Summary

Dr. Eugene Levin, DDS, is the proprietor of the single provider dental practice in Crystal Lake, Illinois. Though he purchased the decades-old practice from another dentist, Dr. Levin has continued the office’s long tradition of delivering quality care and an unparalleled patient experience. They considered switching to a competitor’s patient communication platform but stayed with Solutionreach because of its winning two-way texting, automated reminders, and automated recall notifications.

Results

  • Lowered their no-show rate to 1%
  • Generated $8-12k a month in recall revenue
  • Sent and received 5,000 patient texts a month

Case Study

Lori Selof, the practice’s longtime office manager, said a few years ago they briefly entertained the idea of implementing a competitor’s patient communications system. However, they quickly found that despite a flashy sales pitch and big promises, they quickly pivoted 180 degrees and came back to Solutionreach because of its dependability, ease of use, and its real-time, two-way texting tool, SR Conversations.

In fact, they never actually left Solutionreach. Lori had delayed canceling the Solutionreach subscription until after they had tested the competitor’s product. But it failed on several key points and Lori happily resumed their relationship with Solutionreach. Not only did their patients miss having the convenience of being able to text the practice anytime, anywhere, but her staff also found SR Conversations indispensable.

“I realized that Solutionreach did the same things but was actually less intrusive,” Lori said. “The competitor system sent us three emails every day with tasks lists, including things like ‘Update home phone number.’ I saw that and thought how outdated it seemed—most of our patients don’t even have a landline anymore.”

When the other system prompted staff to ask patients to update their email address, their patients would respond, “‘Aren’t you doing texts anymore? I don’t check my email.’ Email wasn’t what we needed to reach our patients—we needed texts,” Lori said.

“When I weighed the pros and cons, it was an easy choice to stay with Solutionreach.”
–Lori Selof, Office manager at Eugene Levin’s dental practice

Real-time, two-way texting offers patients endless communication possibilities and covers so many bases for Dr. Levin’s practice, Lori said. Not only does the tool allow her staff to view message history and get on-screen notifications when a patient texts them, but it lets them know if patients need additional follow-up.

“I can say that SR Conversations is the best feature from Solutionreach,” Lori said. “The other company had text messaging, but it doesn’t pop up on the screen when a message comes in and it doesn’t show the texts that have gone out or message history. With Solutionreach, I can see all texts. If a patient chips a tooth, they can text me a picture and I can know right away if it’s an emergency and how much time to schedule. Things like that are wonderful; it saves time and is easier for everyone.”

Patients’ ability to instantly access the practice not only creates a much better patient experience but it saves her staff time from taking phone calls. Lori said it’s no surprise that the practice sends and receives nearly 5,000 texts per month.

“I can pull up any patient to look at anything and follow up,” she says. “Patients don’t have to repeat themselves. I can see every interaction. And I love emojis, which I can use with Solutionreach. I have to end each text with a smiley face. That’s how I roll!”

Moreover, Solutionreach’s automated reminders and recall notifications are helping their patients keep their appointments while filling holes in the practice’s schedule. Their average no-show rate is about 1 person out of every 85-100 patients they see a week.

Lori said the recall tool easily gets their patients back in the office for routine exams and hygiene visits while reducing phone calls and generating considerable revenue. As a result, the practice takes in about $8,000 to $12,000 monthly in recall appointments.

At the end of the day, Solutionreach outshined the competitor’s product and proved to her how valuable the platform is in facilitating easier communication with patients, helping them keep their appointments, and notifying them when they’re due for a recall visit.

“When I weighed the pros and cons, it was an easy choice to stay with Solutionreach,” Lori said. “We just couldn’t live without the text messaging.”