How many times have you joined a professional organization but not taken advantage of its breadth of resources? We’ve all been guilty of this. But when the organization puts a patient education platform right at your fingertips as part of your membership—and the resources could benefit your entire practice—it’s important to take advantage.
Spear Education poses an interesting question: is educating patients an option, or is it your obligation? Based on the results of a survey of 500 patients, it appears to be the latter.
According to the survey conducted by Spear:
-> 95% of patients want to understand treatment options
-> 91% want payment options if treatment was not covered
-> 78% felt it would be helpful if their dentist offered patient education videos
The results speak to the importance of communicating with patients in a way that they understand. A separate Spear survey that studied the reactions of 400 other adult dental patients revealed that:
-> 91% of patients would move forward with treatment after seeing a patient education video
-> 86% felt repairing a cracked tooth prevents more work in the future and understood the consequences of inaction
-> 84% felt “wait and see” was a bad choice for small cracks as they became aware of the problem
Education throughout the Patient’s Journey
Recognizing that patients learn and engage differently, Spear’s Patient Education platform offers several components, beginning in the lobby or waiting area, then following the patient through treatment or consultation, and finally, engaging the patient post-treatment.
Before the Appointment
-> Fire TV stick and Apple TV – Stream videos to the monitors in your waiting room, giving patients compelling, research-driven visuals that highlight specific 
conditions and procedures. These videos not only explain conditions, but also help patients clearly visualize the consequences of inaction.
Learn more about Patient Education videos in your lobby or waiting area:
Don't Miss this Patient Education Opportunity in Your Lobby
During Treatment/Consultation
Having the visual aid of a chairside video at your fingertips eases patients into the conversation about their overall oral health and specific condition. As visuals help tell the story, you can speak to patients on their level and remove friction from the informed consent process.
->Draw and annotate – Pause videos on the tablet app and use a drawing tool to make key callouts.
-> Email or text – Instantly share treatment recommendations with patients who prefer to review details on their laptop or mobile device.
After the Appointment
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-> Custom print sheets - Automatically create handouts, including postoperative instructions, that reflect your practice’s branding and standards, giving patients information to carry home to learn how to protect their investment.
-> Online embeds - The cycle of patient education continues, as you can place videos on the practice website to educate new or returning patients. The videos are subtitled to be American Dental Association-compliant.
Se Habla Espanol
Spear Education recently announced that dentists can now communicate with patients through Spanish-language subtitles on animated videos. Sparked by member requests, the new feature is currently enabled on nearly 160 chairside videos and will be included with all future Patient Education chairside video releases.The platform also provides dentists and their teams with a library of lobby videos.
To access this feature, simply turn on the closed-captioning functionality and from the “cc” icon at the bottom of the screen, select “Espanol” from the menu to turn on subtitles.
Learn more about Spear’s Patient Education platform at www.speareducation.com.