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Rita Baumgaertner07-Nov-222 min read

Mastering Short Notice Cancellations

In today's age, it’s rare to come by a patient who doesn’t have access to a smartphone. Reaching your patients has never been easier, so why is it hard for practices to reduce, or prevent, last-minute cancellations? Before we can strategize ways to improve appointment fulfillment, we need to look at the broader reasoning behind why patients cancel. 

Outside of unexpected life events, there are a few preventable reasons why patients cancel an appointment: 

  • The administrative team is challenged to keep up with appointment confirmations.
  • Patients are not committed to the appointment.

Chances are, your practice is experiencing these reasons, but don’t worry, here are some strategies you can apply to minimize cancellations.

Employ automated messaging

Automated messaging is one of the most powerful tools to support your patients’ arrival to their appointments. 60% of dental patients confirm their appointment electronically. Automated messaging can also send a reminder to your patients, one day or one hour before they are due to arrive at your practice, keeping their appointment top of mind.

Automated messaging is not only a great tool to confirm and remind your patients of their upcoming appointments, but it also reduces administrative team workloads. Employ automated messaging and allow your team to focus on other priorities that cannot be automated.

Focus on patient education and relationships

Empower your dental team to educate patients about the value of the recommended treatment. When patients understand the importance of the appointment, they are less likely to cancel. In addition, your relationships with your patients are essential to their commitment to attend their appointments. Celebrate your patients when they put in the effort to nurture their oral health. When patients feel recognized for their wins, their commitment to their appointments grows.

Have a back-up plan

While it’s impossible to prevent every short-notice cancellation, you can have a backup plan in place. A short notice cancellation list, priority list, or ASAP list provides a means to easily fill openings when they do occur. Remember you can add patients to your short notice list for many reasons, perhaps they were unable to book their preferred appointment day, time, or provider, or they simply were not able to book as soon as they would like. Build your short notice list for all these reasons, and when a short notice cancellation occurs, you’ve got a plan B.

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Rita Baumgaertner

Rita Baumgaertner is a highly experienced and qualified professional in the dental industry, with over 15 years of experience as a dental hygienist and hygiene coordinator. Rita brings a unique perspective to her role and understands firsthand how technology can be leveraged to improve productivity, efficiency, and patient care. Her experience in the dental industry and understanding of how RecallMax software integrates into daily operations make her a valuable asset to driving long-term dental practice growth.

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