The year 2020 brought unprecedented challenges to the world due to COVID-19. The impact has lingered throughout 2021, bringing a new reality to everyone. There are more than 200,000 dentists in the United States currently, and the competition is fierce. As a result, dental practices are left attempting new ways to stand out to potential clients and remain capable of maintaining their current patient base. Everyone needs dental care, and in order for patients to find you and select your practice more readily, several challenges must be met.
Vyne Dental — recognized as the market leader in healthcare information exchange and electronic communication management — released the results of a comprehensive study of over 400 dental practices in the United States, the “State of the Dental Industry” study, which attempted to better understand the impact of 2020 on dentists and their perspective moving into 2021 and beyond. The study had five focus areas: impact of 2020, hiring and the economy, technology, industry, and overall practice outlook.
2020 Impact on Dentistry
The greatest impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on dental practices was financials followed by patient volume, and almost half shifted their investment priorities. It was also discovered that 72 percent of dental practices did not offer teledentistry. Patients’ views on resuming dental treatment ranged from 30 percent actively seeking services, 21 percent ready to resume services, 56 percent only if safety protocols are in place, and finally, 8 percent will not resume treatment until a COVID-19 vaccine is available.
As a result of the pandemic, 8 percent of practice leaders may consider selling their practice. Approximately 4 percent are considering a DSO affiliation while 3 percent may consider merging with another dental practice. Under 1 percent are considering a local hospital or health system affiliation. About 84 percent are considering “other” changes. Specific changes were mentioned such as dropping in-network status, expanding their services, and offering patient payment plans.
Patient volume was 44 percent of the concern for challenges in 2021; 19 percent were concerned about hiring and staffing and 17 percent about updates and regulations. When questioned as to what actions could make their practice more productive or profitable, 38 percent said dental marketing.
Build a Strong Web Presence
The internet is used for everything today. If you do not have an up-to-date website, you are missing out on a huge dental marketing opportunity. About 75 percent judge how credible your practice is based on it’s website, according to Stanford University. Your website should include your credentials, insurances you accept, office policies, hours of operation, services offered, and contact information. Research your competitor’s websites and adjust yours accordingly.
Invest in SEO
If you spruce up your company website and do not invest in SEO (search engine optimization), your efforts may be lost on prospective patients. If your website ranks in the top five search results, you can almost guarantee more website traffic and new patients. The best way to design a successful website is to hire an SEO company. They can implement a strategy and design for your dental practice.
Power of Online Reviews
Just like yourself, prospective patients will take a look at your practices’ reviews. Ask patients to leave positive reviews on Yelp or Google. You might offer patients incentives to offer their reviews, such as a $5 Dunkin Donuts gift card. Most new patients will check your online rating, and if the reviews are negative or you don’t have any reviews, chances are they will move on.
Customer Communication Preferences
More practices are using texting as their preferred method of communication with patients. You may want to consider a text (SMS-based) reminder system to engage with patients. It may be wise to connect with patients in a variety of ways to meet their needs. Ask your patients how they prefer to receive communication messages from your practice. By stepping up your communication operations, you appear to be more efficient and innovative beyond the treatment room.
Automated Technology
Appoint someone in your office to research and stay up-to-date on the latest technological advances. Adopting and using up-to-date technology makes your dental practice more efficient. And it also gives staff more time to focus on other projects. Focus on updating one technology in your practice at a time and promote it to your patients. It demonstrates to patients your commitment to advancing knowledge in your practice and also builds their credibility and confidence in your care.
Patient Referrals
Word of mouth from your patients can help bring in a great amount of revenue and add many to your referral possibilities. Create an incentive program and ask your patients for referrals at each visit. Offer a prize like gift cards for each referral that schedules an appointment with your practice.
Expand Your Services
One growing and untapped market is the uninsured and underinsured. Think about what your practice does well, and consider adding services to improve the value provided to patients to attract new patients and beat the competition. Just remember to not overextend your dental practice.
Offer Financial Options
In order for your patients to become more likely to accept treatment recommendations and return for their dental care, provide them with plenty of payment options. Other than insurance coverage, convenient options are debit, credit, personal check, cash, plus special financing. A patient’s financial circumstances should never interfere with their dental healthcare decisions.
Community Involvement
Traditional marketing is fine, but take it one step further with sponsoring or attending community events. Your participation makes your practice more well-known and credible to the community and could lead to more patients in the future.
Identify some of the above dental marketing strategies and choose the opportunities you feel will make the largest impact and begin there. Contact Strategic Practice Solutions for help with making your dental marketing more effective!
Strategic Practice Solutions, LLC