Getting the. Message. Across. JANUARY 2017 // dentaltown.com

Transcription

1 Getting the Message Across The conversation culled from 32 JANUARY 2017 // dentaltown.com DT_MB1Texting_0117_AG_2.indd 32

2 Is there a way to text your patients while staying HIPAA-compliant? Dentaltown s online message boards begins on the next page. dentaltown.com \\ JANUARY 2017 DT_MB1Texting_0117_AG_2.indd 33 33

3 practice management message board Best Way to Text Patients What s the best way to keep in touch with patients in the digital age? Dentaltown.com > Message Boards > Practice Management > Front Office Discussion > Best Way to Text Patients LukeJordanDDS Member Since: 08/20/14 Post: 1 of 36 Dave at the Dentist Member Since: 04/09/13 Post: 2 of 36 wolverinedds Member Since: 07/14/03 Post: 3 of 36 Dave at the Dentist Member Since: 04/09/13 Post: 4 of 36 Posts: 5 and 6 of 36 Sandy Pardue Member Since: 08/21/02 Post: 7 of 36 Kevin Tighe Member Since: 12/27/10 Post: 9 of 36 I just bought a dental practice in south Louisiana. The previous dentist had our girls very good about confirming patients. One complaint they came to me with was that they would sometimes have to text patients with their personal cell phones to confirm appointments and such. I see this as very unprofessional and inappropriate. What is an effective way to make texting available when the front office needs to but with a number that is not their personal line? Thanks. Zipwhip seems like a popular option. It attaches to your existing phone number. Search for it on the forums for more info. I just got a Google Voice number and use that from the computer to confirm patients. It s free and easy to use since I already use Google Apps for work for our service. However, the number won t be the same number as your office, but I find that hasn t been a problem since most people don t remember phone numbers anymore. We started with Google Voice but found it was a problem because people didn t recognize the number so didn t respond. Once we switched to Zipwhip, it was much better. I think it definitely helps that it is your practice phone number. We always start the text message saying, Hi XXX, this is XXX Dental. This way right off the bat they know it s the dentist. Using OperaDDS you can two-way text from any computer or mobile phone through our recall call feature, Recare. What is unique about this is that your texts live in the same platform as your secure with patients and colleagues, secure texts with staff, traditional s with patients and online case prescriptions. So, all your communication is aggregated in one easy to access place. This is a good idea, as the only things you should be texting patients (if it is not secure, and I don t think Zipwhip is [correct me if I m wrong...]) is recall messages. All ephi should be sent securely, and traditional texting is not secure. OperaDDS feature Pager does include secure texting, which at this point, is designed for use with staff and colleagues (non-patient). I have the perfect solution. A hot new way to get it done is with Rhinogram. Call them and ask for a demo. Very impressive and it is not competing with Lighthouse etc. It solves the personal cell phone issue and is HIPAA compliant. Check into Lighthouse 360 or Solutionreach. Also, Opera is getting good word-of-mouth. Note: Whatever service you use, don t be rote in how you set up your confirmation protocol as patients differ greatly on what they need and want in regards to confirmation. Continued on p JANUARY 2017 // dentaltown.com DT_MB1Texting_0117_AG_2.indd 34

