Patient communication software is what the vendors call the reminder, the confirmation and the recall message once they are sold as a suite, and the name hides the fact that a small practice needs three specific things from it and not a communications platform. This page says what the best dental patient communication software has to do with the diary, what a medical practice should check that a dental one need not, and what to leave out. It is written for the front desk judging a patient communication software dental vendors pitch, and it prices the choice against the published rates. The free reminder template on this site sizes the reminder load from your own diary first.
The three jobs behind the name
The reminder at the lead time the practice chose, in the practice's wording; the confirmation recorded against the patient when the reply comes back; and the recall message to every patient who is due and has no booking. Everything else a vendor adds, the two-way chat, the review requests, the newsletters, is optional, and a practice should be able to buy the three without the rest. Kheirkhah et al. 2016 measured a mean no-show rate of 18.8% across ten clinics and an average cost of $196 per missed appointment, and those three jobs are the whole of what moves that figure.
What makes the best dental patient communication software
A dental practice runs on the hygiene cycle, so the recall message is the one that pays, and the best dental patient communication software opens on the recall list rather than the inbox. It should read the interval from the practice, rebuild the list weekly from the diary, send the recall text first and the email second, and hand the front desk the list of patients who did not reply for the phone. The Cochrane 2013 review found mobile text reminders raised attendance from about 67.8% to 78.6%, risk ratio 1.14, and the recall message works on the same channel for the same reason.
What to leave out, and what it costs
A practice that buys a communications platform to get a reminder pays for a chat inbox nobody staffs. Dantas et al. 2018 named lead time and prior no-show history as the two main determinants of a no-show across 105 studies; neither is moved by a newsletter. The reminder wording should stay a diary message, with the date and the time and nothing clinical, and what a compliant message may contain is the practice's adviser's call, not the vendor's. Recallvia Pro is $20 a month for the three jobs and nothing else: the recall list, the reminders under the practice name and the confirmation record, alongside whatever chart system the practice runs.
Questions people ask about patient communication software
Is patient communication software the same as appointment reminder software?
Reminder software is one of the three jobs inside it. The other two are the confirmation record and the recall message, and a practice needs all three.
Do I need two-way texting with patients?
Only if someone at the desk will answer it. A reminder with a reply keyword, recorded against the patient, does the job without an inbox to staff.
What should the best dental patient communication software show first?
The recall list: every patient due for hygiene with no booking, sorted by how overdue they are. If the demo opens on a chat inbox, ask to see the list.
How much does a no-show cost?
Kheirkhah et al. 2016 measured $196 per missed visit in their clinics; the free template on this site uses your own visit value.
Sources
- Kheirkhah et al., Prevalence, predictors and economic consequences of no-shows, BMC Health Services Research 2016
- Gurol-Urganci et al., Mobile phone messaging reminders for attendance at healthcare appointments, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2013
- Dantas et al., No-shows in appointment scheduling, a systematic literature review, Health Policy 2018