Priority patients for check-ups

Looking after your patients

Your patients are the lifeblood of your dental practice and ensuring their health and safety has never been more important.

Protecting your patients starts with clear and purposeful communication as well as creating a contactless experience. Patients will understandably be fearful of coming back to the practice and may consider postponing non-essential appointments. Patient confidence needs to be restored and your initial communication will need to cover two critical areas: 1) showing you have a strong understanding of COVID-19 and the associated risks and 2) what steps you have put in place through work flows, Infection control and PPE to mitigate these risks.

Below are some practical tips to help you look after your patients. 1. Communicate increased safety and hygiene protocols:

Give your patients peace of mind and reduce anxiety by sending an email or SMS announcing your increased safety and hygiene measures. For Henry Schein One customers, you can access free online resources and templates on how to update your EXACT, OASIS and Dentrix Ascend practice management systems.

2. Implement effective patient based communication

strategies: To prepare for this it will be helpful to segment your patient database and create different communication strategies for each segment. Every patient will require personalised and consistent communication to persuade them of the importance of oral care and to convince them that you are open, safe and infection-free. You could even record a webinar that you send to your patients where you can present to them your new normal and what they can expect in terms of visiting the practice and the changes you have made. We have partnered exclusively with Prime Practice who have developed a program called 4 Pillars of Practice Recovery which includes a pillar on effective patient based marketing and communication strategies. Henry Schein customers receive a 40% discount whilst Schein360 members receive 60%.

3. Focus on your most loyal and important patients.

Phone your most important patients (using a script). Your patients will be very grateful for this and much more likely to remain with you.

4. Communicate altered opening hours:

If your practice is required to close, has recently reopened or has changed its hours of operation, it’s important to communicate this to your patients and encourage them to book an appointment. Again, use SMS or email.

5. Manage vulnerable patients and higher aerosol

generating procedures. Consider having certain times and/or surgeries for ‘vulnerable’ patients (e.g. the elderly) as well as higher aerosol generating procedures at the end of the day to reduce risk.

6. Restart your patient recalls and reminders:

If you temporarily paused your patient recalls and reminders due to restrictions, you may consider restarting them. Henry Schein One customers can book a complimentary Business Review with one of our specialists, who can advise on best practice for optimising recall rates and minimising FTAs and cancellations, using email,SMSand EasyPost.

7. Make dental care more affordable: Given current economic conditions, affordability of dental care is likely to be an issue. If your practice allows for patients to pay for treatments by instalments via third-parties, such as ZIP which integrate with EXACT and OASIS, communicating this may help minimise incomplete treatment plans. What’s more, theCare Manager feature in EXACT enables you to easily identify and contact patients with outstanding treatment plans. Henry Schein customers also have access to preferential rates with ZIP, for more information click here.

8. Send pre-appointment forms to patients:

Enable patients to complete electronic forms prior to their appointment to minimise human-to-object contact. Henry Schein One’s Patient Experience solution enables this.

You can also download our guide to creating a

contactless patient experience to learn more. 9. Pre-screening patients: Minimise risk to your patients, staff and your practice’s reputation by pre-screening patients in your email and SMS communications. Your questions should include: • Are you feeling unwell or do you have flu-like symptoms? • Have you returned from overseas in the last 14 days? • Have you been diagnosed with COVID-19? • Have you been in contact with somebody who has a confirmed case of COVID-19? For Henry Schein One customers, you can download our free email and SMS pre-screening templates.

10. Enable patients to self check-in:

Adopt best practice social distancing measures by enabling patients to self check-in. With Henry Schein One’s Patient Experiencesolution, it is now possible to send patients a QR code in order to self check-in for their appointment. This will help patients keep their distance from front desk staff and other patients at the reception. You can also download our guide to creating a

contactless patient experience

to learn more.

11. Waiting room:

Consider spacing out your waiting room by placing “PLEASE DO NOT SIT HERE” signage on chairs or asking patients to wait in their car after they have checked-in to further minimise contact with other patients in the waiting room.