3 Trends Driving DSO Success

Successful dental groups are incorporating technology that makes it easier to schedule patients, pay for services, and return for future treatment.

If the key to surviving 2021 was resiliency, the key to success in 2022 is convenience.

Both patients and staff members are craving anything that makes life just a little easier. Fortunately, technology is advancing at record speed. Successful dental groups and DSOs are capitalizing on three technology trends to spur growth and revenue.

No. 1: Make it Easier to Schedule Online scheduling is no longer a nice-to-have. It’s become a must-have. 

The popularity of sites like OpenTable for restaurant reservations changed how people think about making appointments. They no longer want to have to call during business hours. They want to be able to go online and select a time that works best for their busy schedule. 

Smart technology lets dental practices choose which services can be scheduled online, with which providers, and for which amount of time. Select an online scheduling provider that tracks the revenue associated with each online appointment so you can see how it’s benefitting your business.

No. 2: Make it Easier to Return for Treatment

With staffing shortages, inflation, and supply chain issues, it’s more important than ever to maximize your schedule. This used to be a time-consuming process for the front desk team. Now smart technology uses artificial intelligence to quickly identify just high-value patients with unscheduled treatment and lets the dental team send targeted emails and text messages with a link to schedule. 

While the trend used to focus on recare patients for hygiene, now the trend is shifting toward reactivating patients who have already been diagnosed. By sending them reminders to schedule and including a booking link or a phone number for them to call, successful dental groups are making it easy for patients to complete their treatment and restore their oral health.

No. 3: Make it Easier to Pay

People no longer want to receive a bill in the mail and pay by check or call the practice and give their credit card number over the phone. Instead, successful dental groups are adopting mobile payment technology. This allows patients to pay quickly and easily online via text or email. This text-to-pay technology can virtually eliminate paper invoices by sending automated payment reminders via text and email with a secure link to an online payment portal.

Successful practices have expanded the types of payment they accept to include cash, credit, Apple Pay, Google Pay, ACH electronic fund transfers, and monthly payment plans. They’re also selecting payment processing vendors that make it possible to offer a cash discount to patients, which saves thousands of dollars a month on credit card processing fees. 

The best DSOs know creating a fast and frictionless patient experience is the key to winning and keeping patients now and in the future. Now is the time to embrace technology and automation tools to meet the demands of today’s patients.