August 2023
During the NexHealth podcast, How DSOs Can Improve the Quantity and Quality of Patients, Amol Nirgudkar and Alec Goldman of NexHealth discussed why and how to help dental teams adopt AI solutions. A key question was “Will team members like learning and using the AI solutions or feel the solutions just represent more to learn?”
Nirgudkar explains that patients are accustomed to AI technology in their lives, as they shop, make appointments, and do research. In dentistry, AI technology is playing a greater role than ever. AI is used in collections and revenue cycle management, automated claims processing and validation, patient scheduling, and diagnostic imaging.
“AI technology is being used in our context [Patient Prism], for example, to make sure all those people who are calling are actually booking an appointment, to understand those conversations, and to make sure that every patient is moving forward on their journey,” says Nirgudkar. “We call that conversion optimization. Technically, that term was invented by Google.”
DSOs that adopt AI early will out-compete and be more profitable than the ones that don’t, but AI isn’t just about increasing profits.
Nirgudkar says, “The point of technology is to allow humans to be more efficient so they can do things they want to do more – things that are meaningful. In dentistry, that’s likely spending more time with the patient, earning trust, being effective in improving health, and providing greater customer service.”
Goldman points out that the introduction of AI technology is colliding at the same time there is a labor shortage in dentistry. He wonders if dental practices are considering how AI can help them work with fewer team members.
“Whether it's Patient Prism or NexHealth, I'm sure practices are going to greatly benefit from AI solutions, not just from a growth perspective, but also from a labor and cost perspective,” says Goldman.
“Time is a scarce commodity,” says Nirgudkar. “AI automation is great for retaining people. What we have to do is make their jobs easier. We must give them the tools that will allow them to do the things that make them feel more fulfilled and not stay on the phone for two hours, right? We need to give them tools to be more efficient.”
The newest generation of dental team members is looking to make money in meaningful ways and to keep learning.
“They are also looking to do cool things and adopt new technologies,” says Nirgudkar. “We need to deploy them at the highest level so they can perform at the highest level and not feel like they are in an environment that is a dead end, where no learning is taking place. AI tools allow them to do higher level things than the mundane, routine stuff that all healthcare practices have done for years.”
Patient Prism is an example of an AI solution that fosters a culture of team collaboration and accountability. You can easily track and celebrate the efforts of your teams with its new gamification feature," says Amol Nirgudkar.
Team members earn badges for achieving established benchmarks. You can reward their best efforts by recognizing their contributions and the positive behaviors that help your practice grow such as answering a greater percentage of calls, completing follow-up calls, and successfully booking more appointments.