3 Ways to Boost Patient Care with Doximity Dialer

The overarching purpose of my blog is to help physicians like you to achieve financial well-being. Therefore, most of my posts (with the notable exception of my random Sunday posts) revolve around personal finance topics. But, really, a big way for the average physician to achieve financial freedom is easy. Maximize the money you make as a doctor. Save at least 20% (hopefully more), and invest those savings wisely. So, it makes sense to share some posts emphasizing how you can enhance and optimize your practice to increase your income. One way that I have done this is by implementing use of Doximity Dialer – both its Audio and Video features – in my practice.

What is Doximity Dialer?

I’m sure most of you are familiar with Doximity. They are an online networking platform for physicians. I’m pretty sure it’s the largest one.

It’s free to join and there is a lot of content available. Stuff ranging from clinical research articles to opinion pieces to my own posts!

Recently, they also added some new great Telehealth features that I have started to use extensively. These are the Doximity Dialer Audio and the Doximity Dialer Video functions. Taken together, Doximity Dialer is an easy Telehealth tool that any physician can immediately start using for virtual patient visits, so long as you’re a registered member of Doximity.

Doximity Dialer Audio

Put simply, Doximity Dialer is like a Google Voice app that is HIPAA-compliant.

Here’s how it works:

You open the app (contained within the general Doximity app that you can download on your phone)
Then select the Doximity Dialer section of the app
You will be prompted to pick the call back number that you would like to show up when you call your patient. I choose the general call back number for my hospital.
Then, just put in the number you would like to call and press the “Phone Call” button. You’ll be connected to your patient.

Your call will be private and HIPAA-compliant.

Doximity Dialer Video

The Video function works essentially via the same process as the regular Dialer app.

Choose your call back number
Input the phone number that you would like to connect with via video
Press the “Video Call” button
The app will then send a text to your patient. The patient has to click on the link in the text and then you will be connected via video. On the patient end, all they have to do is click a button that allows access to video and audio. It’s really simple even for less “tech savvy” patients.

This is also HIPAA-compliant.

3 Ways to Boost Patient Care with Doximity Dialer

So, how can these functionalities help you to boost your clinical practice, make it more efficient, and ultimately increase your revenue.

1. Make being on call less tortuous

This has been the biggest improvement that I have noticed since I regularly started using the Doximity Dialer and Video this past year.

My call responsibilities are not onerous. That’s one of the reasons that I love the job I took and it was a major factor in me finding my perfect job. But, it’s still call. And probably the most active part of my call days or weekends are answering patient phone calls from the answering service.

But these apps have made that job much easier. First, I can easily call them from the call service number rather than sharing my personal cell phone number.

Even more important, however, is the ability to connect with the patients via Doximity Video. More patients calling me as a plastic surgeon have questions about their surgical incisions, swelling, redness, or other issues that can be difficult to assess or confirm via the description of a layperson. In the past, this led to many unnecessary trips to the ED on the part of the patient…and myself.

But now that I can connect via video in an easy and HIPAA compliant manner, it’s become really easy to confirm when something is or is not an issue. It also makes the patients feel much more reassured.

This leads into #2…

2. Improved patient satisfaction

What is the #1 cause of dissatisfaction for patients when it comes to their physicians?

For sure it is the disconnect and lack of one-on-one attention that has taken over medicine with the implementation of EMRs and the increased demand on patient volume placed on doctors by administrators and practices.

It’s not hard to reason that anything that increases the quality time that you can spend with patients will lead to improved patient satisfaction.

For example, with Doximity Dialer, patients don’t have to sit around and wait for me in a virtual waiting room for their appointment. Instead, I just send my patients a text message with a link when we’re ready to connect. I can even
send a call nudge if the patient misses my text. Dialer helps maximize our time together, which will lead to It’s then well established that improved patient satisfaction, which then leads to improved patient retention and eventually more patient referrals.

As physicians, we are in the customer service industry. Patients are our customers. If we do not care for them in all aspects, we are at risk of losing them like any other industry.

Put simply, more time = increased satisfaction = increased practice revenue.

Moreover, if the COVID pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that quality time does not necessarily mean in-person time

And without a doubt, Doximity Dialer and Video have allowed me to increase the quantity and quality of time that I spend with patients. They have facilitated and optimized my ability to:

Check with patient pre-operatively regarding questions related to their surgery
Follow up with patients the day after their surgery to ensure that they are doing well and reduce unnecessary late night calls to the answering service
Respond appropriately to answering service calls from patients in a manner that reduces unnecessary ER visits and reassures patients

All of this has increased patient satisfaction through quality interaction with minimal effort on my part while maintaining both the patient’s and my privacy.

3. Increase new patient outreach

This is a strategy that I am working on implementing but haven’t done yet. And that is using Doximity Dialer and Video to increase my outreach to new potential patients.

Again, the method of doing this is easy to envision. Patient outreach can be challenging not only due to the time and effort required on the part of the physician but due to scheduling constraints and “interest inertia” required by the patient. This is even omitting the limited capability to gather prospective patients due to COVID restrictions.

Doximity Dialer and Video especially break down these barriers.

It becomes quite easy to connect with patients in a way that is low stress and even low effort for both the patient and the surgeon. Scheduling a mutually beneficial time becomes much easier when it is not required to be in person.

I will likely begin to offer initial consultations for both aesthetic and reconstructive patients using this service.

I don’t think I need to state the obvious in how this can be financially beneficial for my practice.

Make your practice make more money with Doximity Dialer and other “work smart” strategies

For good reason, most advice surrounding the FIRE community in medicine centers around non-clinical manners of achieving financial freedom.

Burnout and moral injury are real issues in our community. The answers to this often lie internally and outside of our clinical circumstances.

graduating to success
prudent plastic surgeon

However, one fact is that we need to make money in order to save money in order to invest money in order to achieve FI(RE). And for many of us, our main source of income will always be our clinical practice.

Therefore, it makes sense to try and optimize the practice to make what we deserve from it. And I’m not saying that the answer is to work more hours, pick up more shifts, or work harder. That’s the recipe for more burnout.

I’m saying to optimize your systems and work smarter to optimize income.

And this is one major way that you can do exactly this! In fact, I bet that when you implement “work smart” strategies like these, you will find that you are working less (or at least are less stressed when working) and making more.

A last note

I am willing to bet that more than a few readers will conclude after this post that such technology is helpful for me as a plastic surgeon but does not fit into their practice.

I am also willing to wager that this is a limiting belief.

Instead, I challenge you to search for ways that you can implement this in your practice on your behalf or that of your staff to increase efficiency, improve patient care, and increase revenue!

Looking for other strategies to work smarter, not harder?!

Check out the posts below!

What do you think? Have you used technology to increase your practice revenue? How did it go? Would you consider implementing a disruptive technology to your practice?

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