As a dentist, your goal is to provide outstanding patient care. In order to do that, you need to keep patients returning to you year after year. So how important is patient loyalty to a dental practice?

Boosting patient retention with a patient loyalty program means less effort spent on patient acquisition and a smoother business for you. 

Here's a closer look at why building loyalty with a patient loyalty program is crucial to sustaining your patient base and practice.

Why Does Patient Loyalty Matter?

Loyalty can be beneficial for both the dentist and the patient. When a patient remains with the same oral healthcare provider for an extended period, it's because the dental practice has established a level of trust and comfort. 

For the patient experience, it can mean that they have a better understanding of their medical history and are more likely to receive continuing care.

For you as a dentist, returning patients mean fewer administrative tasks to take care of, like filling out new paperwork and gathering medical records from other providers. 

A loyal patient base can also mean retaining over $9,000 in revenue annually through proactively nurturing your existing clients. 

Clearly, you want your patients to keep coming back, but how can you keep them engaged? 

A patient loyalty program allows you to:

• Spend time treating patients instead of chasing leads
• Create and maintain rapport with each patient
• Show you truly care about their oral health

Let's break down the details to answer the question, "how important is patient loyalty to a dental practice?"

Retaining Old Patients Is Cheaper Than Acquiring New Ones

In a single year, a new dental practice can expect to acquire 360 patients on average. This practice will lose an average of six patients per month, leaving 288 returning patients at the end of the year.

Most patients will generate revenue from their routine dental health cleanings every six months. Current patients are also likely to require different, more advanced treatments that net you more money, like teeth whitening and other cosmetic dentistry services.

An average routine cleaning generates $125 per appointment. In a lump sum, your returning patientss (just from cleanings alone) earn you $36,000 in one year. 

Considering the lost patients in a single year, you can calculate a conservative $9,000 in revenue lost. 

When you retain your existing patients through a loyalty program, you don't have to pay marketing costs to find new patients. Experts calculate that marketing outreach expenses can range from $50 to $300 per new patient. If you want to just replace the patients you've lost, it would cost over $3,600 at a minimum per year.

When you put effort into improving patient loyalty, you recoup these losses and boost your practice's revenue.

Increase Patient Retention Through a Patient Loyalty Program

A dentistry patient loyalty program is a great way to show your patients that you appreciate their business. It's a simple way to provide your patients with the level of care they deserve so that they won't ever consider leaving.

When you institute a patient loyalty program, your practice reaps benefits, including:

• Incentivize patients to invest in oral health
• Increase organic referrals
• Keep patients engaged with a points system
• Build loyalty
• Enhance the patient experience
• Boost revenue by tracking recommended and required services

In recent reports, data shows that building better relationships with your dental patients not only produces happier and healthier clients—instituting a patient loyalty program can also boost revenue by up to 6%.

Incentivize Patients to Grow Your Practice for You

The easiest way to retain patients is to let them know you're thinking about them. Appreciation is key to making a lasting impression on your returning patients. When your patients trust you and feel appreciated, they're more likely to continue to invest in their oral health and tell their friends and family about your practice.

A patient loyalty program makes your practice stand out from the crowd. It keeps your patients' visits to your practice convenient, professional, straightforward, and pleasant. After all, it's easier to keep existing patients than to attract new ones. 

Need More Ideas to Retain Your Patients?

How important is patient loyalty to a dental practice? The answer is: very! Rewarding patients not only strengthen their loyalty to your practice.

At Dental Intelligence, we specialize in assisting dental practices with our top-tier patient loyalty program that can boost revenue and increase patient retention. Our program abides by all patient loyalty program ethics and offers a high return on investment. Contact us today to schedule a free demo and start building better dental patient-practitioner relationships today.

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