How Dental Clinics Can Transform their Practice with CRM Software

Get the right CRM solution based on your specific needs. There’s nothing better for your clinic than satisfied clients!

We often see Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in articles about sales, business, or e-commerce. So, it may seem a bit strange to think of CRM in dental practice. But, the reality is that CRM is just a solution to improve the relationship between an organization and its customer, which is a patient in the healthcare industry.

In fact, many dental practices over the years have started to utilize CRM in managing data logs, communication, appointments, and even marketing. Just like many other industries, CRM is quite popular in the healthcare sector, which is why it’s predicted to grow at a 14.2% annual rate until 2027.

So, why is CRM so popular? And how can you find a reliable one? Here’s the answer.

Triare’s experience in dental development software 

Over the years, TRIARE has worked with prominent dental institutions to recognize their needs and offer tailored dental management software solutions to meet them. Medbrige and Smile App are two real-world use cases of TRIARE’S dental software development services.

Medbridge: During the pandemic, Medbridge was struggling with the challenge of social distancing while providing medical care. After consulting with the client, the software development team at TRAIRE began working on a mobile app solution that can take all diagnostic data and send them to physicians via Bluetooth. The app is easily integrated with the existing CRM system.

Smile app is a prime example of TRIARE’s impact on growing lead conversion for dental practices, where they could show each patient their brand-new smile in a few steps. Naturally, that made customer acquisition much simpler for dental offices.

Challenges for effective implementation of CRM in dental practices

Many dental practices can attest to the positive impact of CRM on building fruitful relationships with patients. But some may struggle because they face challenges in implementing the dental management CRM solution. Four main challenges are:

1. Time. It takes a while for any company to test a solution and train its employees on using a new CRM solution. There’s no way to rush through the process, so you have to adjust your expectations realistically.
2. Integration. Many times offices choose ready-made CRM solutions to save time. But, as their operations evolve, their needs evolve with it too and the current platform doesn’t have the features to support their needs. Plus, adding features to ready-made software costs money. That’s the case for 66% of businesses.
3. Data Security. Ensuring that patient data is secure and compliant with regulatory requirements, such as HIPAA, can be a challenge. Implementing a CRM system requires a robust security infrastructure, including encryption, access controls, and backup and recovery mechanisms, to ensure that patient data is secure and protected against unauthorized access, loss, or theft. Also, staff must be trained on data security best practices, including password management and phishing prevention, to reduce the risk of data breaches or other security incidents.
4. Cost. Implementing a CRM system can be costly, and it may take time to see a return on investment. Additionally, ongoing costs for maintenance, upgrades, and technical support can add up over time. For smaller practices or those with limited financial resources, these costs may be prohibitive, making it difficult to justify the investment in a CRM system.

Increasing efficiency and streamlining operations with CRM software

Perhaps the biggest benefits of CRM software in any business, including dental practice, revolve around automation, productivity, and quality. In fact, 60% of businesses have seen a boost in productivity using CRM. Here are three reasons:

Disadvantages of SaaS CRM solutions for dental clinics

Many companies use the software as a service (SaaS) CRM solutions and definitely benefit from them. At the same time, there are downsides that every business needs to consider before deciding to use a SaaS CRM service. Here are some of them.

Why is it important to create custom CRM software and features for dental?

We previously touched on the importance of custom CRM to dental practices, but it’s worth pointing out why a one-size-fits-all approach does not work for CRM solutions. Here are three reasons:

1. Saving Money: Ready-made CRM solutions are fixed with a series of features that you may or may not need. Either way, you’re paying for all of those features. But, with a custom dental management CRM, you can choose specific vital features and only pay for those.
2. Integration: As mentioned, too many CRM solutions don’t fit the existing structure because they don’t consider the company’s other APIs and platforms. That’s not the case with custom CRM.
3. Scalability: Once you expand your customer base, you need more features to support your operations and that can only happen with a custom CRM solution that can change to your needs.

Trying to use a one-size-fits-all approach for dental CRM software solutions is like trying to use a toothbrush that’s too big for your mouth – it just won’t work. Dental practices have unique needs and workflows that require customized software to maximize efficiency. A generic CRM software may not have the necessary features and functionalities to meet the specific needs of a dental practice, leading to suboptimal performance and frustrated staff. Just as each patient deserves personalized dental care, each dental practice deserves personalized CRM software.

