CareCru: An AI-powered, Virtual Dental Practice Assistant

Mark Joseph, Founder & VP of Marketing, CareCru

For the modern dental practice, competing for patients today is much harder than it was ten years ago. The number of active dentists is outgrowing the population, dentists are retiring later, the cost of overhead continues to increase, and the number of students graduating from dental school is growing. On top of this, new online marketing tactics are being introduced each year, making it harder for the front office team to stay up to date with current trends.

Realizing the need to address these challenges is Vancouver-based company, CareCru. CareCru is the creator of an AI-powered virtual dental practice assistant named Donna™ that helps grow and manage dental practices with intelligence. “We took dental operational best practices and coupled them with marketing and business best practices to deliver an elevated experience for both the patient and the practitioner,” begins Mark Joseph, founder and VP of marketing at CareCru.

Developed to ensure an exceptional end-to-end patient experience, Donna attracts, acquires, and retains patients, with little manual interference. “Through Donna, dental offices get three world-class team members added to their practice—a front office assistant, a marketing specialist, and a practice consultant. What’s nice for the practice is Donna requires no supervision. She logs her correspondence and notes directly in the practice management software in the same way you would train a staff member to. By managing some of the more tedious, mundane tasks, Donna allows the front office team to focus their efforts on higher value activities, such as patient interaction and treatment acceptance. Our customers have grown to see Donna as an additional helping hand. She identifies an area that needs improvement, rolls up her sleeves, and gets to work,” says Joseph.

Donna’s capabilities go far beyond just carrying out tasks. Donna’s intelligence allows her to rank a practice against industry benchmarks while providing insights on areas they can improve to stay competitive.

“Intelligence is what our customers are looking for and what Donna is built on. It’s not enough to just show the practice where they can improve. Donna must act on these insights to help drive meaningful results,” says Joseph.

Donna’s API connector enables her to integrate seamlessly with the office’s existing practice management software. This integration allows Donna to read, write, and track all the information available in real time, thereby eliminating redundant data entry and saving valuable time. “We have developed Donna using a flexible framework to make sure we complement and enhance our clients’ existing workflow, while ensuring that the data obtained is secure and fully compliant with HIPAA and all relevant regulations,” explains Joseph.

Through Donna™, dental offices get three world-class team members added to their practice—a front office assistant, a marketing specialist, and a practice consultant

CareCru has assisted a myriad of different dental offices, with varying operating styles, in managing and growing their business. The Lowe Centre of Cosmetic Dentistry is one such office. Dr. Lowe and his team were seeking a solution that would help them increase patient appointments without incurring additional advertising costs. After integrating with their practice management software, Donna quickly adapted to their front office workflow, procedures offered, and patient communication preferences. Soon after, the office saw an increase in appointment requests from new patients, filling the practice’s schedules without disrupting their day-to-day. Within weeks, Dr. Lowe’s front office team had freed up much of their time to focus on other areas.

With many such client success stories, CareCru’s Donna is indeed one of the more well-equipped and intelligent virtual assistants on the market. In the future, the company plans to continue to improve on the platform’s intelligence, gathering meaningful insights and converting them into actions to help dental practices grow.