Don't Miss the Call: Unique's Impact on Patient Acquisition
How Unique Helped a DSO Capture 50% More Calls and More Patients
Key Results
50% boost in call answer rate from 60 to 90%
New patient orthodontic starts increased
60% cost savings vs. in-house answering model.
Are You Choosing Between Answering Calls and Serving Patients?
Orthodontic and dental practices face operational challenges with managing incoming calls. For front desk staff, it is a tricky balancing act between answering incoming calls, managing patients that are in front of them, and completing their other tasks and paperwork. In a recent PlanetDDS interview, Demias Pegues, CEO of MyOrthodontist recently shared his secret to balancing phone traffic with supporting his 14-location group.
About MyOrthodontist
MyOrthodontist is a large dental support organization with 14 North Carolina locations that prides itself serving all types of patients. MyOrthodontist recognized that with that many locations and thousands of patients to serve, they needed a centralized call center to be able to field so many calls. They established their own call center, and although the call center was fully staffed and trained to their own standards, they still were only able to achieve a 60% call answer rate, which is below the industry standard.
Listen to hear how MyOrthodontist worked to optimize their patient acquisition funnel.
When In-House Solutions Fall Short
Through no fault of their own, the in-house team at MyOrthodontist was falling short and missing calls. They were not set up for success, and that was having a knock-on effect for the bottom line. But what was the disconnect between their own call center, and the process that Unique uses?
If you’re going to have a call center, there’s a lot to it. There’s high turnover, you have to make sure that you hire the right person, you have to make sure they’re trained. You need analytics… we didn’t have any of those things.
We had a highly inefficient call center internally, and the minute that we outsourced it, the opposite became true.
Demias Pegues
Transition to Unique Dental Scheduling (UDS)
Pegues was familiar with Unique from a similar role at another dental practice, and knew that Unique was the solution to the problems facing his organization.
The challenges experienced by MyOrthodontist led Pegues to make the switch to Unique Call Handling. The change in answer rate was dramatic, going “from 60 percent to 90-plus percent overnight.” This improvement not only enhanced patient satisfaction but also freed internal resources for other strategic objectives.
They noted the immediate positive impact on new patient starts and emphasized how well UDS’s capabilities aligned with MyOrthodontist’s goals. Focusing on patient care rather than call management, the decision to outsource allowed them to concentrate on what they do best—straightening smiles.
The Winning Formula
The ‘secret sauce’ behind our success in high call answering volumes is a combination of two key factors.
One factor is the staffing advantages that Unique has over dental practice or call center. With our staffing model, we have the capacity to absorb abnormally high call volumes compared to a call center. Even a five or six person call center can easily be swamped by an unforeseen influx of phone calls. Add onto that the administrative tasks that come with a call like scheduling, collecting insurance, and the picture is clear.
The second advantage that Unique has is that we specialize in dental call scheduling. Our agents do nothing else but answer and resolve patient calls for our dental practice customers. That clarity of goal means that we don’t get distracted like an in-office receptionist might with other duties. Our specialization extends to our training and software, too.
Unique’s proprietary Playbook software was built to give our agents the tools at hand to quickly move through a call and leave the patient and the practice satisfied. Our staff are trained and continually coached on how to be the best representative of our clients’ practice, too. Many patients never even know that they are not communicating with someone at their dentist office!
Allocating Resources Correctly
Enhanced call management supports the practice’s overarching goal of optimizing patient flow, from initial contact through to regular visits. By ‘fixing the leaks’ in the patient funnel, practices like MyOrthodontist can prevent patients from slipping through the cracks.
Optimizing that patient funnel, making it easier for patients to get to us and when they did reach out, make sure that we are answering the phone.
We straighten smiles, we are not experts in call center management, so we outsourced our management.
Demias Pegues
Results and Cost Savings
By outsourcing to UDS, MyOrthodontist was able to reallocate previously dedicated call center staff, directly reducing operational costs. The reduction in overhead allowed for an increased focus on patient care and treatment, maximizing both profitability and patient satisfaction.
Although they say that the move to UDS was not motivated by the bottom line, the practice had significant savings.
“We did not make this change to save money, at the end of the day the [Unique] call center could answer the calls at 40% of the costs that we were paying.
50% boost in call answer rate from 60 to 90%
New patient orthodontic starts increased
60% cost savings vs. in-house answering model.
The Whole Picture
MyOrthodontist’s partnership with Unique exemplifies how DSOs can benefit from specialized call management solutions. With UDS’s dedicated services, practices can reallocate internal resources and optimize patient engagement without compromising care quality. Unique’s efficient, patient-centric solutions align with the mission of orthodontic practices, illustrating the potential for industry-wide transformation through strategic outsourcing.
Although they say that the move to UDS was not motivated by the bottom line, the practice had significant savings.
“We did not make this change to save money, at the end of the day the [Unique] call center could answer the calls at 40% of the costs that we were paying.”
Ready to Stop Missing Patient Calls and Boost Your Practice’s Bottom Line?
Discover how rollover and afterhours phone support can make a difference for your practice today!