Building Stronger Patient Relationships with CRM: The Key to Success in Dental Practice

The importance of patient interactions cannot be overstated for any healthcare business. To guarantee long-lasting partnerships, you should engage and communicate with your present patients. You also probably depend heavily on good word of mouth to attract new patients. People who hire you count on you to protect their sensitive information and provide them with reliable medical care.

You can do that with a custom dental management CRM solution. Once you understand patient behavior, provide personalized care, and expertly handle complaints, you can build lasting relationships with the customer.

Understand patient behavior: In most cases, your interactions with patients won’t be a one-time thing, meaning that you’ll communicate with them in person, over the phone, via email, text, and other mediums. All of these give you data that helps provide personalized care.

Provide personalized care: CRM solutions allow you to easily access important data about the patient’s condition, overall medical history, fitness levels, schedule, and other points. That’ll help you tailor your treatment plan to their needs, showing them how valuable they are to you.

Handling Dissatisfaction: Complaints and criticism are inevitable in any practice, including dental. It’s not about being perfect, it’s about hearing those complaints and identifying the source of concern. Having access to patient data can help you see where they come from and how you can solve their problem.

Successful Implementation of CRM in Dental Clinics: Real-World Cases

There’ve been many studies, surveys, and reports on how a CRM solution can be beneficial in different sectors. However, nothing can better demonstrate the advantages of dental management CRM solutions than real-world cases of dental clinics that have used them. Here are three of those institutions: 

1. Tooth Club: Tooth Club is a dental clinic based in Ipswich, UK. Their main point of struggle was keeping up with a vast number of inquiries and following up with potential leads. They initially used Google Sheets and emails to handle these areas, but using the CRM solution’s transparent reporting, they quickly identified the number of incoming leads, their source, and how they could be easily converted into patients.
2. Kent Smile Studio: Another UK-based clinic that had initially used a ready-made patient management solution, but decided to switch to a new CRM system because it had opened a second branch and needed a unified view to run both practices easier. The custom-made CRM broke down data silos and allowed them to access data from any site, even from home. 
3. Heathwood Dental Practice: Heathwood’s challenges were twofold. On the one hand, their employees were used to working with the previous system, and they needed a brand-new CRM solution that was easy to use, so they wouldn’t face onboarding and training issues. 

Also, they needed a system with more features to help them scale and also one that could fit with the clinic’s Mac-based platform. Besides solving such problems, the new CRM system allowed the clinic to save time handling emails, and texts, and organizing paper forms.

What is the process of custom CRM development for Dental in TRIARE?

By now, you surely realize the importance of CRM to dental practices. It is equally important to find a reliable software development team that has a track record in recognizing client issues and providing solutions.

Custom CRM development for dental in TRIARE starts from requirements gathering that involves understanding the client’s business processes, identifying pain points, and determining their specific needs and goals for the CRM system.

Then we move on to Discovery phase when we design the system and describe technical documentation. It includes creating wireframes, mockups, and prototypes to visualize the user interface and user experience. After the Discovery is finalized, the development phase begins: coding the CRM system, integrating any necessary third-party applications, and configuring the system to meet the client’s specific needs. After the development is complete, the system undergoes testing to ensure that it meets the client’s requirements and functions correctly. This may involve various types of testing, including unit testing, integration testing, and user acceptance testing.

After the system has been tested and approved, it is deployed to the client’s environment: installing the system on-premise or deploying it to a cloud-based infrastructure. In the end, the client’s staff will need to be trained on how to use it effectively. Ongoing support and maintenance may also be required to ensure the system continues to function properly and meet the client’s evolving needs.

At TRIARE, we perceive the custom CRM development for dental as a complex process that requires a deep understanding of the client’s business processes, as well as technical expertise in software development, integration, and testing. Our developers ensure that the resulting CRM system meets the client’s needs and helps them achieve their business goals.

Final Thoughts

So, there you have it. These are some of the positive cases of a CRM solution in dental practices. But, realizing these benefits depend on identifying your needs and possible challenges to implementing the CRM system. 

Although there is a wide range of beneficial CRM platforms you can get off the shelf. You may use many of its features, but some of it won’t fit your specific operations and needs. So, you’re basically spending money on capabilities that you won’t need. 

On the other hand, a custom-made CRM solution is built to your clinic’s specific needs and user base. So, your employees won’t have any trouble getting used to the new solution. You’ll also have no problem integrating the CRM system with existing platforms.

That’s what we can offer at TRIARE. You’re just a phone call away from making your unique solution.