Sesame Communications Releases Groundbreaking Research on Digital Marketing and Patient Engagement System Adoption and Use in the Dental Industry

National study reveals dental care provider perceptions of the top digital marketing and online patient engagement systems and their impact on practice growth and profitability

SEATTLE, WA — May 29, 2014 — Sesame Communications, the leading provider of cloud-based solutions to help dentists and orthodontists accelerate new patient acquisition and build patient loyalty, today announced the release of a national study that sheds new light on the key drivers of adoption and use of digital marketing and patient engagement technology and services by dental practices. This was a blinded study commissioned by Sesame and administered by Dental Products Report in April 2014.

This study surveyed 586 dental professionals across the nation—82% of whom were dentists. 92% of the population surveyed had primary or shared decision-making responsibility for digital marketing technology adoption. The study addressed all core areas of digital marketing and patient engagement including websites, SEO, social media, patient online review syndication and patient engagement platforms (sometime referred to as ‘patient login’ systems).

While core technologies such as automated appointment confirmation (one component of a complete patient engagement management platform) ranked highly (76.34%) as drivers of practice production, newer innovations such as patient accessibility to their records 24-7 from any mobile device (71.39%) and the importance of these systems to new patient acquisition (70.4% of respondents) also scored high marks from dental professionals. This same study also found that while the majority of practitioners had a practice website presence (78%), only 53% use SEO services, a key strategy to ensure their website is seen by prospective patients.

“As the vast majority of patients now rely on the Internet to choose and communicate with providers, the dental industry is responding and looking for the right digital marketing and communications technologies to increase efficiency and production.” said Diana P. Friedman, President and CEO of Sesame Communications. “This research confirms that the majority of practices see digital marketing and patient engagement platforms as a strategic component in their growth strategy. Those practices that have yet to embrace the Internet or have given it only cursory attention with antiquated technologies are at a distinct disadvantage compared to their competition.”

The complete results from this study are in the Sesame Communications Whitepaper The Digital Dental Practice, which will be available at http://www.sesamecommunications.com/research/the-digital-dental-practice-2014/ on Monday, June 2^nd 2014.

About Sesame Communications
Sesame Communications helps dental and orthodontic practices harness the power of the Internet to accelerate new patient acquisition and transform the patient experience. The company supports thousands of practices in their efforts to grow and increase profitability in the digital age. The Sesame 24-7 platform provides an end-to-end, HIPAA-compliant system tailored to the unique and specific needs of dentistry.  An Inc. 500|5000 and Deloitte Technology Fast 500™ company, Sesame is recognized as one of the fastest growing technology companies in the United States. For more information about Sesame, visit http://www.sesamecommunications.com.