J&J Talk Dentistry

In this episode of J&J Talk Dentistry, Justin and Jon dive into how modern technology can transform the patient experience during dental appointments. They explore the use of AI in imaging, the benefits of intraoral cameras, and the efficiency of dual monitors and tablets in the operatory. Learn how these tools can improve treatment acceptance, streamline workflows, and enhance patient trust. 

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Chapters:
  • (00:00) - - Introduction
  • (00:30) - - AI Imaging and Treatment Acceptance
  • (06:54) - - Intraoral Cameras and Patient Trust
  • (12:47) - - Dual Monitors for Efficiency
  • (19:57) - - Tablets for Patient Consent and Treatment Plans
  • (25:20) - - Automated Post-Appointment Communication
  • (31:20) - Conclusion

Key Takeaways:
-AI imaging gives patients a second opinion, increasing confidence and treatment acceptance.
-Intraoral cameras visually highlight dental issues, like cavities, leading to higher treatment acceptance.
-Dual monitors help boost front desk efficiency.
-Tablets save time and improve the patient experience for consent forms and treatment plans.
-Automated communication systems can significantly increase patient reviews and engagement.

Creators & Guests

Host
Jonathan Rat
Co-Founder & CEO of Archy
Host
Justin Clements
Justin currently serves as the Chief Strategy Officer for Ascend Dental Alliance. Prior to Ascend Justin worked with large private equity backed Dental Service Organizations such as Tru Family Dental, Great Expressions Dental Centers and Aspen Dental.

What is J&J Talk Dentistry?

Dental industry vets Jonathan Rat and Justin Clements chat twice a month about dental trends, industry updates, and more. They've turned their regular catch-ups into a podcast, offering listeners a mix of professional insights and casual conversation about dentistry, life, and everything in between.

Justin Clements:

Hey, everybody. Welcome back. Justin and John here. We're gonna chat today about inability to stay current with your tech stack, similar to the other episode. However, we're gonna talk about the appointment experience.

Justin Clements:

So while the patient is in your practice navigating their way, through the depths of your dental office, what is going on from a technology perspective? And, you know, one of the, the first things that comes to mind, which everybody seems to be an expert in is, is AI. And so, specifically, AI and imaging. So, John, I think, you could probably love to start us off there with that one.

Jon Rat:

I do love this one. At first, I love the topic on how do we as a practice, how do you use technology to help you get more treatment point acceptance? Right? Because at the end, that's where technology can help you and where I see so many practices actually not getting on board with the technology that they can have at their fingertips. Like you said, one of them, first, I love AI.

Jon Rat:

I mean, it's the buzzword right now that almost everybody's an expert in AI nowadays. And I have to say first, as a tech person, if you use chat GPT, you are not an AI expert. You are a consumer of AI. Let's let's clarify that. But, what you mentioned here is imaging on X-ray.

Jon Rat:

And I strongly believe I mean, to this day, there are few companies, that are flourishing in this space, and and they have their own marketing way of presenting themselves to the dentist. And I always say AI on X-ray is actually not for the dentist. It is for the patient. It's for people like you and I, Justin, where I mean, unless you know how to read an X-ray and view cavities and calculus and any other thing, I personally can't. And my wife has tried to teach me many times, and I can tell you I have no clue how to identify a cavity or a cavity.

Jon Rat:

But now when there is AI on an x-ray, I'm actually on the same playing field with my dentist. And when my dentist would tell me I have a cavity here, I can actually see it for myself. So what does that do to me? Like, 1, I get even more trust into my dentist. And 2, I'm like, okay.

Jon Rat:

I have to do the work. And so to me, it's almost like a no brainer. The ROI, having Yeah. Imaging AI is, like, almost, like, beneficial right off the bat. It's actually a second opinion.

Jon Rat:

So, again, it's not many dentists are like, oh, I don't need it. I cannot read my exos. Again, it's not for you. It's for your patients. And so, and I actually I'm gonna quote my wife on this one.

Jon Rat:

She's using, Pearl, which is directly integrated with Archie. And she said it, like, first, some patient are like, oh, you use AI. That's, like, the cool factor. Like, you are a good dentist. You are, like, new.

Jon Rat:

But then she has seen, like, so many patient. Actually, I have a scenario where there was a patient who had literally had a most cavity on every tooth. Well, what is the first reaction if a dentist said that to his patient or patients? Well, he's gonna be like, I don't believe you. You are actually trying to take my money right now.

