the following months. 

3. Create a personalized experience. 

From appointment reminders to answering patients’ questions in real-time, practices need to make themselves available to guide individuals through their appointment process. 

Automated text-messaging and Telehealth appointments are examples of patient engagement software that can increase your practice’s accessibility and personalization. 

This, combined with automated requests for feedback and reviews, personalizing your patients’ experiences through virtual communication, works to make patients feel safe and valued. This process has created recurring business across all industries for Podium clients. 

Consider choosing Podium as your “easy button” for patient engagement today. They have a pretty incredible deal for our Nifty Thrifty group below too! 

Nifty Deal:

• You can use Podium Starter for free! It includes a limited number of patient messages as well as online payment setup to see how Podium can work for you!

 

 

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