Adding and Importing Patients

Getting your patient list into Dental Marketing Tool is the first step to putting the platform to work. This article walks you through adding a single patient by hand and bulk-importing your existing list from a spreadsheet.

Adding a Single Patient

Adding one patient at a time is the fastest option when a new patient calls to schedule or you need to get someone into the system right away.

1. Open the Contacts tab from the main menu.
2. Click the + New Contact button in the upper-right corner.
3. Fill in the patient's details. At minimum, enter a first name and either a phone number or email address so the platform can reach them.
4. Add any relevant tags or assign the contact to a pipeline stage if you are tracking where new patients are in their journey.
5. Click Save. The patient record is created instantly and the contact is available across Conversations, Calendars, and your marketing tools.

Importing Patients from a Spreadsheet

If you are migrating from another system or pulling a patient export from your practice management software, the bulk import tool lets you bring in hundreds or thousands of records at once.

Prepare Your Spreadsheet

Before uploading, make sure your file is clean and formatted correctly.

• Save the file as a .csv (comma-separated values). Most practice software and Google Sheets can export to this format.
• Put column headers in the first row. Common headers include: First Name, Last Name, Phone, Email, Date of Birth.
• Each patient should be on its own row. Remove any blank rows or summary totals.
• Make sure phone numbers are in a consistent format. The platform accepts formats like 555-867-5309, (555) 867-5309, or 5558675309.

Run the Import

1. Open the Contacts tab and click the import icon (or look for an Import option in the actions menu near the top of the page).
2. Click Upload CSV and select your file.
3. On the mapping screen, match each column from your file to the correct field in the platform. For example, map your Phone column to Phone Number. Skip any columns you do not need.
4. If you want to tag the entire import batch (for example, Existing Patient or Reactivation List), add those tags on the mapping screen before continuing.
5. Click Continue and review the preview. The platform will show you a sample of how the records will look once imported.
6. Click Import to start the process. Depending on the size of your list, it may take a few minutes.
7. Once complete, you will see a summary showing how many records were imported and how many were skipped due to missing required fields or duplicate matches.

How the Platform Handles Duplicates

If a patient you are importing already exists in the system based on a matching email address or phone number, the platform will flag it as a potential duplicate rather than creating a second record. You can review and resolve those matches using the merge duplicates tool after the import finishes.

After the Import

Once your patients are in the platform, a few follow-up steps will help you get the most out of your list.

• Use smart lists and filters to segment your patients by last visit date, tag, location, or any custom field. This makes it easy to send targeted messages to the right group.
• Run a bulk action to send a welcome text or reactivation message to a segment of your imported list.
• Review a few individual patient records to confirm the data mapped the way you expected.

Once your contacts are imported, you are ready to start communicating. A good next step is setting up automated appointment reminders so your existing patients start hearing from the practice automatically. You may also want to explore reactivating old patients who have not been in for a while.