Jon Rat:

But if it's actually showing that everywhere, like, boom. Treatment accepted.

Justin Clements:

Totally. Yeah. No. It's, no. It's super true.

Justin Clements:

And it's it's interesting how, like, your view is like, it's for the patient. And I would say that, like, doing 11 years in quote, unquote corporate dentistry or in the DSO space, I actually see a ton of opportunity for, the, the AI imaging platforms to come in and really help the clinicians, specifically at the regional or national level. So one of the, the roles that I always found was most impactful or the least impactful depending on the person doing it was kind of like the clinical director. So usually a dentist overseeing other dentists trying to provide guidance, mentorship feedback. But like that person is usually also probably being asked to be chairside 2, 3, 4 days out of the week.

Justin Clements:

And then they're like, okay. I've got 1 or 2 days each week free to go work with, I don't know, 15 to 20 different offices. And, you know, at that point, you're you're around 30, 30 dentists. How do I, how do I review the charts? How do I look at the x rays of these other providers?

Justin Clements:

And this is a great opportunity for letting the AI do the heavy work. Right? And, and, and leaning in and saying, Hey, scan all these doctor's charts, and what have you look at the treatment plan, what was there? What what, you know, what's not there? What's potentially missed on the treatment plan?

Justin Clements:

I think it really gives them, a way to be extremely scalable from a clinical oversight perspective. And then furthermore, especially with the new dentists coming in. Right? Like, a lot of them seem super timid. And and and so when you can have almost like just thinking in my head, like I'd almost automate a protocol for new dentists coming in, I'd have AI scans for everybody as a clinical director.

Justin Clements:

I'd be reviewing them on a weekly basis, having weekly touch bases with that, with that new dentist from a mentorship perspective and going over here. Here's what we've seen and here's, you know, what you treatment plan and looking for any gaps. It's really a way to remove a lot of that administrative burden from the clinician in a coaching environment. And so I definitely love the patient take on it of like, it's for the patient and it's a great kind of unbiased, 3rd party to, to give an opinion. And I also love it in the multiunit group setting, right?

Justin Clements:

Where we can just go in and it can automate a lot of the clinical director's job or whoever they have running the role. I think it's extremely beneficial in that sense too.

Jon Rat:

Now now there is just one thing I wanna add with AI because I I hear that also time to time. It's like, AI is not perfect yet. It's not a 100% accurate. I mean, in the same way, no dentist is perfect, and some dentist will miss actually some stuff on those x rays. AI is not yet at perfection, and that's okay.

Jon Rat:

That's why you should treat it that way. I mean, I think we are in the 60 to 70, maybe closer to 80, percent accuracy. But, again, that's that's one thing to keep in the back of of your mind. But to me now, having AI, your next flight is almost like a no brainer where you will see the ROI, almost instantly. Now there is actually one more, that I think can help with treatment and acceptance, in terms of technology.

Jon Rat:

It's actually an intraoral camera. Like, if you can take photo and and show a patient that there is a black hole on the tooth, what is the patient gonna do?

Justin Clements:

Right? It's hard to argue. It's hard to argue.

Jon Rat:

It's very hard to argue. And I I see, actually, to this day, I mean, we see there is one specific brand right now that has taken the markets, pretty much, like, by storm. But they are very cheap and same, like, as a patient going back to, I hear so many dentists who are like, oh, I have an issue right now. My patients are not accepting my treatment.

Justin Clements:

Yeah.

Jon Rat:

And they try to push it. I mean, let's see again different type where it's like, oh, I want my treatment plan coordinator to handle it. I don't want the dentist to do it. I'm like, if you have a camera, it will take a few second. You can actually do it yourself for the dentist.

Jon Rat:

You can have your assistant actually do take the photo. And and, again, they are not high resolution. But if you can show, a broken tooth, a cavity, a black hole, that's like even compared to an x-ray or even AI, like, the 2 together, will make it that's what is the next question your patient will say when they see a black hole on their toes? Can we get that fixed today? Because it's ugly.

Jon Rat:

I wanna get rid of that black black hole. And so to me, again, imaging AI, intraoral cameras, our small investment to make up front with, I mean, a huge ROI, like, right off the bat, even on month 1 or even week 1, I believe. But what what's your take on the the cameras infrared cameras?

