patient prompt

[mbansal]

I was thinking about using patient prompt to remind my patients of appointments. Any one have any experience /stories/alternatives with this type of service? Thanks...

[hjoesaar]

I tried it.. I documented my experiences in another message. You can search, "patient prompt" and find it. I think my experience was an exception but it wasn't a good one. First of all, everyone at PP was courteous, professional, and knowledgeable. I was impressed by the instalation into OD. I did the 14 day trial but since Open Dental does so many updates, Patient Prompt wasn't up to date and it didn't work. Once everyone got up to speed, Patient Prompy gave me a new 14 day trial. Some of my patients loved the emails, and text messages. Some of my patients didn't like the 14 calls they got on a sunday morning reminding them of an appointment. Yes, up to 14 calls! PP didn't know why that was and I was burnt out. At that point, after 2 free trials, and now doing damage control because some patients were really annoyed.. we stopped it. Fpr that month our recall rate was significantly less than usual. I think my experience was a poor one but I hope it was the exception. They seem like a good group of people with a good product. If you try it please document it and tell us what you think. For the price I would use them for emails and text messages alone. You can also send bulk emails to your patients with announcement such as Holiday greetings, hour changes, vacation notices, specials.. I think that's a great service. That's my two cents.
- Harald

[Anthony J Turner]

I have used it for about a year. I have had an excellent response I can remember when we first started using it we got some complaints. I decided then to forge ahead due to the positives. Only one time we had a complaint of multiple calls. PP supported us as we worked through the problem. The pts that had problems with the automation either changed practices or got used to it. I can think of one pt that did not want to be notified. Most really appreciate it, especially the text message.(they use the emergency system so the pts are not charged).
As an employer I like the fact that I never have to worry about pts being called, even with employee changes. One bit of advice, really encourage your staff to get those email addresses and cell phone numbers. Then your no shows really drop. Sorry for being so long winded but I hope this helps.

[mbansal]

Thanks for all your responses. I think I will go ahead and try it out on a free trial. I definitely agree about getting the cell phone and e-mail address earlier from teh patients. I have started doing that about 6 months ago.