Fareno Dental

Fareno Dental: How Lighthouse 360 Makes This Small Practice More Efficient

With just one dentist and two hygienists, making the most of every hour in the day is key to the success of Fareno Dental, a general and family dental practice in Feasterville, Pennsylvania. But too many of those valuable hours were spent on the phone calling patients to confirm or reschedule appointments. “With 30 to 40 patients a day, we needed to cut down on staff phone time,” says office manager Michele Fareno. 

Before choosing Lighthouse 360, Fareno considered a competing patient communication software provider. “We liked what [the competitor] offered, but they wanted us to sign a one- or two-year contract,” she recalls. Since it was their first experiment with patient communication software, Fareno was reluctant to be locked in. She chose Lighthouse 360 because it offered not only great features but also a flexible, no-risk month-to-month subscription model.  

Time-Saving Features 

Since implementing Lighthouse 360 three years ago, Fareno has never looked back. “It’s been a great addition to our office,” she raves. The two-way texting feature has transformed how Fareno Dental communicates. “We use it to communicate with a lot of patients for many reasons, such as to quickly change or cancel appointments.”

One of Fareno’s favorite features is Cancellation Fill-in. Previously, whenever a patient cancelled she had to grab a written list and call each patient to try to fill the appointment. Fill-in automatically contacts patients on the waiting list until it fills the slot.  “We call it ‘fishing’—when you have a cancellation, you just throw your line out and reel in a patient. It’s a great feature to keep your schedule full,” says Fareno. 

Tools to Cope With COVID 

Lighthouse 360 has also helped Fareno Dental cope with the challenges of COVID-19. “We used the Virtual Waiting Room when we re-opened in May 2020. The COVID screening form that goes out to patients before their appointment has really helped cut down on paperwork in the office.” After patients complete the digital form, she can just print it out and add it to their chart.

Fareno has come to rely on Lighthouse 360’s mass email and mass texting features. “It’s nice to have these options, because some patients are better with email and some prefer texting,” she notes.

Mass email and texting also saves Fareno tons of time. Prior to Lighthouse 360, notifying patients about changes in procedures due to COVID-19 would have required laboriously calling each patient. With Lighthouse 360, it was as simple as sending a mass email and mass text. 

“A Great Investment”

2020 was a year like no other, and Lighthouse 360 helped Fareno Dental keep up. “[The software] is constantly evolving and improving,” says Fareno. “[Lighthouse] is always making good, timely changes. When we need help, we always get a very quick response. The customer service is amazing!”

More productive and efficient than ever before, Fareno Dental will never go back to those days of time-consuming phone calls. If you’re considering patient communication software, Fareno has one thing to say: “Lighthouse 360 is a great investment in your office.”