Justin Clements:

Yeah. I almost go back to your comment on, like, the ROI piece even on, like, the AI. Right? AI is going to be a monthly reoccurring charge. I'm trying to put my dentist hat on here, and my my in savings mode dentist hat of like, I always wanna save money.

Justin Clements:

Like, that's great, but, you also should wanna grow. And I, and I think that there's a lack of that mindset with a lot of dentists that I've seen or see or work with, and you have to shift to that growth mindset. And these tools are a perfect way to do it. And when you look at the AI imaging, right, monthly reoccurring costs there, there are like, that should pay for itself within like the first couple of patients, honestly, like it should. I, if I were a dentist, right?

Justin Clements:

I would have zero concern about the costs that I'm paying for AI imaging. Just because I've I've seen the results and I've seen the ROI it's, it's blatantly obvious. And I'd say the same goes to intraoral cameras. That's a one time cost, super cheap, but very, very effective. And, you know, I just kind of think back to some of like the best exams I've had with dentists have involved intraoral cameras and saying, Justin, like, Hey, like, let me show you something really quick.

Justin Clements:

And then you look at it and you're like, oh, there is standing back there. Like what's going on? And it's very, very convincing. And when you couple those 2 together, it's very powerful. Not only is it powerful for the patient, it's powerful for the insurance companies that don't wanna pay you for those claims too.

Justin Clements:

Right? Like you've now, instead of having a templated, you know, note and, and, and that you're trying to submit to fight the insurance and, and maybe an x-ray that maybe it looks like shit. Maybe it doesn't, who knows? But, when, when you, when you have photos and you have the a, you know, the AI overlay, it becomes very helpful in competing with the insurance companies. Because mind you, the insurance companies on the other side are also adopting the AI platforms.

Justin Clements:

And so like you have to get to their level when it comes to that, you know, piece on, on denials and insurance claims. And so again, I think very critical, very low cost, the, the training, there's not even a lot of training to, you know, a lot of these, honestly. Like the AI just lays rate over your existing imaging. Hell, half the time, these dentists are using shitty imaging platforms, and the AI overlay makes it look better through its filters. Right?

Justin Clements:

It's crisper and clearer. So, yeah. And and the intraoral camera's super cheap, super easy. Like everybody should have them. Have them in every operatory, have them in the hygiene operatories.

Justin Clements:

Have don't be like, I'm gonna get 2, and then we're gonna bounce in between it. Come on. They're like, what? I don't know, a $100, maybe $150 at the end of the day. I'm like, you're gonna sell 1 piece of treatment off of it.

Justin Clements:

It's gonna pay for, you know, 2 years worth of intraoral cameras across like 10 operatories. So yeah, big fan of, of, of IOs, big fan of AI imaging overlays. Just don't be cheap. Don't be cheap, please. Like, it's not it's not worth it.

Justin Clements:

It's not worth the success of your practice.

Jon Rat:

You you actually said one thing that I almost forgot, but I'm glad you pointed out. Insurances are using AI now. I mean, they are using AI, and let's be honest. They are not using AI to accept your claims faster. They are using AI to decline your claims faster.

Jon Rat:

And so if you are using AI and you see that, well, they might be very, like, challenging to get a claim approved, know that the insurance on their side, they will use it, and they will deny your claim. And so you wanna be entering the same plain field, because, again, it is a fact that insurances are using AI. Yeah. So don't don't stay behind. I mean, I always say it's, of course, technology, I think, we are behind in that history.

Jon Rat:

In some way, we are trying to catch up right now. Just it's time to to jump on jump on it. Now we talked about AI, intraoral cameras. What else would you would you recommend, in terms of technology, in the operatory or in the practice to be used, to to be more efficient?

Justin Clements:

Yeah. So one that I'm a huge fan of is dual monitors. And, I think may like, my, like, operational front desk background just gravitates to those people. Right? So having 2 monitors seems like something that's fairly simple.

Justin Clements:

But I don't know how many times I go into an office, and they've got a a the front desk is working with a single monitor. Right? First up, the ratio is, like, square. Resolution's, like, 800 by 600. It's just, like, zoomed away, and you got, like, I don't know, 4 icons on it and you open it up and you can see like a quarter of the schedule.

