It goes without saying that your focus is patient care. But when you’re not using consistent strategies to reduce no show rates, your practice could suffer more than you think. The national average for no-shows in the healthcare industry ranges anywhere from 5% to 30% or more according to Content Strategy specialist, Lori Boyer! No matter what your average no show rate is, using the tools below can decrease it.
First, remember that your strategies for reducing no show rates should include the three R’s:
1. Remind consistently. Give patients appointment reminders on a regular basis.
2. Revisit missed appointments. Send friendly missed appointment reminders, too.
3. Reward loyal patients often. Have patients that keep their appointments and show up on time? Show your appreciation throughout the year.
5 Strategies to Keep Your Schedule Full
- Multiple reminder methods. Relying solely on phone call reminders is just not going to cut it with how busy people are. Send patients home with Sticker Appointment Cards so they can place their appointment dates where they can see them, like their mirrors or planners. Also, make sure you are sending out Reminder Postcards, Appointment Confirmation Cards and Recall Cards!
- Follow-up on missed appointments. Don’t let a missed appointment turn into a lapsed patient. Send out missed appointment cards letting your patients know that it’s time to reschedule.
- Thank and reward patients who keep appointments and arrive on time. Everyone likes to be recognized and rewarded, and your patients are no exception. Make sure you are thanking and rewarding loyal, compliant, and punctual patients. Send out Thank You Cards, create patient-specific Goodie Bags or even create an attendance reward program!
- Schedule patients as soon as possible when they call. The further out patients schedule their appointments from the time they call, the more likely it is for a no show could occur.
- Have a clear no show policy. Make sure your patients know and understand your no show policy from the start and make sure your staff is enforcing it.
We know it can be challenging to reduce no shows with all you do to keep your practice running. Partner with us so you can easily and affordably decrease your no shows while increasing your active patient counts. Call one of our friendly, reliable Customer Success Specialists at 800.522.0800 for a FREE consultation so you can fill the holes in your schedule, faster.