REVIEW: Lighthouse 360 ‘takes a practice to the next level’

One clinician’s take on the Lighthouse 360 patient communication system.

Dr. Leonard Tau needed a better patient communication system, especially when it came to recall and recare patients. He started doing research and heard about Lighthouse 360 and all its features on Dentaltown. He reached out to the company to learn more, and soon decided it was time to make a switch. That happened 2.5 years ago, and he couldn’t be happier with his decision. Here’s why.

What are the main benefits of Lighthouse 360?

The name for this program should be set it and forget it. It does everything for you. It’s automated for you. The recare system is amazing. I get a lot of patients who automatically click on a link asking them to schedule a recare appointment when they’ve had to cancel or are overdue. It confirms appointments automatically and takes a huge role from the staff. They don’t have to call patients to confirm appointments.

I see a lot of patients in my office and some of them do not come back. Two years from their last visit I get an email through Lighthouse informing me and asking if I would like to send a reactivation letter to the patient. I also have the option of inactivating the patient. In most cases, if someone has not been to my office for 2 years they are more than likely not coming back, so I can remove them from my system.

Another great tool Lighthouse offers is alerting us when a patient is 6 weeks overdue via an email. We don’t have to go into our practice management system and pull a report to tell us who is overdue. The whole process is a very seamless set up and then you don’t have to look at it again. It’s pretty amazing the ability this program gives you. Brian Smith, one of the owners, is always very responsive. Overall, the customer service Lighthouse offers is terrific.

After an appointment Lighthouse will send an email to the patient asking him or her to leave a review, which can be posted to various sites like Google, Yahoo, Facebook and even the Rate A Dentist website.

Lighthouse

Lighthouse Postcard Reminder sample.

Lighthouse 360 is an automated, comprehensive patient communications system for dentists and is reportedly the only system that can reach 100% of patients with email, text messages, automated phone calls, postcards and letters.

This system reminds patients when they need an appointment, confirms existing appointments, and asks patients to post an online review about their appointment when it’s over - all automatic. This helps improve team efficiency and decreases broken appointments. Lighthouse 360 requires no contracts and works with dentists’ current practice management systems.

Lighthouse | 888-740-5210 | LH360.com

How does this benefit patients?

Patients are constantly reminded they have an appointment, which is positive for the dental office and the patient. They get a virtual appointment card 1 hour after they make an appointment, which replaces the physical appointment reminder. Three weeks before the appointment they get a reminder and then three or four days before the appointment they get a notification asking them to confirm the appointment. Then they receive a reminder an hour before the appointment to prevent people from forgetting at the last minute. This is great from a patient perspective. It’s an easy way to communicate and you’re not annoying them with a phone call. Patients also appreciate being communicated with and kept informed with e-newsletters or other functions.

Another big advantage for dental offices is Lighthouse 360 will call patients if you want them to. They will mail postcards to patients as well if a patient doesn’t have a cell phone or email.

Why would you encourage other dentists to give Lighthouse 360 a try?

It takes a practice to the next level. It puts them in the 21^st century. Patients appreciate it. One feature I think docs will really like is auto confirm. It reaches 100 percent of patients, so not just patients with cell phones and emails. They will quickly get a lot of reviews, which can be posted to Google, Yahoo and Facebook. It basically replaces the person at the front desk and costs $299 a month. You’re spending a lot less money with this program than if you hired someone to do all this stuff.

Lighthouse 360

One clinician’s take on the Lighthouse 360 patient communication system. Written by: Dr. Leonard Tau Lighthouse 360 patient communication system Date published: 02/08/2013