Justin Clements:

So it, you know, having multiple monitors, especially with a lot of the practice management systems, like, I see a lot of them. They they have the patient information open on one screen, and they've got the schedule open on another screen. They would love for the schedule to be, you know, static and stay there. And but they have one screen, and so, like, they're flipping through, or they've got it, like, printed out, taped to their desk, and it's updating every, like, 30 minutes. So, like, the sheet has got, like, notes and all sorts of crap all over it.

Justin Clements:

It's it's it's the mess, the minefield. But having, like, dual monitors just allows people to be become a lot more efficient. And doing quite a few integrations myself of taking folks from 1 PMS to another, where they, they didn't have a single one, like for, one of the companies I work with. And I mentioned like, Hey, you have to have dual monitors, like budget that in as an expense for this, this integration because it's going to make everything a lot easier. And again, it's just a matter of finding the desk space is usually there, but make your team more efficient just as you want, you know, as a dentist, you want your dental assistant to be extremely efficient.

Justin Clements:

So you are, And the dental assistant is, like, an extension of you. The monitor is an extension, of of the people at the front desk. And, I it it goes a long ways. Like, when people get it, it's like it's like Christmas over again for them. They're like, woah.

Justin Clements:

I got 2 monitors. This is insane. Something super simple, but I think it's it's big.

Jon Rat:

I, you know, I I can't agree more. And and it's funny because in tech, no matter where where you go now, whether it's engineers or anybody in tech companies work with multiple monitor, It's like a standard. I personally have 3 monitors in front of me right now as we speak. Is. And it could be too much for some, but, like, sometimes when you have to multitask, it's relevant.

Jon Rat:

And guess what? If you are at the front desk of a practice, you are multitasking. You need your schedule at any time. You might be on the phone with a patient. You have a patient checking in, a patient checking out.

Jon Rat:

You are processing an EOB. Having multiple monitors will help, and I absolutely agree with you. I've seen so many practices right now with those, like, 17 inch, 90 inch monitor, square. That that point, like, at least 5 to 10 years old. And sometime I hear, like, oh, it's expensive.

Jon Rat:

I'm like, you can buy a monitor 23, 27 inch for, like, $150

Justin Clements:

on a $150 easily. Yeah.

Jon Rat:

The and and, again, we're not talking about gaming monitors. It's monitors that will open usually one software, Internet, and that's pretty much it. So you don't need, like, the fancy one. But that actually will make the staff at the front desk, like, right off the bat. Again, just take an example.

Jon Rat:

You are posting an EOB. You just download the you know, the explanation of benefits from the insurance portal. Now you wanna be able to view both the EOB and, your your PMS, in. Right now, what is the solution? Then the printing printing paper and having to deal with paper, that that doesn't help.

Jon Rat:

So and and so right now, it's something about the phone desk. Let's talk about the operatory. You want to see the chart and your x rays. You can have your 9 o'clock and 12 o'clock monitor. I mean, that's a standard.

Jon Rat:

Yeah. Where now you can see the chart on 1. You can see your note, the medical history, and the x-ray in front of you. Yeah. You don't have to have to click.

Jon Rat:

It's more efficient. And you could even have a 6 o'clock in front of the patient. So if you wanna show your patient your x rays, their X rays, it's it's right there. And most computers nowadays, well, actually, do have multiple monitors connected in parallel. So it's like similarly to what you said earlier with the internal camera or internal camera, one time cost.

Jon Rat:

Here, let's say you have 10 ops, 10 monitors. You will probably have to spend, what, 1500, 2 k at max, but that ROI will pay off literally within the 1st month, if not sooner, because of the time saving, the efficiency we get.

Justin Clements:

Yeah. Yeah. No. It's super true. And, like, some some dentists, like, really overthink this one.

Justin Clements:

Like, when they think of ROI, they really try to overanalyze, like, ROI. Like, well, prove it to me. Like, you're gonna ask me to prove to you something that costs you $1,000, you know, for the sake of your own team members, like get out of here. It's insane. Like, just, just do it.

Justin Clements:

There there's certain things at this point in time that you're like, just do it. I mean, you hit on one thing that I thought was funnier than hell is like, I love when I go to, like, they're working with an office and you're like, can you send me that report? And I'm like, sure. So they like, they print it off and then they scan it into the computer and they like, send me the scan. Like, we forgot, we don't know how to download PDF.

