As summer comes to an end, healthcare providers and parents alike must prepare for the busy back-to-school season. With so much on families’ plates, healthcare providers need a proactive, efficient way to engage parents and remind them of key health precautions before the school year starts. Tebra’s Practice Growth solutions help you effortlessly manage outreach and appointments so everyone can avoid the end-of-summer rush.
Why early communication is important
Parents today might be busier than ever before. According to Pew Research, the share of 2-parent households in which both parents work full time is now 46%, up from 31% in 1970. For many of these working parents, let alone those in single-parent households, balancing family obligations is no small feat. Among all working parents with children under 18, more than half (56%) say it is difficult for them to balance job and family responsibilities.
You can help families manage their busy schedules and achieve better health outcomes by proactively engaging them and making it easy to book important appointments. Tebra helps take the burden off of your plate — and theirs — by offering seamless automated outreach, online scheduling, and more.
How to best communicate with busy parents
Regardless of the season, it can be hard to get important messages directly in front of your patients. A multichannel approach gives you the best chance to reach busy parents.
SMS text messaging and online scheduling
Remove barriers by sharing educational messages along with convenient online scheduling links directly via SMS text message. Make sure parents know that it’s easy to schedule appointments online without ever having to call your office. On your end, manage and customize these communications seamlessly with Tebra’s user-friendly platform, which completely integrates with your other practice functions so you can spend less time on manual outreach and more time in the treatment room.
It’s also important to send automated appointment reminders via text or email to avoid no-shows and reschedules, which can take a toll on your business over time. If follow ups are needed after the initial visit, patient recall solutions automatically text those due to return, improving care continuity and patient retention.
Email and social media marketing campaigns
Marketing and email campaigns provide additional calls to action and can help build awareness — not only with existing patients, but also with a broader audience.
When you choose Tebra, you get social media, marketing, online scheduling, texting, and appointment reminders all in one place to help you manage multiple touch points with ease.
The top 8 back-to-school messages to share with parents
To help you prioritize your communication efforts, we’ve compiled a list of the top healthcare requirements to share with families before school starts:
1. Stay up to date on vaccine requirements
Depending on their child’s age, grade, and school, parents need to be mindful of vaccine requirements and ensure that their child is up to date with the latest shots and boosters so they can stay healthy when they return to the classroom.
2. Complete school physicals before the late-summer rush
Annual physicals are a crucial part of maintaining a child’s health, and parents often delay them until the end of summer. Encourage parents to stay ahead of the game and schedule their child’s physical in advance so they can enjoy the rest of the summer.
3. Get flu vaccinations
Flu season is right around the corner. In order to protect children in the classroom and keep the whole family healthy, encourage annual flu shots.
4. Schedule critical eye exams
Receiving an eye exam once a year ensures that children maintain good vision and can learn and read effectively. Take advantage of free time in the summer and try to schedule these appointments before school starts to get ahead of any possible issues.
5. Don’t skip dental check-ups
Oral health is an essential part of overall health. Regular check-ups help to prevent cavities, decay, and other medical issues that can lead to pain, trouble learning, difficulty speaking, and more.
6. Remember additional physicals for sports
Does your child plan to participate in any school sports? If so, a sports physical is often required. Remind parents to check their child’s sport requirements to save time by completing physicals in advance.
7. Stay healthy with preventive care
Routine check-ups with a primary care physician are the most important way to identify any potential health issues and address them before they become bigger problems.
8. Health starts at home
Educate parents about exercise and nutritional principles while offering simple tips that can make a huge difference in their family’s health. A balanced lifestyle is the best way to maintain health and avoid preventable illness.
A simplified, proactive approach to back-to-school season
Taking a straightforward and educational approach to back-to-school healthcare with parents will help you better manage your schedule this summer, as well as help parents better maintain and prioritize their family’s health. If you’re overwhelmed thinking about outreach and appointment scheduling, Tebra can help automate and streamline these tasks and more so that back-to-school season is a little less stressful and a lot healthier for everyone.