By Petya Ivanova
(News of The South) – Research by DentaVox shows that patients find online scheduling of appointments much better than the traditional means of calling over the phone. According to most respondents, the greatest advantage of online booking is that it saves time. The results show that 51% of survey participants have already used online tools to book a dentist’s appointment. The main obstacle to try out online booking is that not being offered by dentists.
Online scheduling vs. booking by phone
One-third of respondents think that it is significantly better to schedule their dental appointments online, and another 46% evaluate it as better than calling over the phone. Altogether, this makes up a share of 79% of respondents who evaluate online booking higher than calling by phone. Moreover, less than 1% assess booking over the phone higher than online scheduling.
These findings indicate an even stronger preference for online booking than previous research and come to show that self-scheduling through online technology is a trend to stay and grow. It is hardly surprising considering that online booking has already become the norm in many service industries, hospitality, and transportation.
dental appoitment online scheduling vs calling
The greatest advantage of online booking
Over half of the respondents consider that the biggest plus of booking a dental appointment online is that it saves time. Smaller shares of research participants recognize the ease of use (14%) and spending less time outside work (10%) as the primary advantage of this method. It seems that saving time is highly valued by patients, and online scheduling is perceived as less time consuming than other means. It might be because patients have instant access to available dates at one glance instead of discussing options over the phone or in person.
Online booking greatest advantage
The greatest disadvantage of online booking
When thinking about the drawbacks of scheduling dental appointments online, 27% of respondents pointed out that internet access can be an issue. It is likely that regional differences may have an impact in this regard.
Surprisingly, just 12% of respondents recognize not being able to ask questions as a primary disadvantage of online booking. We can speculate whether it is due to supporting technologies as chat service or patients just do not need to discuss queries during appointment booking.
And lastly, the preference for online booking is so strong that the third most popular answer about the main drawback of scheduling appointments online is simply that there aren’t any disadvantages.
Online booking greatest disadvantage
Main reasons not to book a dentist’s appointment online
51% of the respondents have already booked a dental appointment online. But if scheduling online is so much better according to patients, then why is it not used by a higher percentage of patients? The results indicate a simple answer – the option is still not offered by many dental practices. That’s the case for 37% of respondents who have not yet booked online a visit to the dentist.
why not book online
Overall, the results show a missed opportunity for a lot of dentists as it seems that many patients are willing to use online self-scheduling but currently are not provided with this option.
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