When I first started on the digital route, I had three aims. The first was to have a website, the second to achieve a paperless practice and the third was to support Gary Carr’s company, The Digital Office. It seemed simple, especially as The Digital Office – or TDO – provides a route to a paperless practice.
I don’t think I had a clear idea of what my practice would look like or the extent to which my website would be so important to my practice marketing. Or that I could be giving a lecture in Belgrade or in Berne or in Bonn and be able to use the TDO app on my iPhone to to call up a patient record and look at their notes and speak to their dentist. For someone who travels a lot, this is hugely reassuring.
At the end of 2014 we launched Rootipedia on this website http://www.roottreatmentuk.com/html/rootipedia. A glossary of common endodontic and dental terminology, it was compiled as an online resource for patients but also intended to have an impact on website optimisation. Hundreds of people visited the website in response to the launch and I can tell which country they were in and exactly when they visited and which of the different communication platforms prompted their visit. This is so different to sending out a brochure!
Dentists who refer to the Harley Street Centre for Endodontics are given a log-in so they can access the records and images of their patients which can be viewed within 15 minutes of the patient’s appointment. The virtue of this is that my referring dentists are always in the picture and I like the respect that this demonstrates. Embracing the digital age has certainly brought some unexpected benefits.