Improve Profitability through Clean Claims

With almost 11 ADA recognized dental specialties and having a burgeoning market share, the specialty dental business is here to make significant gains in the coming years as we take a cursory glance on the latest trends of the dental industry.

Listen to Ryan Arnold, Principal, Wisdom Teeth Guys as he explains the possibilities that lie ahead for Dental Specialty business and how he has paid attention on patient care,technology adoption and brand management to further sustainable practice growth for his specialty.

Dentistry's Inner Circle bg 37

Creating Sustainable Specialty Dental Businesses

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A series of podcasts from practice owners on how they navigated the change and successfully transitioned to CareStack. 

Beatrice Perez

Ishtiaq Rouf

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Dr. Himesh Kana, DDS

Himesh Kana

 Penny Filipe

SMILE: CareStack recognized as 2026 Dental Leader by Capterra & Software Advice

Dental Appointment Reminders: Reducing No-Shows and Driving Practice Growth

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Reducing patient no-shows and cancellations begins by accepting that 

it’s impossible to guarantee that your patients will always keep their appointments

. Once you accept that this falls outside your control, you can pool your efforts on the aspects that are within your control, and which help reduce no-shows and cancellations.

missed appointments cause a ripple effect

 that impacts your schedules, revenues, and the effectiveness of treatments. It strikes a serious blow to your bottom line. But with that said, there are 

effective safeguards you can put in place

 to address this issue. Before we explore these safeguards, let’s examine the key reasons behind no-shows and cancellations. 

Typically, patients miss their appointments when they:

Don’t understand the importance of keeping their appointments

Misunderstand when their appointment is scheduled

Self diagnose and decide to skip their appointments

Worry about bad news and try to avoid the situation

Have a shallow relationship with the provider

There is a wide range of reasons for patients to miss their appointments, but most can be mitigated with improved patient-provider communication and by implementing the following safeguards.

It became widely accepted as a care delivery method after the 2020 pandemic, but thanks to the convenience offered to patients, 

 is here to stay. Outside the initial check-up and actual treatment, consultations and routine post-op visits can be performed remotely. The virtual interactions offer patients the opportunity to 

receive treatment in the comfort of their living room

 or office. The added benefit of leveraging teledentistry is it adds one less reason for patients to rethink or opt out of their dental appointments. 

Another approach that has gained traction is using 

 to collect vital patient information. E-forms are a key feature of modern practice management software (PMS). This feature is now used widely to stay in line with the COVID-19 safety protocols. With this new norm, practices have completely replaced the clipboard and embraced digitization. Another fact that supports this approach is that 

98% of patients who take time to fill out online forms commit to their appointments

COVID-19 has added fuel to the fire of dental anxiety among patients. The risk of exposure is a valid fear. The best way for you to 

 is with communication and education. Ensure you convey the safety protocols and measures followed at your practice to reduce the risks from COVID-19. Launching targeted email campaigns, and updating relevant information on your practice website and 

convey your commitment to patient care and safety

 and encourage patients to follow through with their appointments.

When you provide your patients with the option to make payments in advance, it reduces the instances of no-shows and benefits your collections and accounts receivable. Get paid upfront instead of having to wait for 2-3 months. Paying cash in advance leads to 

. You can provide this option during patient checkout, especially when both you and your patient agree with the importance of scheduling the next appointment.

Offering upfront payment at this stage is apt, as the patient is likelier to take action and commit to their oral health. Another way to make it easy for them to pay is by providing an 

. Make sure that you inform your patient about your prepaid payment options. Market it through your campaigns, newsletters, and phone scripts.

Reminders are an effective way to reduce patient no-shows. Plan your 

and decide on a frequency that works best for your target clientele. Start off with a postcard, followed by email and text reminders. Add a phone reminder a few days before the scheduled appointment. Ensure that you cut down on reminders once you receive confirmation from your patients. Practice management software aids you to launch, coordinate and track your recall campaigns effectively.

reward patients who keep their appointments

. The reward initiatives can include discounts or gift cards. The benefits of such an approach are twofold. You encourage your patients to follow through on your appointments and 

convey how much you value their participation

. Moreover, curating such experiences helps you retain your customers.