Justin Clements:

So it just, it just reminded me because I don't know how many of those scans of like PDF reports I've gotten before. I'm like, oh, man, this is painful. Like, it just download and send. But no. It is.

Justin Clements:

It's you know, the multiple monitors, especially in the operatories, you know, usually TVs at that point, you know, for the patient side of it. Super important again, so you can show them your photos, so you can show them the AI overlay. It's important that they can see kind of what you're seeing, at least the stuff that you want them to see. Right? Incredibly important.

Jon Rat:

Yep. And if you wanna measure ROI because you actually brought it up. Sometimes people are like, okay. Prove it to me. Well, just calculate 1st, let's be honest.

Jon Rat:

As a dental practice, right now, you're fully short staffed, which means your staff has a lot on his plate. 2, all of those clicks and back and forth between platform or printing paper, well, if you add the time spent from your staff due to that inefficiency, the cost of the paper yes. Paper is cheap. Sure. But if you add it up, your monitor is gonna be paid, like, nearly instantly.

Jon Rat:

So that's how you can calculate your ROI. What else? What other, devices would you recommend a practice to use, Justin?

Justin Clements:

Yeah. Actually, I think this one's probably one of the ones that you're, you're you're super passionate about is, like, the tablets, for for patient consent forms and treatment plans. So I'll let you kind of expand on that one. I think it's a I think it's a fun one.

Jon Rat:

Well, in in my opinion right now, having a tablet and here, I'm not going to advertise the iPad. It could be any tablet. I do have a preference for the iPad, not because I'm an Apple fanboy, but simply because you can actually lock the iPad to be only on in one app or one, website so the patient cannot mess around, install their games, or whatever. But there are a few things that you your patient have to do in pretty much every appointments, whether there are new patient or existing patients. They have to sign consent form.

Jon Rat:

They have new patient form. They might have to sign their treatment plan that you want them to accept. Well, first, there are many automation. Of course, you can have your patient sign their forms before their appointments. But, realistically, we know some patient will show up.

Jon Rat:

They didn't sign their forms. Well, having a tablet right there will make it much more efficient. No more need to print, have the patient manually fill it in, have your staff take that paper sometime and reenter the information in the system, scan the paper, put it in the chart of the patient. All of this time, if you are to sum it up, I think we're, like, 3 to 5 minutes per appointment if you have to deal with paper. Now Yep.

Jon Rat:

Imagine if you save that 5 minute per day, you see, let's say, 12 patient a day. If you're a solo provider, 12 patient a day, you're saving already 1 hour per day for your phone staff, assuming the 5 minute per paper. I mean, let's talk about ROI right there. That iPad, again

Justin Clements:

super simple.

Jon Rat:

It's super simple. And for treatment plan, I also like the idea. I mean, we see it with our customers. Like, you can have an iPad, add the treatment plan. Patient can sign the treatment plan in the chair as you talk and present the treatment plan.

Jon Rat:

Again, each practice is different. Some of them, they don't want the doctor to present treatment. But, again, if you're a small practice, short staff, have that tablet, get the treatment plan, get the patient to sign. Everything is uploaded in the system. You are done.

Jon Rat:

I mean, it makes it like there is no more, like, debate or, like, the patient goes to the front desk, has time to think through it, and change his mind or mind to me again having a tablet is is a no brainer.

Justin Clements:

Yeah. Yeah. And I I would totally agree. And, you know, he talked about it on on another episode about online forms and length of them and and whatnot. And there's a couple of things on tablets.

Justin Clements:

1, I will go out and say that, like, you should absolutely advocate for the iPad over any of the Android shit that's out there. I am an Apple fanboy. And, I just think that they function a hell of a lot smoother. And I know that anywhere I've gone where I've been handed an Android tablet, they've usually opted for the cheap tablet. Right?

Justin Clements:

And so this thing, like, when I hit a key, the response time is, like, 10 seconds until it registers on the Android device drives me crazy. Like, I'd rather fill out the piece of paper at that point. So I'll absolutely advocate for Apple on that one, and, and say that you, there, there are those small things of like the lag time that sits on an, on iPad. And one of the, the other things that I think of is if they are filling out forms in the office, I kind of like this and it's, it's, this is really particular and this is probably just me, but like having, like, an external keyboard or of sorts or a keyboard case for the iPad, because, like, I know if I'm typing on, on an iPad or any I'm gonna assume it keeps saying iPad because other tablets don't exist to me. If I'm typing, right, like, it's like, I'm not as fast as I am on a keyboard, but if you put a keyboard on it and give it to me again, when we're talking about ROI and like minutes of the day, seconds of the the day, all this time will just, it adds up.

