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