Orthotown April 2023 - 50

personality when connecting
with patients. Your team is full of
individuals! Celebrate that and
encourage the team to adapt their
messaging while still remaining
within the boundaries of your
brand.
4. Strategize when human interaction
is necessary. Most doctors
have a strong sense of when
it's appropriate to communicate
via automated message and
which situations require a personal
touch. Follow-up to reschedule
a consultation no-show could
be automated; the fi rst follow-up
after a consultation should defi -
nitely not be automated. As the
practice builds out its workfl ows
and overall communication
strategy, leverage automation
as much as possible. You need
to free up the team so they have
time to bring the human element
where needed. If that element is
not needed, leave it out and let
technology empower you.
5. Make it clear when it's a
human interacting versus
automation. When it comes
to the messaging of automated
messages, write them in a way
that clearly identifi es them as
automated messages. Th is level of
transparency helps to build trust;
when a human reaches out to the
patient, they know it's a real person
waiting on their response, not
a computer-generated message.
6. Know all practice communications
and adapt. Communication
must be streamlined
and not repetitious. People are
already prone to ignoring digital
messages, so patients will begin
to ignore your messages if they
continuously receive redundant
or irrelevant messages from
your practice. To avoid this,
ensure everyone on the team
is aware of all communication
that happens during a patient's
experience with the practice. As
an example, if a fi nancial coordinator
spoke with the patient the
day before a scheduled consultation,
the coordinator should ask
the patient if they have any questions
related to their appointment,
confi rm the appointment
and then turn off appointment
reminders, because they've
already successfully confi rmed
the appointment over the phone
and any additional reminders
would be unnecessary.
How to show you're a human
To make it clear that the sender is
not a robot just spitting out scripted
responses, here are a few tips you can
follow:
Use your own vernacular. If you
have a particular way of speaking, use
it! Whether it's using colloquialisms or
slang, it can make your communication
feel more personal and human.
Tell jokes. Humor is a great way
to break down barriers and make
connections. (Just be sure to keep
it appropriate for the situation and
audience.)
Tell stories. Sharing personal anecdotes
or experiences can help build
trust and empathy with the person
you're communicating with.
Reference pop culture. Th is can
be a great way to show that you're up
to date with current trends and also
add a bit of fun to the conversation.
List your own name as sender.
When sending emails or messages, be
sure to list your name instead of just
the company name. Th is helps personalize
the interaction and can make it
easier for the patient to build connections
with individuals in the practice.
Th e key to humanizing patient
communication is not to avoid digital
communication channels-the fact is,
we rely on those channels to properly
connect with patients. Instead, leverage
automation as much as possible
so the team isn't overly burdened by
remedial tasks and can spend the time
and attention it takes to humanize
your patient communication. OT
Casey Bull, the global director of content and community at The Invisible
Orthodontist (TIO), drives TIO's eff orts to provide member practices with
marketing and business management expertise. Bull began her career
in the orthodontic industry in 2014 working for Dr. Alexander Waldman
in Beverly Hills, where she developed a range of practice management
processes encompassing tracking and reporting, management systems
and templates, treatment plans, marketing programs and more.
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Orthotown April 2023

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