Justin Clements:

Right? It snowballs. It gets larger and larger. And so yes, having the tablets, especially in the operatories for signing for for simple things, treatment consents, whatever the case might be, it's, it's a hell of a lot easier, more efficient than paper. And again, I think we're at a point in time where that digital piece is, is necessary.

Justin Clements:

Now there's gonna be the people that listen to this and be like, well, all my patients are older and I they all want paper, yada, yada, yada. Okay. Do do whatever you want. We're just telling you what's the most efficient here, or at least what we think is the most efficient. But, yeah, tablets, absolutely.

Justin Clements:

And like you mentioned, like, the kiosk mode for it is super handy, like locking it down to that one app. Because, like, I don't know how many times I've gone places where, like, they are using an iPad, but they don't know about, like, the kiosk mode to lock it in. And then I'm just I'm, like, hitting, like, the home button or I'm swiping up, and I'm just like, oh, this is hooked up to the the the doctor's personal Apple ID. Let's go into their messages. What what are they?

Justin Clements:

Oh, I suck as a patient. Great. I'm gonna leave now. Right? So no.

Justin Clements:

It's it is. It's a it's a unique feature to have for it. Super helpful, and and big on tablets for sure. You know, one of the the other pieces, and it's not equipment, but we are talking about tech stack patient experience during the appointment, is your your patient communication system. Hopefully, it is built into your practice management platform.

Justin Clements:

It is 2024, but, I think, you know, I don't know what the statistic is, but like over 50% of them don't have it built in. And, and so whether that's your scenario or using a third party, the patient communication system and having that right first, you have to be able to text, text message your patients. So primary means of communication this way at this time for a lot of people. The, the one thing though that I, I really love and appreciate the most with any, with most patient communication platforms is the ability to automate a post appointment text message. So, a common thread that I hear is, we're trying to get more Google reviews.

Justin Clements:

We made this QR code and we print it out and we put it in acrylic plaque and put it out there and nobody's scanning it. And, you know, we're having a competition, but then everybody's too shy. Like, just like, I don't know, misbeep, like, get rid of all that crap. Like I I'm not gonna go into an office and scan a QR code, but if I get an automated text message after my appointment that says, how was your visit today? Let us know here and you click it and it takes you directly to your Google, my business, leave a review.

Justin Clements:

So like grab the URL as a business. You can Google it, Google My Business URL generator. I think it's out there. Throw that in there. Most people have Google accounts.

Justin Clements:

And, and so by you having that link and them being able to click it, it's a very seamless, right? You're trying to reduce the friction that it takes for somebody to do that. And it's automated. You don't have to ask anybody. I mean, we did this pilot in a, in a group that I was with where we just, we launched that.

Justin Clements:

And the the increase in reviews was like 254%. We had offices that were generating 1 to 2 Google reviews a month, generating 30, 40 plus every month. And so that's just one of the things that I think is super impactful. I'm sure you've got lots of opinions too on what you think is is useful in that sense.

Jon Rat:

Yeah. No. I mean, I think you you nailed it here. Post communication, like and, actually, you mentioned there being, like, a QR code at your front desk. One misconception, by the way, people are like, how come my reviews disappear from Google?

Jon Rat:

Well, actually, there is a first thing first. If your patient are connected to your Wi Fi and scanning their QR code and I see so many parties that are trying to push the patient to do it while they are in the practice. Well, guess what? Google is smart. They know the IP address.

Jon Rat:

And in most cases, if they see that the review comes from the same IP address as the practice, they will hide that review. So one thing is do not have a QR code at your phone desk and push patient to do it when they are putting it to your Wi Fi because in most cases, data review will not get approved or will be hidden. Now, again, asking for review. I will quote doctor Barlow, Andrew Barlow, and Matt Brown. They have their own podcast.