Sometimes, patients simply forget an appointment. Send 

 that can include a “We missed you at the practice” message. Follow this up with a phone call to encourage them to reschedule immediately.

It is crucial that your patients know the impact of your treatments on their oral health. If your patients are not invested in the outcomes of your treatment plan, it is unlikely that they will uphold their commitments. 

 before every appointment. Remind them of the benefits of the procedure and the progress they’ve made so far. 

 of the scheduled appointment and ensure that they are fully onboard. A phone reminder before the appointment will help refresh what they already know about the 

Patients skip appointments because they owe your practice money or are worried the procedure will be too expensive. When this happens, it’s time to 

. It’s important that payments never come as a surprise to the patient. This causes anxiety in the patient, especially when they expect hidden expenses from each visit. When 

 and benefits are discussed upfront and agreed upon, patient no-shows due to financial concerns can be avoided. 

 allows you to effectively educate and communicate with your patients. Automating tasks like appointment reminders or confirmation/cancellation emails, filling last-minute openings, and sending online forms and other notifications to engage patients, practices can drastically cut revenue loss and staff workload while reducing patient no-shows and cancellations.

Eliminating No-Shows and Cancellations at Dental Office

For a dental practice, revenue cycle management is the equivalent of the body’s circulatory system and the heart of a practice’s financial success. The revenue cycle incorporates data capture, claims and denials management, and the collection of payments from both patient and insurance receivables. A healthy system works in concert with industry best practices and technical solutions to optimize efficiencies, identify “leaks” and improve operational workflows. As every practice is unique, it is difficult to prescribe a “one size fits all” approach. However, there are key performance indicators, which can and should be followed to measure practice performance. There are several potential KPIs which provide valuable insight into the collection’s performance and financial health of practice including, but not limited to: Collections percentage, Production growth, Aging accounts receivable, Days sales outstanding, Adjustments percentage, and Credit balances. 

Since 2011, the dental industry has experienced a steady and upward trend in aging receivables, with the majority of balances aged greater than 90 days. The good news is that CareStack offers a solution that combines modern technology, effective processes, and industry expertise to kick start the heart and breathe life back into the revenue cycle.

Revenue Cycle Playbook for Dental Professional

Revenue Cycle Playbook for Dental Professionals

From small, solo practices to large, multi-location clinics, these case studies demonstrate the versatility and value of CareStack in improving the patient experience and driving practice . 

For decades, dentists relied exclusively on their reputation and word-of-mouth marketing to help them build dental practices. But it’s 2020, and certainly, almost all of 

your audience is now spending their time on social media

. Whether it’s blogging, video marketing, paid social ads, or even podcasts, you have to learn the specifics of social media marketing to stay alive in the dental marketing world.

According to Statista, the dental industry is expected to grow to a value of around 

. To fall into this momentum, you need to 

, with a social media marketing plan targeting your specific target audience.

For many dental practice owners, the world of social media marketing is an unmapped territory filled with potential blunders they must be guided through. But 

social media marketing is not as complex as you think

. To avoid these potential blunders and reap the benefits of social media marketing, you need not have to be an advertising genius. With the right approach and persistence, your dental practice can flourish beyond the boundaries.

Stats Every Dentist Should Know

social media marketing

Does Social Media Marketing Matter For Dentists?

 Today, most of your patients are going online to research dental care options.

Social media marketing is your ideal way to 

 with your target audience. For a dentist, broadcasting their services through social media is a means to convince their patients that they can 

However, dental practice owners need to understand how well they should handle their social media handles by enabling multiple checkpoints to avoid potential blunders. Any content that you share will stay there forever, and therefore each post should 

 your potential and existing patients, and motivate them to 

 with your practice. Any other kinds of posts are certainly a waste of time and can often severely backfire too.

