It\u2019s 9:07 AM and your 90-minute surgery hasn\u2019t arrived for her 9 AM start. And one of the 8 AM hygiene patients no-showed. If you\u2019re like me, there\u2019s a little anxiety building in your chest, and it\u2019s not even noon.<\/p>\n
Not a good start, but common at many dental practices.<\/p>\n
While it\u2019s difficult to find reliable data on no-show rates, one is too many. Life happens, and not every dental patient will show up. But a handful of failed appointments quickly adds up to a day\u2019s worth of production, and that summation pulls thousands of dollars off the bottom line. It hits harder when you realize that a 5% no-show rate leads to an entire year of lost production for every 20 years we practice!<\/p>\n
Dropping no-show rates to a minimum adds both positivity and dollars to our practices. While there\u2019s no magic formula,\u00a0cancellation and failure rates that hover around 10%\u00a0<\/a><\/span>often indicate systematic weaknesses. If you\u2019re feeling any frustration with no-shows, you should ask yourself the following questions:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It turns out Mrs. Johnson had her appointment on a card she put on the fridge. She didn\u2019t mean to blow off her implant surgery; she simply forgot. And that\u2019s the last prompt she had. In a busy world, her no-show reflects on our processes, too.<\/p>\n Today, our practice uses every reminder tool at our disposal, and our no-show rate is around 2%. Don\u2019t simply use one or two\u2013use them all in a cohesive game plan. Take these six reminder techniques and make them your own:<\/p>\n When a patient sets up an appointment, consider the vocabulary your team uses. For example, this approach sets the tone: \u201cMrs. Johnson, we\u2019re going to reserve 90 minutes of the doctor\u2019s time just for you on July 10 at 9 AM? Is there any reason that won\u2019t work for you?\u201d<\/p>\n When you hand them a card with the appointment info, ask them if they\u2019d like to put that in their phone now, reinforce your no-show policy, and remind them again this time has been reserved just for them.<\/p>\n We\u2019re in a digital world, but people still respond to some forms of traditional media. Make it simple by setting up your reminder software to send out postcards for upcoming appointments.<\/p>\n This method works especially well for preset hygiene visits. With a click, my hygiene coordinator sends off batches of postcards two weeks before appointments. You\u2019re free to customize your cards and the messages you send, another good way to reinforce appointment value and any cancellation policies.<\/p>\n Text message appointment reminders almost guarantee we\u2019ll reach patients with a confirmation. With\u00a0open rates at 98%\u00a0<\/a><\/span>, you almost can\u2019t miss. And 83% of Millennials open SMS messages within 90 seconds of notification. At one point, we struggled with younger patients missing appointments. We focused on updating records to make sure we hit their phones with reminders. We consider text message confirmation as the critical piece we can\u2019t live without.<\/p>\n Email open rates don\u2019t come close to SMS, but it\u2019s one more avenue to keeping our chairs full. Text messages are opened and read almost\u00a0138% more than email\u00a0<\/a><\/span>. So, don\u2019t rely on the 18% open rate to keep everyone aware of their appointments. But email reminders, especially from a sender that\u2019s recognized, serve a role. With more people working remotely from home offices, it\u2019s possible emails may connect better than in the past.<\/p>\n A voice call remains a stalwart for appointment confirmation. Your staff can try to reach each patient, but that effort takes a significant amount of time and effort every day. Automated calls from a comprehensive software platform offer multiple options. For example, you can direct\u00a0Legwork Dental Appointment Reminder\u00a0<\/a><\/span>software to call a landline and leave a voicemail if there\u2019s no answer.<\/p>\n Overburdened staff members can\u2019t consistently use six methods to confirm every appointment. But connecting with patients in multiple ways helps them in their busy lives and protects our schedules. Automated reminders typically cause no-show rates to plummet by integrating multiple features, and it\u2019s the combined mix that works magic.<\/p>\n One study found that patients who didn\u2019t receive a confirmation by voice, text, or email were\u00a0three times as likely to fail their scheduled appointments\u00a0<\/a><\/span>than those who were confirmed. While most patients prefer SMS confirmation, there wasn\u2019t a difference between the various methods\u2019 failure rates.<\/p>\n Although we have numerous choices for automated appointment reminder systems, my team has lots to juggle, so choosing to integrate reminders with other aspects of the patient journey has made day-to-day delivery of excellence smoother. Tying this function into a complete practice management software vendor solution made the most sense for both our front office efficiency and providing patient satisfaction.<\/p>\n\n
1. Get Real in Your Patient Communication<\/h2>\n
2. Send Appointment Reminders By Snail Mail<\/h2>\n
3. Shoot A Text Message Reminder<\/h2>\n
4. Drop Into Their Inbox<\/h2>\n
5. Automate Phone Calls<\/h2>\n
6. Combine Strategies<\/h2>\n
How Much Difference Does It Make? A Lot.<\/h2>\n