Jon Rat:

The other one actually from whom I learned a lot where they they were like, you should have, like, Standard automatically sent a a text and an email, maybe, to your patient after an appointment asking them for a review. But they even say, like, you have to train your staff. You can actually have your staff as the patient checkout say, like, hey. We hope you had a good experience. If you did, you are going to receive a text from us, within an hour.

Jon Rat:

We will appreciate if you can just take 1 minute of your time to leave us a review. Guess what? If the patient says yes, when they receive that text, what are they gonna do? They will feel like they have to. Because they told you very early before that they were going to leave that review.

Jon Rat:

And then it's not just for reviews, by the way. Like, if you want to, send your post up. I mean, you can send text or email. Those are automation that can be done now where, let's be honest. And I have had some doctor who told me, like, oh, I still wanna do it manually because, it gives, like, a better experience to my patient.

Jon Rat:

No. Your patient they they don't like, they want the information. Of course, yes. Depending on the type of case that you did, you might still wanna give a call if it was a big case and follow-up. But for some of the basic appointments, having an automatic text is like, hey.

Jon Rat:

Hope everything is okay. Hope your your crown, fits well, and, you you can eat normally now. You can send that 2 days later and automate it. Again Totally. Information, we'd appreciate it.

Jon Rat:

So to me, those are the tools that are available today, that honestly don't cost much compared to, the benefits that they give you as a practice. And and again, you actually said one thing, which is not necessarily technology and people have to go together. Right? If you just send a text asking for a review

Justin Clements:

Yeah.

Jon Rat:

But you didn't train your staff, I will say, like, in in my own practice, my wife, Nashia, taught her, staff, They send their name. They have their time. It's like, hey, Justine. My name is Jamie. I'm going to be helping doctor so and so today, during your treatments.

Jon Rat:

Guess what? You make it more personable. Now you can make it that the patient will say, like, oh, I had an amazing time with doctor so and so and Jamie. They were fantastic. Well, guess what?

Jon Rat:

The next person the next patient that we will read, gotta review, they will be like, oh, I wanna see doctor so and so and Jamie. Totally. But that can be done against all of those automation, and text that you can send automatically after an appointment. Yeah. So Yeah.

Jon Rat:

Justin, we we talked about a lot of, like, technology right now. Previous episode, we are talking about new patient experience. This one, the appointment experience, what you can do. What do you think? Do you think a lot of practicing are using all of what we discussed?

Justin Clements:

No. I don't. I think if I had to look at what's not being at, like, the top one. Now granted, I think it's getting a lot of adoption now, but I don't think a lot of dentists have it or have utilized it. It's definitely the AI imaging.

Justin Clements:

I think that is a very a highly underutilized tool for a lot of dentists. And, again, like, working with a lot of them now, there's a lot that don't have it. And again, it's a no brainer, especially when you're, you know, let's you're an owner dentist and you have an associate. Right? And you wanna keep tabs, and try to mentor and, and do things of that sort.

Justin Clements:

It's a super easy tool. So, yeah, I there there's surprisingly, there's not a ton, right? The intraoral cameras. I think those are a lot more common now. Dual monitors.

Justin Clements:

Oh, I haven't even looked to be honest. I should probably look next time I go to the dentist to see if my dentist has them. And then tablets, definitely not. I don't see those anywhere. A lot, you know, I again, I'm in Michigan.

Justin Clements:

Right? So maybe it's a little bit different here. And but the patient you know, the the communication platforms, and like I said, one of the other episodes, unless you're my damn barber, who refuses to use it, like, most most places have those. And so it's just a matter of figuring out how they work together. But, yeah, there there's a lot of stuff, and I'm sure, you know, other people that are listening to this will have other, you know, other platforms or things that aren't throw them in the comments.

Justin Clements:

Right? Like, throw it out there. Let's, like, let's create awareness to, you know, we don't know what we don't know, so let's create more awareness. So drop it in the comments. Let us know, you know, what what is out there that maybe we missed, or maybe that's more important to you.

Justin Clements:

I think it's important to create the awareness around

Jon Rat:

it. Agreed. Yeah. Feel free to leave us comments on other technologies that we think could help your new patients and your existing patients during an appointment. We hope you enjoyed this episode.

Jon Rat:

We had fun. I mean, this is one where, as you can see, we are quite passionate about. But this was the it is not about inability to stay current with the tech stack, during the appointment experience. Take care, everyone. See you, guys.