Phone reminder service helps chiropractors profit
Neil Kokemuller December 1st, 2008
As is the case with most healthcare providers and other industries that rely on appointments to generate revenue, chiropractors suffer when patients missed scheduled appointment times. Each day, chiropractors have a limited amount of appointment times to derive revenue. The fixed costs used to drive the practice do not change if appointment times are missed. Therefore, practices that have a large amount of patient no-shows typically do not perform as well in revenue and profit production.
What is the solution? Data supports the fact that consistently delivered telephone reminder calls can dramatically improve the percentage of patients that show up for scheduled appointment times or call in advance to cancel.
A phone reminder is driven by a customized automated reminder software program that efficiently and accurately delivers calls to patients. The calls allow the patient to either confirm the call or cancel. The confirmation and reminder call help ensure patients do not forget to come for a visit. The option to cancel helps get patients who are unable to attend a scheduled time to cancel in advance, which enables the practice to reschedule the appointment time and collect revenue.
Another benefit of the phone reminder is that the message can included notes specific to the needs of a given patient. For instance, a first time visitor, or a follow up patient can receive direction on what to bring or what to do in preparation for the appointment.
Why would a chiropractor not have a receptionist complete the telephone reminder calls? The reality is some do. There are many advantages to using a virtual phone reminder, though. Receptionists are often overwhelmed with multi-tasking in-clinic patients, phone calls, office tasks, paperwork, and more. This makes them stressed and fatigued and reduces performance and can sometimes lead to poor service for patients. The process of delivering appointment reminder calls is more tedious and time consuming for the receptionist. However, an automated reminder program can be acquired with a moderate up front cost and requires little to no ongoing maintenance. The automated reminder solution also does not deal with stress and fatigue and it is more efficient and accurate than an overwhelmed live agent.
Patients appreciate the phone reminder service. Most patients do not intentionally skip appointment times or refuse to make cancellation calls. However, busy people are sometimes forgetful and may accidentally miss an appointment or forget to call. A small or medium sized chiropractic clinic cannot afford the financial drain caused by missed appointment times. Some opt to charging fees for missed appointments but this can be a deterrent to developing strong patient relationships. The moderate investment required to obtain a best in class phone reminder software solution is well worth it given the benefits to the customer, staff, and the business. Office morale is greatly improved if receptionists are freed up to manage the in-clinic patients, phone calls with issues, and important insurance claims paperwork. Good office morale is important for all stakeholders in the chiropractic clinic.
- Appointment Reminder
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