How Wake ENT increased patient acquisition and engagement with Birdeye

Bedside manners—it’s more than the in-office doctor-patient relationship. It extends to the entire patient experience, which is radically different from 15-20 years ago. Today, the patient experience begins the second a prospective patient looks up a practice, continues through their first visit, and persists the entire time they are in their physician’s care. 

Wake ENT initially partnered with Birdeye early in 2020 as a way to gather and manage patient reviews. They wanted to collect positive reviews and feature them on their website for new patients to see. Manually requesting and collecting reviews was time-intensive, so Wake ENT uses Birdeye's integration with AthenaHealth to automate the entire process. 

After the COVID-induced shutdown, Wake ENT soon realized they needed a way to stay in touch with their patients. And at the same time, they needed a way to keep an open line of communication with prospective patients. Fortunately, the combination of Birdeye’s Reviews, Webchat, and Inbox were the tools they needed to help them adapt to managing their practice in this “new normal.” 

Wake ENT never had a chat feature before Birdeye, and it didn’t take them long to realize they hit a home run with the tool. Sometimes patients don’t feel comfortable calling–or know the office is closed when they want to–so they find it easier to get their questions answered online. Webchat quickly became popular with these patients because they could reach out to the practice and get a prompt response from staff. Patients could even set up an appointment through the Webchat whenever they wanted. 

With Birdeye Webchat, Wake ENT could provide a new level of service with little lift. And they could quickly respond, so no patient is left waiting. Elderly patients, for example, preferred to engage with Wake ENT through Webchat over the patient portal because of the convenience. 

Webchat also helped Wake ENT with new patient acquisition, particularly during out-of-office hours, when many prospective patients would reach out to learn more about the practice. In these instances, Wake ENT used Birdeye to set up an automatic out-of-office responder, which let people know their message was received, and a member of their staff would be in touch during operating hours. 

Birdeye Reviews provides Wake ENT with a frictionless, headache-free way to aggregate and respond to customer feedback––whether they’re in the office or not.  

When a patient or prospect contacts Wake ENT, or leaves a review, the staff is first alerted via email. They then use the app to respond. Staff has Birdeye on their phones and desktops to respond with the app, no matter where they are - quickly. And in instances where the office is closed, or a call was missed, Birdeye Receptionist responds automatically via text. 

Mass Text allows Wake ENT to text patients with significant announcements.For example, when their offices were able to reopen, Wake ENT sent a text alert to all their patients. And for patients that prefer email, Wake ENT can use Birdeye Inbox to manage those communications as well. The best part is that Inbox aggregates text and email in one unified location, ensuring that patient questions are never left unanswered!  

Wake ENT monitors these interactions to ensure that the patient’s questions are answered, and they are satisfied. In the event that one of the staff cannot answer a question, Wake ENT uses Birdeye to seamlessly route the question to the correct staff member. 

Wake ENT is a shining example of how medical practices can leverage technology to provide better patients experiences by reaching them where they are, in and out of the office. With Birdeye, Wake ENT has an inbox to respond to patients at both locations promptly. When Wake ENT needs to notify patients of important events, they can text them individually or in bulk. And when prospective patients make inquiries into the practice, Wake ENT has webchat to answer them immediately.