Rise in postage costs will hit dental practices

The announcement of the dramatic rise in the cost of postage has caused dismay amongst businesses including dental practices.

 

The price rises which apply to both 1st and 2nd class mail were predicted in November and suggested a 25% increase was possible.

 

The reality however has been much worse, with the cost of a 2nd class stamp rising by 39% from 36p to a new price of 50p.

 

With this in mind, dental practices still relying on letters as their main method of recalling patients, are questioning their existing arrangements as both the cost and reliability of the postal service comes under the microscope.

Recalls form a vital strand of a practices’ income stream and exploiting the most cost effective and successful channels of communication plays an important role in increasing practice efficiency.

 

The increasing use of text messaging and email is not only a result in high postage costs.

 

The use of this technology is highly effective and has been proven to improve recall effectiveness to as high as 80% successful.

Greg Clay, sales and marketing director at Software of Excellence, said: ‘We have already seen a steady flow of practices embracing text and email messaging as an alternative to traditional methods of communication and we expect this to turn into a flood as a result of this excessive increase in charges.

 

‘Text messaging is, by common consent the most effective recall method, it more readily elicits an immediate response from patients and its delivery can be tracked to ensure efficient use of resources. Using our Thrive programme we have evidence that proves recall effectiveness of more than 80% is achievable using this method. We believe this is the future for recalls in UK dental practices and Royal Mail’s price increases are making the case for text and email all the more compelling.’

 


 

To find out more about email and text messaging services from Software of Excellence, call the text team on 0800 328 6227 or visit www.soeidental.com.

 

 

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