With the average scheduling phone call taking 8.1 minutes, your front office team may spend hours on the phone each day just scheduling appointments.
In a recent poll of AADOM members, 79.5% of respondents showed interested in an online booking solution that opens certain providers and types of appointments for self-booking patients. Online booking means you can add a self-serve “book appointment” button to your website, emails, social media accounts or even internet search engines. In the meantime, your team can focus on other income-generating work because they aren’t tied to the phone all day. And saving time is only the beginning.
Here are five ways that using online booking can help increase revenue:
1. Reduce no-shows and cancellations
Involving your patients in their scheduling helps increase their commitment to keeping appointments. Online booking gives them time — away from your front desk — to figure out their schedule and avoid calendar conflicts.
2. Fill open time slots
Online booking lets you expand booking opportunities beyond regular office hours. With 24/7 online scheduling that doesn’t require a phone call, patients can fill your schedule even while your office is closed, adding appointments in real time to your software’s appointment book.
3. Shorten check-out times
As you provide a touchless booking experience, your patients can receive an email with a personalized link to book their re-care appointment through Online Booking.
4. Retain patients
Online booking demonstrates to patients that you value their time by offering the convenience of booking at any time, from any location. It’s another building block of long-term relationships with satisfied patients.
5. Keep chairs full despite COVID-19 challenges
The typical dental office is only open 32 hours a week, while online booking expands your patients’ scheduling opportunities to 168 hours a week. Giving patients more ways to conveniently schedule — especially now, when you need to keep your chairs full as you reopen — is a win-win.
Learn more about how you can use online booking to improve your practice revenue — by providing patients with convenient real-time scheduling, filling open time slots and saving hours of phone time for your team. Call 888-334-7949 or visit https://www.dentrix.com/landing/onlinebooking.