4 practice management message board Continued from p.34 Sandy Pardue Member Since: 08/21/02 Post: 10 of 36 LukeJordanDDS Member Since: 08/20/14 Post: 11 of 36 Post: 13 of 36 OM1970 Member Since: 08/25/16 Post: 14 of 36 Related Message Boards Texting Patients Texting Patients Patient Communication Systems Patient Communication TARDIS Member Since: 06/05/11 Post: 15 of 36 SI_Advisor Member Since: 07/24/15 Post: 16 of 36 IcedOMFS Member Since: 03/11/14 Post: 17 of 36 Dentilicious Member Since: 08/18/11 Post: 21 of 36 I am familiar with both Zipwhip and Rhinogram. If you are working in dental practices, you see the need for this. They are not the same as Lighthouse and others that do automated s and texting. It is technology that picks up where they left off. This is a solution for having to text patients to fi ll the schedule and follow up individually and Rhinogram tracks the follow ups. This does not necessarily replace Lighthouse and others. I am not currently looking for automatic text reminders. Right now, I just want a good way to personally reach individual patients who need to be texted during the day while at work and be able to communicate without my employee s personal phones. Thanks for all the insight. Both look like great products. My only question, is how are they HIPAA compliant? Traditional texting and Facebook messaging is not HIPAA compliant. Not necessary for recall, but Rhinogram s video shows someone Facebook messaging in something that should be handled securely (account balance), which I certainly would not feel comfortable doing. Not to spoil the party, but even though things are convenient it does not mean it is the best way to go. Our office uses software called Weave. It has actually been a lifesaver for texting. We finally reached our limit making phone calls that nobody ever answered/responded to and I m pretty sure never even listened to the voic in the first place. In today s cyber world you really do need to have texting or you will be left behind. Our turnaround with patient response time has been amazing (almost instant most of the time) and they love it! Perhaps someday the practice management software will step into the 21st century when it comes to texting but for now Weave has been a very effective tool for patient communication. It s a fairly new software and has a few growing pains here and there (not very often) but the pros defi nitely outweigh the growing pains and their customer service/ support is amazing. Open Dental has a two-way texting feature. It is very cheap, no contract etc. I have used this for the past few months and it has been great. Perhaps you need to use 21st century software. Have heard great things from all the mentioned companies, but in the recent months I have been hearing more and more great things about the OperaDDS system(s). Do your research though and get demos from anyone who offers them complimentary. Go with what fits your needs. Use the Open Dental integrated text messaging. It automatically logs the communication in the patient s chart. Can t beat it on price. I use Eaglesoft and since it doesn t come with texting, I signed up for Weave about two years ago and have been happy with it except for the pricing. I forget the price off the top of my head but can return with pricing if anyone s interested. 8/25/2016 8/25/ JANUARY 2017 // dentaltown.com DT_MB1Texting_0117_AG_2.indd 36

5 Hands down Zipwhip. It uses your existing landline phone number. Very easy desktop interface. I would be lost without Zipwhip now. Many of our patients use it as the primary method of contacting us. Texting patients has improved our communication processes tenfold. Zipwhip has no ads, no bulky interfaces, the phone number that appears on your patient s phone is your office phone number not some random five-digit number that means nothing. I ve been using Zipwhip since they were an infant in the business. It is the best tool I have right now. We have Eaglesoft as well and it s great, $300ish per month. However, it does much more than texting and I think this user may be looking for something a tad more simple. Another service is DoctorBase. It connects to your PMS and can do stuff like Lighthouse and other such services to track and confirm apt. with and text, etc., thank you for posting about Zipwhip! I ed you via your website and would love to have a few minutes of your time next week. Actually, Rhinogram is a HIPAA-compliant option for your reference. Check out their website: rhinogram.com Open Dental (practice management software) now offers integrated text messaging. It s very inexpensive, too! $5/month/location plus $0.04 per outgoing message. Unlimited incoming messages (no per message fee). Messages that exceed 160 characters are charged an additional $0.01 per 160 characters. No fee for reply messages. We love it. The cool part is that the text messages are automatically logged in the patient comms record. We use RevenueWell and love it. So easy to communicate with patients and it has really helped us get better control of our schedule. There are so many other huge benefits we have seen since switching to RevenueWell and this was just one of them! Seems like a great system, but saying does not compete with also says that you need two systems to do the same thing. Wouldn t you prefer a system that can do it all? Costs less for the office with less vendors to manage (unless you are the vendor). Competition is what makes America what it is. 9/1/2016 9/2/2016 JohnPracticeAdmin Member Since: 02/24/04 Post: 22 of 36 OM1970 Member Since: 08/25/16 Post: 25 of 36 drfredc Member Since: 10/01/02 Post: 26 of 36 KHoutchens Member Since: 06/22/15 Post: 27 of 36 mikebarrdds Member Since: 03/23/00 Post: 29 of 36 frontofficerocks Member Since: 11/04/15 Post: 33 of 36 Post: 35 of 36 Join the discussion online at dentaltown.com Text Patients dentaltown.com \\ JANUARY DT_MB1Texting_0117_AG_2.indd 37