In an effort to help dental practices avoid missed appointments, Software Advice conducted primary research on patient scheduling preferences driven by technology.

1. Software Advice IndustryView:
Dental Scheduling Software Report
Trends and best practices from the industry

2. To find out how dentists can reduce missed appointments, Software Advice
surveyed patients on their preferences for dental scheduling software. This report
is intended to help dental practices optimize the use of their current software
system, or help guide an upcoming software purchase. Our key findings included
the following:
• The greatest percentage of dental patients surveyed (30 percent) prefer
receiving appointment reminders via text message.
• When segmented by age, most patients over 34 years old (65 percent,
combined) prefer receiving appointment reminders via email.
• A combined 40 percent of respondents would rather schedule dental
appointments via phone call, the Web or text message than in person.
• The age group with the highest preference for scheduling appointments online
and through text message is 35 to 54 (a combined 16 percent).
• The most popular time frame for patients to receive reminders for upcoming
dental appointments is one to three days prior (chosen by 53 percent).
Abstract

3. Among respondents with a preference, 30 percent say text messages are their
preferred method of receiving reminders for an upcoming appointment.
Preferred Communication Channel for Appointment Reminders
Text message30%
Email28%
Phone call25%
Direct mail17%

4. Unsurprisingly, older respondents in our sample are less eager to embrace text
reminders: Those age 35 to 54 years old actually prefer email over text.
Preferred Communication Channel for Reminders, by Age
18 - 34
35 - 54
55+
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Text message Email Phone call Direct mail
N = 66
N = 74
N = 78
41% 29% 15% 15%
32% 34% 18% 16%
22% 31% 29% 18%

5. A majority of the patients we surveyed prefer to schedule their next appointment
right after a current one, while they’re still at the dentist’s office.
Preferred Channel for Appointment Scheduling
At dentist’s office60%
Phone30%
Online7%
Text message3%

6. Breaking down our data on appointment scheduling preferences by age, we find
that 35-to 54-year-olds are most receptive to online and text message scheduling.
Preferred Channel for Appointment Scheduling, by Age
18 - 34
35 - 54
55+
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
In person Phone Online Text message
N = 69
N = 79
N = 98
52%
56%
67%
35%
28%
29%
10%
11%
3%
5%
3%

7. The highest percentage of respondents say they want to receive appointment
reminders from their practice one to three days before the appointment.
Preferred Time Frame for Receiving Appointment Reminder
1 - 3 days prior
4 - 6 days prior
7 - 9 days prior
10+ days prior
None of the above
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
22%
6%
8%
18%
53%
Percent of sample
N = 387

8. We analyzed data from interactions with prospective dental software buyers.
Automated recall/appointment reminder systems are the top-requested modules.
Top-Requested Modules, 2014 BuyerView Report
Recall system/reminders
Reporting
Coding
Staff scheduling
0% 5% 10% 15% 20%
5%
5%
5%
17%
Percent of sample
N = 387

9. The dentists in our 2014 survey say patient scheduling is the most necessary
application for a system to have when looking for new dental software.
Top Required Applications, 2014 BuyerView Report
Patient scheduling
Billing
EHR
Digital imaging
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
7%
89%
92%
94%
Percent of sample
N = 387

10. The demographics in our sample reveals that the highest percentage of
respondents in the patient survey part of this report are 55 to 64 years old.
Respondents by Age
18 - 2413%
25 - 3419%
35 - 4413%
45 - 5417%
55 - 6422%
65+16%
N = 908

11. The majority of respondents are male.
Respondents by Gender
Male59%
Female41%
N = 1,002

12. Read the full report
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13. Software Advice™ is a trusted resource for software buyers. The company's
website, www.softwareadvice.com, provides detailed reviews, comparisons and
research to help organizations choose the right software. Meanwhile, the company’s
team of software analysts provide free telephone consultations to help each
software buyer identify systems that best fit their needs. In the process, Software
Advice connects software buyers and sellers, generating high-quality opportunities
for software vendors.
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