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"Sesame is one of the best additions our practice has made."
Lynnette Runyon, Treatment Coordinator
Dr. Larry Saylor
Brandon, FL
Everything about Dr. Michael Ungerleider’s office feels modern and high tech, right down to his lasers, digital x-rays and CEREC technology. He has had a web site since 2003, and started sending email reminders to patients around the same time.
"Back then Smile Reminder™ was the only email appointment confirmation product on the market," says Dr. Ungerleider. "As soon as Sesame Communications came out with Dental Sesame™, we upgraded. Sesame is so much more than appointment confirmations. Patients love that they can log on to our web site anytime, anywhere to see their appointment time, account info, and x-rays. They even make payments online!"
The Granby, CT, cosmetic dentist discovered that giving patients the convenience of 24/7 information access brings more patients in the door. Dr. Ungerleider's web site used to draw few visitors. He's amazed at how that's changed. "All those patients logging on make our site 8-10 times more popular and the search engines recognize that. We're placing higher on Yahoo! and Google."
Dr. Ungerleider considers a strong identity essential in helping him stand out from the crowd. He's been careful to have consistent branding across his web site, business stationery, and office giveaways like chap sticks, magnets, and t-shirts. Dr. Ungerleider likes the fact that Sesame automatically incorporates his practice's signature style throughout the variety of communications his patients receive.
Dr. Paul Schoenbeck of Gorham, NH, also found that Sesame fits better with his practice than Smile Reminder did. "We're very people-oriented," says Dr. Schoenbeck. "Sesame gets my front desk staff off the phone, which means that they can greet each patient as they walk in the door."
Alison White, Dr. Schoenbeck's Office Manager, adds, "It's much easier for us to collect patients' email addresses than it was with Smile Reminder. Patients sign up from our web site, or they register on the Sesame Email Collector PC in our reception area. We used to struggle to get email addresses. Now that patients can check their account online, they have no problem giving us their email."
Dr. Schoenbeck's hygienist, Claudia Sudol, prefers Sesame too, in particular for the practice promotion newsletter. "Our Sesame newsletter matches our web site automatically," she says. "We can add our own articles, send our newsletter with Sesame's professionally written articles or mix and match. It's incredibly easy — it takes me under two minutes."
In Brandon, FL, LVI dentist Dr. Larry Saylor also made the switch from Smile Reminder. Dr. Saylor's Treatment Coordinator, Lynnette Runyon, is pleased: "Sesame is one of the best additions our practice has made," says Lynnette. "We wanted to send individual greetings to our patients, however the expense of purchasing cards and postage along with the staff labor made it prohibitive. With Sesame we are communicating with over 1,000 patients without that expense by automatically sending animated electronic birthday and holiday greetings that are personalized for each patient. It's just one example of how Sesame makes a lot more sense than Smile Reminder cost-wise."
Carolyn O'Brien, the practice's Hygiene Coordinator, adds: "With Sesame, our patients easily opt in to their choice of email reminders or text messages. They used to get upset because Smile Reminder automatically sent text to cell phones, resulting in charges that patients weren't expecting."
Dr. Schoenbeck and Dr. Ungerleider agree that a big part of the Sesame difference is how it helps them communicate better not only with patients, but also with other doctors because Sesame uploads all their diagnostic images automatically.
"Those Patient Login and Doctor Login buttons on my site really say it all," states Dr. Schoenbeck. "We do everything digitally and Sesame allows our referrers to be able to easily get the information they are looking for. I'm getting more referrals from specialists because I make it easy for them to confer with me. Sesame gives us a convenient forum to discuss patients we're treating in common. Each of us can look at the records and comment when we have a few minutes between patients. No more phone tag, and no worries about HIPAA."
Smile Reminder™ is a division of Communitect.
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