Here are some of the reasons why dental marketing is important for your practice:

Helps you to gain both visibility & new patients

Builds credibility & manages your reputation

Communicate & strengthen patient relationships

Beyond just reaching out to your patients, social media presence has become a crucial tool for your dental practice. 

Patients use it to verify and judge your practice

 before booking an appointment. Maintaining an active and engaging social media presence portrays you as a dynamic dental practice that constantly interacts with its patients. This, in turn, develops trust and ensures you get more new patients.

Top Trends Specific To Dentistry To Keep In Mind!

Thought leaders are here to stay in the lead!

Find a thought leader from your niche and tell them that you would like them to come over for free treatment or cleaning. Request them to document the process on their social media. Let them offer a special discount to all their followers to book a new patient appointment with your practice.

Bring in more content that disappears quickly. A good example of this is Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook stories. Stories work for real as they have a FOMO factor attached to them. You get the engagement you want because your stories disappear, and people don’t want to miss what you have recorded or offered.

Patients today are using social media as a tool for communication with brands. Patients are likely to forward questions, ask for help, and book appointments through social media rather than in person. 

Develop a workflow around this engagement

, so your team is ready to answer patients’ service requests.

You have the convenience of geo-targeting all of your social posts in ads. Through this, your ad will not be broadcasted across the internet. Instead, it will be 

shared exclusively with the target audience that you set

 within the ads. This ensures that you target prospects that will later become new patients, within your location.

Personalize to speak your brand’s voice.

The highest-performing posts are usually driven with an emotional angle and are personalized to your practice. Keeping posted on your social channels is two-fold: extremely impactful imagery should go well, along with educational content and engaging and funny posts. These posts should speak your brand voice and educate the patient.

Tips To Improve Your Activity On Social Media

Photos help you establish credibility online. Post good photographs of your facility, team, and patients, or even deliver important messages through pictures.

A #hashtag campaign helps promote your content among a larger circle by encouraging your followers to join in. For example, a picture from the past of you, your practice, or your team posted as nostalgia on a Thursday may be picked up by your patients, and they may actively post their pictures with the hashtag.

Tag real people and show patient transformations:

There is nothing that establishes credibility like a real person who transformed. This improves your credibility and showcases your skill, but it also encourages more people in your vicinity to go ahead with restorative procedures. Instagram was made for this.

be supportive and participate in local events

 such as fundraisers or community events that cause the local population to see you as a member of the community and less as a business.

Questions and interactive messages are especially valid because every time you get a member of the community to respond, you add their social circle to your interaction. 

Posting interesting questions and interactive posts

, asking something from your followers and patients, are great ways to promote social media engagement.

Another upcoming trend is the use of videos. Everyone has a fast internet connection on their mobiles, and 

. They are short and precise and convey your message much better with a human touch. Post more videos on dental advice or even post a wish to engage users during the festival season.

Social media requires constant updates and dedicated attention. This can become tricky in your busy schedules. One way to balance this is by 

 so that interactions look regular, whereas your attention can be in other areas without distraction.

Social media works on the principle of being human. Every bit of data in there has a human element attached. That is why we find it attractive. Do not miss this crucial element. Make your posts genuine, and be open and real in your conversations rather than following a formal template.

 from time to time, thanking your patient or the author. This helps your patients and followers trust your messages more since 3rd party reviewers vet them.

Freebies might seem a bit too much. But, the reality is freebies still draw human interaction, and people still chase rewards. Use freebies from time to time to promote specific campaigns. Design your campaigns well so you can reach out with the best message.

