The ADA Health Policy Institute’s Economic Outlook and Emerging Issues in Dentistry 3rd Quarter, 2024 study found that 28% of dental practices “were not busy enough—could have treated more patients.”
Whether you’re launching a new practice and need to build a thriving patient base from the ground up, or you’re an established practice noticing a slowdown in new patient acquisition, success hinges on filling schedules and driving profitability. Both new and established practices need cost-effective strategies to attract and retain patients. For practices where new patient numbers are dipping, it’s imperative to act swiftly with proactive measures before revenue and patient care are impacted.
Curve SuperHero™, our all-in-one cloud-based dental practice management platform, equips practices of all sizes with the tools to streamline operations, enhance patient engagement, and supercharge marketing efforts—empowering you to grow your patient base and keep it strong.
Early Warning Signs: When to Pivot Your Strategy
Recognizing the signs of operational or strategic misalignment can prevent long-term damage. In a recent Becker’s Dental + DSO Review, Dr. Ibrahim Jarjoura emphasizes that monitoring KPIs—especially new patient numbers—is crucial. He cautions against cutting marketing when revenue tightens, as it can further reduce patient flow. Instead, practices should rethink their outreach strategy, leveraging outbound communication that draws attention to your practice through proactive messaging like newsletters and appointment reminders. Word-of-mouth referrals will climb.
In the same article, Dr. Catrise Austin says signs like frequent cancellations, low staff morale, and high turnover point to the need for operational changes. Engaging staff through regular meetings and open communication fosters alignment with practice goals and cultivates a sense of shared success.
Practice owners who have adopted Curve SuperHero report improved staff engagement and retention, thanks to the platform’s ability to automate routine tasks and equip employees with the tools they need to focus on building strong patient relationships. These strong practice-patient bonds result in 5-star reviews, increased case acceptance, increased new patient referrals, and increased patient retention. And these are the results that lift team morale and create momentum for growth.
Users who have transitioned to Curve report up to 25% more new patients, 30% better case acceptance, and 20% higher collections, resulting in 5x ROI over their legacy practice management software.
Reignite Organic Growth with Curve
When new patient numbers decline, Curve provides the perfect dental patient management platform to optimize patient interactions, simplify front-office tasks, and strengthen both internal and external communication. Here’s how Curve helps practices recover momentum:
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Automated Customizable Patient Communications: Curve's built-in messaging features allow practices to keep patients engaged through personalized communication. Automated appointment reminders, welcome emails, and follow-up messages help reduce cancellations and build stronger patient relationships without additional overhead.
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Online Appointment Self-Scheduling: Patients can conveniently schedule appointments through Curve’s online scheduling feature, reducing barriers to care and increasing new patient conversion rates. This feature offers flexibility for patients while keeping your schedule full.
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Two-Way Text Conversations: Curve GRO®, Curve’s built-in patient engagement platform, offers two-way conversational texting, enabling patients to confirm or reschedule their appointments seamlessly. More than a convenience for patients, this reduces administrative workload and helps keep the schedule full.
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Utilize the Smart Action List for Efficient Follow-Ups: Curve GRO's Smart Action List identifies patients who haven’t responded to communications. This dynamic list helps practices prioritize outreach efforts, enabling staff to quickly follow up with non-responsive patients and fill open appointment slots.
Boost Engagement with Patient Prism® AI-Powered Analytics
Curve’s integration with Patient Prism provides practices with advanced call tracking and real-time feedback on missed opportunities. Every call becomes a data point, allowing your team to analyze marketing ROI and recapture lost leads.
Patient Prism’s real-time coaching empowers staff to convert inquiries into appointments, boosting new patient bookings by up to 30%. With automated data sync to Google Analytics, you’ll also gain valuable insights into which marketing efforts drive the most conversions, helping you optimize budget allocation.
Maximize ROI with Focused Engagement and Strategic Communication
Curve empowers practices to avoid overspending on advertising by shifting the focus to organic patient engagement and increasing new patient conversion through meaningful call answering, call-back outreach, and automated reminders, newsletters, and follow-up messages. Curve’s tools for automating workflows help you stay connected with patients, maintaining visibility and trust. This consistent engagement fosters stellar online reviews and encourages word-of-mouth referrals, amplifying your practice’s reputation and attracting more patients without the need for excessive marketing expenses.
Imagine up to 25% more organic new patient engagements with Curve combined with up to 30% more lead conversions with Patient Prism. If you want to start one or more new practices or are expanding your capacity to serve more patients, Patient Prism’s AI integration with Curve will give you the ramp-up power you need to fill provider schedules with new patients.
Engage Your Team: Aligning Operations with Growth
Regular meetings, where performance metrics are shared, align teams with practice goals and motivate employees to contribute to growth. Curve simplifies this process by providing dental analytics dashboards and comprehensive reporting tools. You have easy access to the metrics that matter most. You may want to consider offering bonuses or incentives tied to practice performance to encourage teamwork and reinforce a culture focused on patient care and profitability.
Fuel Your Practice’s Growth with Curve
Launching a dental practice can feel overwhelming, especially when building a patient base and establishing brand awareness within your community. Even established practices and experienced managers can find themselves struggling when new patient numbers begin to decline.
Curve equips you with the tools to attract new patients, re-engage existing ones, and streamline operations to maximize efficiency. With features like automated communications, AI-driven analytics, real-time reporting, and enhanced dental patient management, Curve provides everything you need to make smarter marketing decisions and keep your practice on a steady path to growth and success.
Don’t wait for trends to worsen—take control of your practice’s future with Curve. Over 80,000 dental professionals already trust our award-winning, all-in-one, cloud-based practice management solution to simplify operations and maximize patient engagement. Schedule your personal demo and consultation today.
