United Kingdom
Ireland
Australia
New Zealand
Canada
Building a positive and long relationship between your practice and your patients are so important – because it doesn’t just benefit them, but it nurtures loyalty, advocacy and trust which will ultimately keep them coming back through your doors for the same quality treatment.
So, let’s look at how your team can encourage this relationship through a well-structured, informative website as well as a few other personal touches to gain new patients and inform and educate existing ones.
The practice website
In the highly competitive dentistry market, practices face the challenge of balancing day-to-day business and ensuring the highest level of care whilst keeping prospective and existing patients engaged in their oral health.
It is the marriage of customer care and good relationships that is key to keeping patients returning - so why not start engaging with new patients even before they have even entered the practice?
A professional and user-friendly website is hugely important in attracting patients as the internet is most likely the first place they will turn for recommendations; if a practice has a poorwebsite or perhaps no website at all, it can automatically take them out of the running.
What should your website contain
Beyond being easy to navigate, it should provide specific details that reassure a potential patient that they’re engaging with the right practice.
Your website should identify what treatments are on offer, standard fees as applicable for all payment plans, your location, contact details and if possible, a selection of patient testimonials which serve to set a patient at ease.
A ‘Meet the Team’ page is also incredibly valuable in kicking off that patient-practice relationship so they can see the practitioner and supporting team that could be providing them care.
Information on the team's qualifications and areas of expertise installs confidence in the patient of the team's capability while photos, and a few lines on the team members, bring a friendly human aspect to your practice.
GDC Requirements
The GDC requires your website to contain certain pieces of information in order to meet its ethical advertising guidance. This includes:
- The contact details of your practice and its location.
- The GDC's contact details.
- Your practice's complaints procedure.
- The date your website was last updated.
The GDC also requires you to state the professional qualification and the country that awarded this as well as the GDC registration number for each of the dental professionals at your practice.
Don’t forget to keep your website up to date as patients will rely on your website for information about your practice. You can find more details on the GDC website.
As well as having a clean, easy-to-use website there are a couple of other features you can make the most of in Dentally to give your patient the best experience possible.
Patient photo
In Dentally, practices have the ability to add images to a patient record. When the patient record is opened, the photo is then shown, and it is also viewable in the patient's details.
This allows staff to get acquainted with patients and provide better, more personable care for the patient, for example greeting them by name when they arrive so they feel known and valued.
Birthday report
Seeing a patient’s birthday in Dentally can help you go the extra mile – automate a birthday message via SMS or email to help them feel valued. You can even use this as an opportunity to offer the patient a discounted treatment as a gift! To find out more about how Dentally can help you build the relationship between the practice and the patient, get in touch with our friendly team today.
.png)