10 Key Takeaways For You To Excel In Dental Marketing

Measure and rework your social media plan

Leveraging Social Media Marketing for Dentists

Social media marketing for dentists is becoming more important as time passes, and 

you don’t want to fall behind your competitors

As a dentist, there’s no universally valid solution to being successful in the social media marketing world, just like any other marketing strategy. The success lies where you recognize the importance of 

building a friendly, personalized relationship with your target audience

 through your social channels, and beginning to create a brand that’s more credible, and engaging for today’s patients.

Ultimate Dental Marketing Tips And Ideas

Ultimate Dental Marketing Tips And Ideas: What You Need To Know!

Is the growth of your dental practice slowing down because you are not keeping pace with the rapid technological advancements? Do you still find it challenging to manage payment collections and insurance management along with providing your patients with the best possible experience? If so, this is the right time to 

switch to a completely paperless practice

As we know, dental practices have always dealt with instances where they are forced to use physical records. These include coordinating with suppliers, dental labs, and other service vendors, as well as maintaining patient records, schedules, reminders, and calendars.

Paper-based workflows introduce redundancy, creating more overheads and serious cash-flow issues for dental practices. Yet, practices choose not to switch because of the stress associated with introducing change.

Besides smooth transition, modern practice management systems offer 

integrated solutions that streamline every bit of your practice

, from third-party coordination to electronic health records, ensuring easy accessibility for all your practice data without needing any paperwork.

Scaling efficiency with a paperless practice

Benefits of Paperless Practice

 might seem time-consuming initially, as your practice has to get accustomed to automated workflows and processes. But, the time invested in transition will be worth the 

Modern practice management systems store data on the cloud, that is, on dedicated servers with round-the-clock online security and built-in data optimization techniques. With an all-in-one dental software solution 

, you can turn your focus back to productive dental work, thus ensuring a well-spent and effective treatment experience for patients. Let’s see how:

A modern cloud-based dental practice management solution brings significant changes in the following areas:

Patient information and health records are saved in a single, centralized database that enables 

 helps to set customized office hours and allows patients to schedule appointments by themselves.

Streamlined insurance billing and collections with a 

Credit cards can be stored in the database and can be used for creating recurring 

 that analyze patient data to eliminate inaccuracies before claims submission.

 that patients can read and understand by themselves.

Continuous and intuitive tracking of dental supplies across multiple locations.

 based on customized treatment plans and ease documentation works.

Patients can text the practice anytime and thereby reducing the number of calls to the practice.

The benefits of going to an entirely paperless practice include 

, lower costs, reduced stress, a more empowered staff, and improved patient experiences.

Making the transition does require investments of time and money, but you can take comfort in knowing many offices have already abandoned paper-based systems successfully. Improved technology and increased access to assistance will make it easier for you to 

compete in today’s technology-enhanced dental landscape

 Data is prone to manual error at the point of entry. With a PMS, even this does not happen, as the patient intake forms are filled up by patients themselves using their mobile devices. This improves accuracy and increases the efficiency of everything from eligibility verification to claims submission.

 is increasingly becoming compromised, and paper documentation adds unnecessary risk to the process. Electronic documentation and databases can be customized with access controls so that only the relevant members of your team can access sensitive data. Also, with a cloud-based PMS, 

 on and off transmission abiding by HIPAA regulations.

 Now that every action can be traced back to the team member responsible, there will be greater ownership of tasks and lesser mistakes. An efficient PMS allows the dentist to exercise the usual functions of ownership and decide who has access to the data. It also ensures that the data is available in a readily transferable and accessible format, not a proprietary format only the PMS can use.

 Even before they are seated in the dental chair, patients do not want to wait. With PMS integration into your dental practice, you can streamline the patient flow between various departments, reducing the check-in to check-out time, and providing a better patient experience.

 One of the biggest challenges with paper records is accessibility. With a secure cloud-based environment, electronic records are readily accessible, no matter the time, location, or file type. You can finish your notes and access your practice from anywhere in the world on your computer, tablet, or phone.

