Are You Acquiring Your Patients' Email Addresses?

Introduction

A dental practice once contacted us because it could not send a long text message to all its patients. The message contained roughly 300 to 400 characters, while a standard SMS is designed for much shorter communication. Longer texts may be split into multiple messages, recombined incorrectly, or look like spam depending on the recipient's carrier.

We recommended sending the information by email instead. Unfortunately, the practice had collected phone numbers but had very few patient email addresses in its communication platform. The team recognized that having both phone numbers and email addresses would give them more flexibility and began collecting email addresses from new patients.

Benefits of Collecting Patient Email Addresses and Phone Numbers

1. Email communication remains widely used. Email is still a familiar communication channel for many patients. The original article references Forbes when discussing how frequently people check their inboxes.

2. More room for detailed information. Text messages have practical length limits. Email gives your team space for longer explanations, office instructions, newsletters, and other information that would be difficult to fit into a short text.

3. Support for images and richer messages. Emails can include graphics and pictures, making them useful for birthday greetings, hygiene newsletters, promotions, and other visual communication.

4. Cheap, familiar, and reliable. Most patients already know how to use email, and messages can be sent without the per-message limitations associated with some other channels.

5. Searchable communication history. Past messages can be found again when patients need to review instructions, dates, or other details. Spam filters also help separate suspicious messages from normal communication.

6. A useful backup channel. If your team cannot reach a patient by phone or text, an email address provides another way to send reminders, announcements, greetings, and follow-up information.

Collecting both a phone number and an email address lets your team choose the communication method that fits the message.

Conclusion

Collecting patient email addresses gives your dental practice a flexible channel for longer, searchable communication. Email can support everything from newsletters and birthday greetings to appointment reminders. Make email collection a standard part of the new-patient intake process rather than waiting until your team needs it.