Getting patients scheduled as a dental practice is difficult enough and can be even more problematic when you have cancellations or no-shows. Dentistry IQ has an article discussing reducing the cost of cancellations in your dental practice. According to Ryan Long, DDS:
“Dental practices are faced with many different challenges and expenses. One of the most frustrating and costly of these challenges is frequent broken appointments and no shows.”
Frequent broken appointments and no-shows not only will leave open spots in your schedule, but also affects your gross profit. Dr. Long lists ways his office combats this challenge:
“One of the best ways to reduce broken appoints is to use appointment reminders.”
and
“Of the techniques we use, the most successful are text messaging, email, and personal rather than automated confirmation calls.”
Automated tools are available and can certainly help with the appointment reminder and confirmation process, but some patrons are not used to the technology or ignore automated requests. In times like these, confirmation phone calls can also be a very valuable tool as Dr. Long indicated in his article. You want to contact your patrons how they are most comfortable.
If confirming upcoming appointments is too time consuming or not realistic for your office staff, UIC Dental is here to help. In addition to increasing availability by handing incoming patient calls, UIC Dental also offers a service calling your patients to confirm appointments as if we were right in your office creating less frequent broken appointments and increasing daily office productivity.