Texting has long stood as a reliable tool for bolstering patient relationships and smoothing day-to-day operations. While we’re all familiar with automated reminders, two-way texting, and booking online appointments, there’s another vital SMS (Short Messaging Service) feature that healthcare practices should embrace: mass messaging.

By keeping patients updated and informed through timely and efficient communication, mass texting can significantly boost your healthcare practice’s bottom line. Even better, platforms like Curogram can further enhance this potential, by providing customization and segmentation tools that allow you to craft messages specifically tailored to the exact audience you wish to engage.

What is Mass Texting?

Mass texting, also called bulk texting, blast texting, and mass text messaging, involves sending a single SMS message to many people at once. It’s a great way to disseminate information promptly, letting you reach out to an impressive amount of people with just a click of a finger.

The real strength of mass texting lies in the inherent qualities of SMS: it’s fast and direct. Given that a vast majority of people check their phones regularly and open text messages religiously, mass texting increases the likelihood that people will read and engage with your message.

Curogram Offers Mass Texting

On top of Curogram’s standard subscription services, Curogram offers a mass messaging service that lets practices send a text to all or to a group of their patients at once. Whether you want to text everyone or just a select group — say, all patients seeing Dr. Smith next week—you can do it within the platform, quickly and easily. You also have the flexibility to segment your patients by appointment date, provider, appointment location, or group. You have the ability, for example, to send mass texts to all Medicare clients.

The advantages of mass messaging stretch far beyond mere convenience, however.

Enhance Patient Communication and Satisfaction Using Mass Texting

Unforeseen events do occur. In such instances, mass texting proves invaluable. Consider scenarios like abrupt road closures or adverse weather conditions — right before a day filled with back-to-back appointments. Mass messaging allows you to promptly inform the affected patients, preventing potentially dangerous or inconvenient situations. In the same message, you can also notify patients how to reschedule, keeping your bookings full and providing important information to your patients.

Segment Patients to Boost Communication

Even better, Curogram's advanced filters allow you to segment your patients before sending a blast text, ensuring that you can text the exact patients whom you need to reach. Whether you target patients visiting a particular branch or those scheduled with a specific doctor, the larger aim is to enhance patient engagement and experience.

When patients feel valued, they're more likely to return and even advocate for you. This can manifest as repeat visits, referrals, and potentially stellar 5-star reviews. As your practice's online and community reputation flourishes, it creates a positive feedback loop: retaining your current patients and attracting new ones.

Use SMS Texting to Do Targeted Marketing

Find yourself quickly checking an SMS but ignoring a flood of emails? SMS enjoys a remarkable 98% open rate, while email sits at 19.8%.

Perhaps it’s because our inboxes overflow with offers. Our mobile numbers are more private, so a text message feels more personal. This difference makes SMS marketing  a very potent marketing tool.

This proves especially true when the text comes from a trusted number. When patients have already received reminders and other alerts from a number, using it for mass texting makes it a more effective marketing tool compared to an anonymous number. Patients tend to be more responsive and receptive to messages from sources they know and trust.

Drive Increased Patient Visits 

Fill your practice’s schedule using mass messaging to remind people of their annual check-ups, vaccinations, or wellness exams. Doing so ensures continuous revenue, providing your practice with a steady flow of visits and ultimately contributing to the financial stability and growth of your medical practice

Sending bulk text messages is also a great way to roll out timely promotional offers, make announcements, or spotlight new services and providers. When you've got detailed information or visuals to convey, consider sending a PDF.  Not only does it accommodate extended content,  but it also conveys your marketing message with enhanced effectiveness. You can even include a link to a full-color brochure showcasing your practice or services. This practice is not only eco-friendly, but saves you precious marketing dollars, when messaging costs are compared to those involved in printing and mailing those old-school flyers, only to have them subsequently tossed in the trash.  A mass message costs only pennies per text, while a flier can easily run between $1.50 - $2.00 each after postage, and conversion tends to be much lower.

To add a PDF to your text, simply upload your PDF on our HIPAA-compliant platform and have Curogram create short links to those documents that can be included in text messages. Curogram short links are important because generic shorteners such as Bitly, Google, or Tiny URLs  are often blocked by mobile phone carriers as spam.

Boost Your Practice’s Presence

Using mass messaging can also help boost brand awareness and in this way yield additional revenue. It holds the potential to sway clients towards choosing additional health screenings or tests outside their scheduled appointments.

When you offer a community event or workshop, bulk messaging can amplify attendance, and in this way enhance your brand and community ties.

Streamline Operational Efficiency With Mass Messaging

Mass texting removes pressure on your staff by allowing them to quickly and efficiently reach out to a group of patients, leveraging your existing team.   With mass messaging that is  bi-directional or 2-way  —  patients have the ability to text in return — this leverage is further enhanced.  Consider the use of mass messaging to poll a high risk population such as patients experiencing high blood pressure.  These patients now have the ability to text back valuable information:  if they are monitoring their blood pressure, what readings they are experiencing, or what barriers to care they are experiencing. This information takes a fraction of the staff time phone calls would involve, helps determine what patients may need to be seen, and proves invaluable in these days of managed care reimbursements.

With Curogram, the cost of bulk messaging is always displayed before the texts are sent, allowing you to manage your budget effectively.. By streamlining processes and controlling operating costs, you save not just time, but boost your bottom line as well.

Reaching out to the affected groups quickly in case of sudden changes  also reduces miscommunication and quickly helps patients reschedule. This helps keep your booking rates high and prevents loss of income.

Enhance Preventive Care and Health Outcomes With Mass Messaging

A recent OnePoll survey revealed that 70% of Americans have become more health-conscious since the pandemic. If your healthcare practice emphasizes preventive health, mass SMS texting is an excellent tool for sending personalized health alerts.  Using this tool, you can inspire individuals to take charge of their health and empower them to make well-informed health choices, be it suggesting flu shots for vulnerable groups or nudging patients for that yearly check-up “for peace of mind.”  

Your dedication to your patients’ health and well-being naturally fosters their trust. Over time, this commitment draws in new patients and deepens relationships with existing ones, ultimately boosting the bottom line.

Nurture Clients and Boost Your Bottom Line

With mass texting, you’re hitting two birds with one stone. On the one hand, the swift and timely messages guarantee that your patients' health is always a priority, keeping them informed and engaged. On the other hand, this direct communication method strengthens your brand presence, fostering loyalty and potentially driving increased revenue.

To see a step-by-step guide of how to use Curogram’s mass messaging feature, check out this video: Send a mass message to your patients.

It's one of Curogram's growing library to "How To" videos and step by step instructions, located under the Support tab of our website.