 Data stored electronically in cloud-based systems have security measures, making it safer than paper records. You can assign permissions and secure communications with your providers and patients, along with ensuring end-to-end data encryption.

 that is efficient and productive every day, with patient data accessible anytime, anywhere.

 that provides a quick return on your investment.

 for all your third-party integration needs, world-class support, well-trained providers, and up-to-date enhancements.

, offering you the easiest way to collect patient information, reduce no-shows, streamline your operations, and increase patient satisfaction.

Switching to a Paperless Practice

How to Increase ROI by Switching to a Paperless Practice

Dental providers have been very slow in adopting 

 within their practices, unlike their peers in other areas of medicine. According to 

“adoption rates of patient portals among dental practices in the United States were low. Top barriers to adoption of dental EHRs identified included cost/expense of EHRs, cost-benefit ratio, time to convert from paper-based to computer-based practice, and poor usability of current EHRs.”

 of dental providers not yet moving to EHRs, 

. These clinical charts are organized chronologically as the patients are treated and followed up. This database system can become cumbersome as the patient data grows over time, with more elements to be researched before considering the patient’s care.

Often, the data has to be re-entered multiple times to update all the necessary health records of the patients to be included. Storing patients' data on paper also poses high risks of losing or damaging them. Because once lost or damaged, it would be tiring and time-consuming to recollect the data, re-record, and reorganize it.

allow your patient data to be recorded digitally

 could help improve patient experience and speed of care delivery.

“An Electronic Health Record is often defined as a complete longitudinal history of an individual’s health care across all settings and encounters as well as the data types and relationships that would enable it to be created, stored, and managed electronically.”

 of a patient that EHRs provide have the potential to benefit your dental practice in various ways:

Allows effective communication between dental care providers

Aid in the rejection of malpractice claims

Optimize the safety & effectiveness of patient care

Despite these unique features, EHR extends to dental practices, and many might not be lending themselves to EHR adoption due to the lack of time to convert from paper-based to computer-based practices. However, the number of providers adopting dental EHR is growing as they increasingly seek EHRs to improve their practice efficiency.

Why adopting EHR in dental practices is necessary

EHR systems can improve care quality and patient safety by enhancing the quantity and quality of information available to providers for decision-making. An EHR system’s ability to capture detailed clinical data in a highly structured manner can enable analysis for quality assessment, identification of areas for improvement, and the design of decision support tools like allergy alerts, medication alerts, and other prompts.

EHR adoption is beneficial to all healthcare providers, including dental providers

. Two main factors are the correlation between oral and medical health and the benefits the right organization of patient medical history brings in providing efficient and reliable treatment. Enhancing the quality of treatment and increasing the number of patients treated using EHR digital documents assists in patient care and the overall optimization of dental practice systems.

1. Oral and Medical Health are Correlated

The first symptom of larger health issues such as systemic disorders, general illnesses, or dietary deficiencies might be oral problems. With the dental and medical disciplines divided, there is a high chance of patient information getting improperly transferred between the disciplines.

Reliance on paper copies of medical records and the recollection of medical history by patients 

 between the disciplines, inhibiting the efficient management of patient needs. This results in an uncoordinated organization between oral and medical health and the storage of patient health information.

2. Allow for more precise and efficient care

Your patients might have different dental needs and medications and visit multiple dental providers concurrently. 

 and drawing inferences from written clinical charts will not allow for a precise treatment decision on time.

 and previous medical history ensures your patient timely and accurate access to quality dental care. By understanding a patient’s relevant medical history, present medical needs, and medications used, you can relate to the patient’s overall health experience and can optimize the care they receive.

EHRs and the ability to exchange health information electronically can help you provide higher quality and safer care for patients while creating tangible enhancements for your organization

Benefits of Dental EHR Integration

Electronic Health Records system provides comprehensive patient-centric care by organizing patient information across multi-site practices, enhancing treatment reporting, and improving care management, ultimately leading to greater productivity and increased patient satisfaction. EHRs also:

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