Sponsored by Weave
What’s in a name? Well, when you’re talking about the Weave Integrated Communications platform from Weave (Lehi, Utah) – everything. As the name would lead you to believe, this platform weaves multiple communications and payment processes together under a single platform, eliminating costly single-purpose vendors and making life easier for physicians, staff members and patients.
P. Daniel Ward, MD, a facial plastic surgeon in Salt Lake City, Utah, chose the system around nine months ago to streamline his practice’s communications and payment processes. He first learned of Weave from the husband of one of his staff members, who works for the company.
What began as after-hours small talk quickly became serious interest. Dr. Ward told his staff member’s husband that Weave was doing exactly what his practice was paying five separate companies to do.
Dr. Ward’s practice now uses Weave’s Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), patient review system, fax, two-way texting and Text-To-Pay functions. Through the multiple vendors, these services had been costing his practice at least $800 monthly – around twice the cost of Weave.
Improve billing functions
The Text-to-Pay feature allows patients to schedule and pay for procedures using their mobile phones. When a patient books a surgery, Dr. Ward’s scheduler simply texts a secure link for the patient to click on to pay with a credit card. “Before, patients had to come in and swipe their credit cards, or sometimes give the number over the phone. Text to pay provides a much easier way to pay. And patients think it is great.”
According to Weave, patients pay 70% of Text-to-Pay requests within one day. Additionally, Dr. Ward’s biller finds it much easier to bill insurance co-payments via text rather than paper statements.
Increase practice reviews
In Dr. Ward’s experience, the system’s Reviews feature has definitely increased the number of reviews the practice garners. After an appointment, a staff member logs into Weave, enters the patient’s phone number and sends a personalized text thanking the patient for visiting and asking if they wouldn’t mind submitting a review.
With Dr. Ward’s installation, patients can click separate links to report good or unsatisfactory experiences. Good experiences go directly to Google, Facebook or Yelp. Less-than-stellar reviews go to the practice. This way, his office manager can call the patient to address the situation. “It is nice to validate their concern without it going right to Google,” he shared.
According to Weave, the occasional negative review is hardly a catastrophe. Most buyers trust a product more if its reviews appear unfiltered,1 and it is important that practices post a digital trail of their efforts to fix any problems.
Promote office chatter
Weave also supports team chat functions. “Everyone in our practice uses iPads,” said Dr. Ward. Through the app, front-desk staff can alert an aesthetician in a treatment room that their next appointment has arrived – without leaving the reception desk.
Similarly, the ability to text from his practice’s main number allows for easy patient communication. “Using a laptop, you can send texts, such as, ‘Mr. Jones, your test results have arrived. Please give us a call.’ It is a patient satisfier.”
Also among the 40+ functions supported by Weave are e-mail marketing (in beta), remote call management and missed call texts, as well as automated appointment confirmations and reminders. And the full VoIP phone system integrates easily with practice management and customer relationship management software, according to the company.
“We are so happy we found Weave,” said Dr. Ward. His only advice? “Sign up. It will eliminate some stress from your life.”
Reference:
1. Capterra, Inc. From Reviews to Results: Impact of Business Software Reviews.