Rayan FaroukIn continuation of the features blog series, our next topic is the “SMS Integration”.
The main missions of the clinic should be to keep the patients coming back, be satisfied with the process and start referring the clinic to others. A great way to increase patient retention is through enhancing the communication between the clinic and the patient.
But why is it important to increase patient retention?
When people keep coming back to your dental clinic, it means you are doing a good job. Whether it is the treatment process, the doctor’s attitude, the comforting ambience of the clinic, or the full experience of the clinic, there’s a reason for them coming back and you should hold on to it dearly. And to improve the retention you can use several strategies, such as the ones mentioned in our previous blog titled “Boosting Your Dental Practice’s Success with Patient Retention”.
Using clear and effective communication was mentioned in the blog and we will talk more about it here.
A unique strategy to enhance the communication and the clinic operations is using SMS messaging marketing or Whatsapp messaging marketing. SMS marketing is a form of marketing where you can send business promotions, offers or patient data through text message. Through which, the clinic can message all the existing patients in their records or potential patients. These messages could be either marketing for the clinic or specific doctor, or delivering personalized messages to patients.
Here are some scenarios to use SMS messages:
- Appointment reminders
- Appointment confirmations
- Follow-up messages to patients post-visit
- Promotional offers
- Feedback requests
- Emergency notifications
- Clinic updates
- New services announcements
- Event invitations
- Payment reminders
Process breakdown with Medico
It normally starts with your clinic and management agreeing on having the SMS marketing service. Contact some SMS text marketing providers in your area, some examples of providers in the UAE are:
- SMSala
- SMSGlobal
- Etisalat
- Vectramind
Once you have compared the providers and chose the best package for your clinic, confirm from the providers that they provide an API (Application Programming Interface) for integration. Balsam Medico will contact the provider you choose and get access for the APIs. Accessing the APIs and obtaining them, we will start the integration and it takes a short while for completing. Next step is the message configurations, where you can set up triggers and automations, such as sending an appointment confirmation text when their appointment in Medico is changed to “Scheduled” status. You can also customize the message templates to your liking. Now you can start sending sms messages from Medico itself to your patients.
One case to use the SMS messages to increase retention is through our Customizable Reminders. You can use the reminder feature to remind the patients every 6 months to visit the clinic. Once the configuration is set in the system, the messages automatically get sent every 6 months. This case can be used for treatments such as Cleaning, Polishing and others.
In the Patient’s tab, you can view two buttons on top of the list, “Send SMS” and “View Previous Messages”.
To send a text to all patients found in the records, simply click on “Send SMS” and start constructing the text. Messages are charged by the number of characters. Each 160 English characters or each 70 Arabic characters are charged as a single message according to your providers.
Example: “Welcome to Our Clinic! We are happy to have you here. Please visit our Clinic to try our new Service on the upcoming Thursday performed by Doctor Marwan. This offer is for Dubai residences. Thank you for always choosing Our Clinic.”
This message has 231 characters meaning it’s involved in 2 messages. So 2 message fees will be charged. And finally click the save button.
However, if you wish to text a specific patient or filtered group, it is also possible. For a specific patient, simply search for the patient in the search field by their name, phone number or even Emirates ID number, and click the “Send SMS” button. And for a specific group of patients, click “Filter by” and choose the group and click the “Send SMS” button.
After sending the messages, click the “View Previous Messages” button to view all your messages. You can view the sent, failed or the insufficient balance messages and the every data of the message.
To learn more, contact our customer success team or contact person for more information.
Connect with Us
Ready to embark on this exciting journey? Contact us today: 📍 Dubai, United Arab Emirates – Tel: +971 56 123 6043 📍 Khartoum, Sudan – Tel: +249 91 273 1048
Explore Balsam Medico and discover a world of efficient clinic management at www.balsammedico.com. Together, let’s reduce fines, elevate efficiency, and embrace a new era of dental healthcare.
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